Irish Trad Music Blog

Image via Wikipedia "The Irish Arts Center New York is kicking off June by welcoming Liam Neeson for a special fundraising event and celebration and continuing the fun with a set of Master classes in Irish traditional singing and music. Honorary Chair of the Irish Arts Center Neeson will be a special guest at the organization’s Spring Cocktails event, an intimate evening that will be hosted at a private home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. A new announcement will be made about the Center’s plans create a brand new first-class facility to celebrate Irish arts and culture in New York City and across the country. The party will take place on the evening of June 2nd, from 6:30-8:30 pm." The Irish Emigrant - Irish Arts Center New York celebrates in June : Related articles The Irish Emigrant - First ever Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada to be held in July (irishtradmusic.blogspot.com) Eileen Ivers (theirishfiddle.blogspot.com) 48th Annual Connecticut Irish Festival Feis & Agr...

"Two young musicians from Chester County plan to represent the United States at a music festival in Ireland later this year. Keegan Loesel, 11, of Unionville, and Alexander Weir, 12, of West Chester, can play some fine Irish music. The boys are masters of different musical instruments used in a traditional type of Irish folk music called Fleadh. Loesel is a tin whistler, and Weir is a fiddler. They both competed at the Regional Fleadh in New Jersey in April to qualify for The Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, the Festival of Music, this August in Ireland. Only two regional competitions are held in all of North America to qualify for the Fleadh in Ireland. In the 12-and-under age group, Loesel and Weir were the top two finalists from the eastern half of the continent. For both boys, it will be a trip of a lifetime." Young masters to compete at music festival in Ireland - dailylocal.com : Related articles Irish Trad legends support Derry Fleadh Cheoil bid (irishtradmusic.blogs...

Irish eyes will certainly be smiling when the second annual Motor City Irish Festival rolls into Redford Township June 3-5 drawing an estimated 5,000-7,000 people eager to celebrate in the Celtic tradition. With more than 20 local Irish bands lined up to perform, the family-friendly festival will showcase some of the best that the area has to offer in Irish music, dancing and culture on the grounds of St. Valentine's Catholic Church. Local acts will perform in two tents, the Claddagh All Ireland Tent and the Dunleavy's Ceilidh Tent. Organized by Wayne County's Stephen Walsh Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, proceeds from the festival will benefit St. Valentine's as well as the Redford Interfaith Relief and other local charitable organizations The event offers area residents an excellent opportunity to celebrate the Irish heritage, festival co-chair Charlie French of Livonia said. “This is a feel-good festival. Detroit has such a rich history with the ...

Image via Wikipedia "HIGHLAND culture festival Blas returns this summer better than ever, organisers claim — despite fears the region wide event could be a victim of spending cutbacks. Launching the seventh Blas Festival at Eden Court Theatre yesterday, Arthur Cormack, chief executive of Feisan nan Gaidheal announced a programme of well over 80 events taking place between Friday 9th and Saturday 17th September. These include some 40 music events featuring both up and coming and established stars of the traditional music scene such as Julie Fowlis, Karen Matheson, the Outside Track and Irish-American guests Cherish the Ladies. Other featured artists include Karine Matheson, Iain Morrison and Daibhidh Martin, Kathleen MacInnes, Maggie MacInnes and Colum Sands and chart-bidders Manran. Among the highlights are a celebration of the centenary of Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean at Inverness Cathedral with music from Inverness composer Stuart MacRae, the world premiere of 'The Boy and...

Image via Wikipedia "Cormac Ó Beaglaoich is a busy young man. When he’s not working on his PhD in psychology at NUIG, he can be found playing his concertina at sessions in Galway or further afield. He is also the organiser of Tunes in the Church, a summer series of traditional concerts in St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church in Galway City, now in its second year. The 2011 Tunes in the Church was launched on Sunday evening at St Nicholas’ by renowned traditional fiddle player, Martin Hayes. Cormac had seen this kind of musical event enjoying success in St James’ Church in Dingle in his native West Kerry, and last summer, with the support of the rector, Gary Hastings – himself a well-known flute player – he organised a series of concerts in St Nicholas’. “The musicians last year worked off a percentage, and I’m grateful to them because they invested in it,” explains Cormac, whose aim is to see any money made return to the performers “who are at the root of the tradition”. The 2011 ...

"Moynalty's Deirdre Shannon (Gilsenan) has launched her second album, 'AnamCeol', music for the soul, following on from the tremendous success of her award winning first album. Deirdre who hails from a well-known farming family near Kells, is granddaughter of Mattie Gilsenan, the last surviving member and captain of the 1939 Meath senior footballteam. She has been described as having 'one of the purest voices around' by her Lord of the Dance colleague and mentor, Michael Flatley. The new CD is a collection of early Irish and Scottish traditional songs about love, nature and mythology, sung for a contemporary audience. Songs include 'Down by the Sally Garden', 'Silent O Moyle', 'Song for Ireland' and the 'Maid of Culmore', to name just a few. She said: 'I have always been a lover of songs that speak to the heart - whether they be of love, lost love or just simple things like nature. Our rich Irish heritage offers plenty whe...

"Pared-down ideas, electronics and a focus on visual influences inform young Irish composer Linda Buckley’s first work for the NSO, writes MICHAEL DERVAN WRITING FOR orchestra is anything but a central concern for most young composers in the 21st century. Quite apart from anything else, many orchestras seem reluctant to take a punt on composers in their early 20s, and the first opportunity for Linda Buckley to work with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra has come at the age of 32. She has, however, worked with orchestras before, on Osmosis with the amateurs of the Gateway Orchestra under Fergus Sheil in Wexford, and on turn for the Dresden Symphony Orchestra in 2009. “That was a large-scale project which involved a video connection between Dresden and Venice. There was an ensemble in Venice, and the orchestra in Dresden, with a one-second time delay, which I had to write in to the actual piece.” Her new work for the NSO is called chiyo, named after a female Japanese haiku poet fr...