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One of the most colourful characters in the world of entertainment, Michael Flatley, is to visit the Royal Castlebar Theatre and Event Centre to promote Lord of the Dance, which is scheduled to take place from Saturday 3rd – Thursday 8th January.
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Sean-nós Northwest is proud to present the 2nd annual Sean-nós Northwest Festival, January 16-17, 2008. The Sean-nós Northwest Festival celebrates and promotes three aspects of traditional Irish culture – sean-nós singing, sean-nós dancing, and Gaeilge, the Irish language. These living folk traditions from the rural West of Ireland are strikingly beautiful, vitally satisfying, and incredibly rare to find anywhere outside of Ireland.
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Following the success and critical acclaim for his three sell-out shows at the Grand Opera House, Belfast, in March of this year, Kieran Goss returns to his native Northern Ireland as part of a 16 date nationwide tour and makes a stop off in Strule Arts Centre Omagh on Saturday 27 December at 8pm Tickets £16. Accompanied by Gareth Hughes on double bass and Ann Kinsella on backing vocals.
Long hailed as one of Ireland’s leading songwriters, Kieran is also well loved for his warm and witty live performances. In the words of country music legend, Don Williams:
“Kieran Goss is one of the most gifted performers around today. He has an amazing ability to reach out to his audience and connect with them in a very special way. This guy is the real deal, and that’s what makes him the star he is.”
Over the last 20 years, Kieran Goss has quietly and consistently delivered songs of rare quality and his wonderful, deceptively simple melodies have won him fans across the globe. Closer to home, his songs ‘Brand New Star’ and lately ‘Clear Day’ can be heard daily on UTV’s weather bulletin. But it’s live, in front of an audience, where Kieran really shines. Quite simply, a Kieran Goss show is an evening of great songs sung from the heart, delivered with consummate ease and humour. If you haven’t yet seen Kieran Goss live, you absolutely must!
‘”The sense of fun is tremendous, the playing first rate and the songs are sheer quality. The encores were genuine, but only because the man is too.”
The Irish Examiner
Don’t miss your chance to see Kieran Goss in Strule Arts Centre on Saturday 27 Book today on 028 8224 7831 or book online at www.wegottickets.com.
Dublin’s premiere celebration of traditional Irish Music and Culture in the heart of the city
Wed 28th January to Sunday 1st February 2009
Details of the programme for Temple Bar TradFest 2009 Festival of Irish Music and Culture have been announced. From Wednesday 28th January till Sunday 1st February Temple Bar will come alive with a series of festival concerts and will feature a rich line up of musical performances, showcase concerts, workshops, family events and much more in a celebration of traditional Irish music and culture.
Organised by TASCQ (Traders in the Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter Limited) the 2009 festival which is once again sponsored by Bushmills will be an exciting mix of performers with many new festival innovations, as Temple Bar TradFest has been rebranded and reinvigorated.
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The Royal Castlebar is delighted to welcome a host of Ireland’s most talented and best loved performers including Sharon Shannon, Mundy, Dessie O’Halloran, The Richie Buckley Band and Shane McGowan, who will give a very special late night performance on Saturday, 27th December. The show will commence at the later than usual time of 11.30pm making it the perfect place to top off a great Christmas night out!
Celebrated Irish traditional musician Sharon Shannon returns to the Royal Theatre much to the delight of fans, who will undoubtedly be anticipating her rendition of the massive 2008 hit single ‘Galway Girl’ with Mundy. Athlone born Mundy is also well known to Irish audiences with a number of hits under his belt including To You I Bestow, from the best-selling soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation, Romeo + Juliet, his cover of Shakira’s, Wherever, Whenever and the summer anthem that is July, to name but a few. Guest of honour on the night will be the legendary Shane McGowan who, in keeping with the Christmas theme, will surely thrill the audience with a performance of his most well-known classic, Fairytale of New York, a duet with Kirsty MacColl which McGowan also co-wrote.
The Royal Castlebar Theatre & Event Centre has an impressive programme for the coming months and is jam-packed with a number of Irish and internationally renowned artists and productions including Daniel O’Donnell- The Christmas Show on Thurs 11th Dec, Here & Now Show – featuring Stars from the 80’s including Paul Young, Bananarama, Belinda Carlisle, Bucks Fizz, T’Pau and Cutting Crew on Friday 2nd and January Michael Flatley’s - Lord of the Dance from Saturday 3rd -9thJan, and Disney’s High School Musical from Tuesday 20th – Saturday 31st Jan, to list but a few. It was opened in conjunction with the Days Harlequin Hotel Castlebar and is conveniently located in the same complex making a trip to Castlebar even more special for visitors. “The Royal has an event capacity of around 4,000 making it the largest event venue outside of the O2 Arena in Dublin so we are able to accommodate some of the biggest acts in the world” said Pat Jennings, Managing Director of The Royal Castlebar Theatre & Event Centre and the Days Harlequin Hotel Castlebar. “ The very special Sharon Shannon, Mundy and Shane McGowan show on the 27th promises to be a great one and the fact that it is on a bit later in the evening will certainly add to the Christmas party atmosphere” added Jennings.
Tickets priced at €39.50 standing and €44.50 seated, including booking fee, other service charges may apply. For more information and to view a full programme please visit www.theroyal.ie or call 0818 300 000. For rates, availability and Theatre Packages at the Days Harlequin Hotel Castlebar please visit www.dayshotelcastlebar.com or call (094) 928 6200
Jimmy Dinny Ó Gallchóir - Seal ag Gabháil don Cheol.
Jimmy Dinny Ó Gallchóir was born in Cois Cláidí in Gaoth Dobhair in April 1921. The CD, Jimmy Dinny Ó Gallchóir - Seal ag Gabháil don Cheol, has nine tracks in total, both in English and Irish. Included among the tracks is the well-known song, Amhrán Pheadair Bhreathnaigh, which Jimmy often sang. The English songs in the album include Lovely Green Gweedore, The Star of Donegal, and Carrickmannon Lake.
Patsy Ó Ceannabháin - Fear Múinte Mánla.
The CD, Patsy Ó Ceannabháin - Fear Múinte Mánla, was launched in Park Lodge Hotel, Spiddal in Galway on the 3rd October. Máire Pheter Uí Dhroighneáin launched the CD, and Máirtín Tom Sheáinín was MC for the occasion. Patsy’s family, friends and colleagues had a wonderful night celebrating a wonderful Connemara voice.
www.claddaghrecords.com
There are a number of classic re-issues presently on-line on the Claddagh website. Joe Burke - The Tailors Choice GLCD1045
A wonderful mixture of tunes played as only the legendary, Joe Burke can play them, mostly on flute, whistle and, of course, even some accordion. Joe has brought to the forefront the rich Galway flute tradition. It features Máire Ní Chathasaigh on harp and Brian Conway on fiddle.
Bobby Gardiner - Memories of Clare (COP5010). Bobby Gardiner is an All-Ireland Champion eleven times over and a native of County Clare and on this, his first recording made in the early 1960’s, Bobby recorded many of the tunes that he learned around his home as a boy.
www.roscommonarts.com/trad/flute/htm
The recently released Roscommon flute CD, The Flute players of Roscommon Volume 2, which was recently reviewed on this magazine, can now be purchased online from the Roscommon traditional arts forum website. The album features some of the finest emerging Roscommon flute players, along with archive recordings of some of the great masters from the county. These include legendary names such as Jim Donoghue, Pakie Duignan, Peg McGrath, Tom McHale and many more.
www.augustaheritage.com
Irish and Celtic Week at the Augusta Heritage Center, Elkins, West Virginia
Twenty-seven years ago, Mick Moloney, Billy McComiskey and Liz Carroll pioneered an Irish music week program at Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia. Since its modest start, the Augusta Heritage Center’s Irish/Celtic Week has grown into a 250 student summer camp that attracts musicians, dancers and singers from groups such as De Dannan, Cherish the Ladies and Solas, as well as tradition bearers from the Aran Isles, West Cork and New York City as its teachers. The program features classes, concerts, céilís and a seemingly never-ending set of informal sessions at which the famous and novice generally hobnob at ease.
Two years ago, Mick Moloney resigned from the coordinator position to pursue academic research interests in Asia during the summer, and tin whistle and flute player Joanie Madden, sparkplug leader of Cherish the Ladies, was hired to take his place. This year Joanie assembled a remarkable faculty of teachers including Connemara flautist, Marcus Herndon, seminal bodhrán player Johnny ‘Ringo’ McDonagh, banjo whiz, Angelina Carberry, bouzouki ace, Alec Finn, uilleann pipes great, Jerry O’Sullivan, Ballyvourney set dance master, Timmy ‘The Brit’ McCarthy, former Solas singer-guitarist John Doyle, the scintillating fiddlers Yvonne & Liz Kane, U.S. National Heritage Fellow, step-dancer Donny Golden, who trained both Michael Flatley and Cara Butler, and singer-songwriter Robbie O’Connell, of the famous Clancy family. Each teacher - and there were many more, including the author - immersed his or her students in as many songs or tunes or steps as could be absorbed, and prepared their classes for a final performance attended by the entire camp.
Part of the considerable charm of Augusta’s Irish Celtic Week comes from the fact that it takes place in West Virginia, a beautiful, fascinating and less frequently visited state almost wholly within the Appalachian Mountains and at a crossroads between the North and South. Searching for an Irish parallel, one might liken West Virginia to Sliabh Luchra. The spoken accent and the topography are very different indeed but strong commonalities exist.
For centuries, people in each area have gotten by modestly typically, and both possess a great love of their homelands and traditions, including stories, dancing and songs. West Virginia was settled principally by Scots-Irish who brought songs and fiddle music to the hills, and traces of the Ireland are still to be seen in the native ‘flat-foot’ dancing and heard in old ballads and dance tunes. Augusta Irish/Celtic Week is held directly after the Catskills Irish Week in New York State and offers a perfect follow-on fortnight Irish-American experience for those IMM readers who can never get enough and why should we settle for less!
Dates for Irish/Celtic week are set for July 19th - 24th, 2009. For further information: www.augustaheritage.com
Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp will run from March 9th to 15th in northern Washington State. This is close to the border with Canada and would make a pleasant sail down from Vancouver for a fiddler on yacht!
The camp ticket includes tuition for classes, lodging, meals, and admission to concerts and other evening events. The camp will be a total of five days and six nights. Tutors include: Fiddle - Liz and Yvonne Kane; Flute - Catherine McEvoy; Concertina - Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin; Bouzouki/Mandolin - Roger Landes; Irish Guitar /Song Arranging - Dáithí Sproule; Ear Training/ Music Theory - Randal Bays, who will teach a daily class on ear-training and basic music theory for traditional musicians, all instruments welcome; Irish Ensemble - All instruments.
Randal Bays will take students through the process of arranging songs and dance tunes for Irish bands. Introduction to Tin Whistle (one class daily) - Andrea Cooper.
For further information please contact Randal Bays or
Dan Paulson via the website www.fridayharborirish.com
