Steve's
WWUH Program Guides:
PROGRAM GUIDE MARCH-APRIL 2010
The Celtic Airs concert series took a hiatus following the Girsa concert on 11/7/09. We decided not to compete with
the “distractions” of the holidays and hoped to avoid cancellations due to nasty winter weather.
Now it’s time to launch into the 2010 season with vigor!! We’ll start out with two of the most acclaimed
acts in Irish traditional music today! They’ve both been part of our concert series in the past and have sold out each
time we’ve presented them. (HINT: Plan your ticket purchase early! Tickets go on sale 2 months before the concert date.)
Dervish will make their annual visit 3/18/10, appearing in the Millard Auditorium at 7:30 pm. They first performed
here on June 6, 1996, the opening show of their first American tour. There have been a few line up changes over the years;
Shane McAleer departed in 1998, replaced by Seamie O’Dowd who moved on in 2005. For the most part, this has been a very
stable ensemble since Cathy Jordan joined the band in 1991. Their first CD” Harmony Hill” was released in 1992
and first played in America right here on Celtic Airs! Dervish has since released five additional studio
albums, most recently “Traveling Show” in 2007. Their extremely busy tour schedule precludes more frequent opportunities
for recording. The 2-CD set “Live In Palma” (1997), complete with stage patter, has long been hailed by critics
as one of the best live recordings of traditional Irish music ever made.
The
original band members were and still are Sligo based: Brian McDonagh (mandola, mandolin), Liam Kelly (flute, whistle, backing
vocals), Shane Mitchell (button accordion) and Michael Holmes (bouzouki, guitar). Later additions are from nearby counties:
Cathy Jordan (lead vocals, bodhran, bones, guitar) from Roscommon and Tom Morrow (All-Ireland fiddle champion) from Leitrim.
The band and their recordings have accumulated numerous awards over the years. Their second album “Playing With
Fire” (1994) topped the Irish Folk and World/Roots music charts for many weeks. “At the End of the Day”
(1996) was the Folk Roots “Folk Album of the Year”. In 1997, the readers of Irish
Music Magazine voted them “Best Overall Folk/Trad Band of the Year.” “Midsummer’s
Night” (1999) was voted “Irish Traditional Album of the Year” by numerous U.K and U.S. publications.
To recognize their achievements and promotion of local heritage, the Sligo town council bestowed the “Freedom of
the Borough” award on the band, an honor first given to W.B. Yeats many years ago and infrequently presented since
then.
Dervish have played in numerous venues all over the world including a tour of China with many members of the Irish
government in 2006. In 2000, they performed before an estimated crowd of 250,000 at the “Rock In Rio music festival.
Don’t miss your chance to see them a lot closer to home when they return to the University of Hartford’s Millard
Auditorium Thursday March 18th at 7:30 pm.
Martin Hayes and
Dennis Cahill are relative newcomers to our concert series, making their debut appearance August 26, 2006. They will return
Saturday April 24, 2010 for a 7:30 pm show in the University of Hartford’s Wilde Auditorium.
Martin Hayes was born and raised in Maghera, Feakle, East Co. Clare and grew up surrounded by great Irish traditional
music thanks to his father P. Joe Hayes, legendary leader of the famous Tulla Ceilidh Band. Though he often returns to the
place wherein lie his musical roots, he is now a resident of the State of Connecticut! His route to this area was circuitous
with long stops in Chicago and Seattle. It was during his time in Chicago that he met and melded with his musical partner
of the past twelve years, Dennis Cahill.
Martin is one of
the most extraordinary talents to emerge in the world of Irish music in recent generations of renowned musicians. Before the
age of nineteen, he had already won six All Ireland fiddle championships. In honor of the new millennium in 2000, the Irish
Sunday Tribune compiled a list of the 100 most influential Irish men and women in the fields of entertainment, politics
and sports, a list that included Martin Hayes! They touted him as “one of the most important musicians to emerge in
the past fifty years.” Since then he has been named Folk Instrumentalist of the Year by BBC Radio, Man
of the Year by the American Irish Historical Society and in 2008 was Irish language television station TG 4’s Musician
of the Year. His albums have also won NEA Record of the Year awards (equivalent to our Grammies).
Martin’s first two albums, “Martin Hayes” (1993) and “Under the Moon” (1995) were recorded
before he began his association with Dennis Cahill in Chicago. They recorded their first album “The Lonesome Touch”
in 1997 followed by “Live In Seattle’ in 1999. There ensued a long break til their latest recording “Welcome
Here Again” was released in 2008.
Dennis Cahill was
born in Chicago to parents who emigrated from Dingle, Co. Kerry. He is a master guitarist whose spare, essential accompaniment
style is acknowledged as a major breakthrough for the guitar in Irish traditional music. In addition to his work with Martin,
Dennis has played with other legendary Irish fiddlers including Liz Carroll, Eileen Ivers and Kevin Burke. He is also a sought
after producer for traditional artists who he records in his own Chicago studios.
Seldom will you have the opportunity to see such remarkably talented musicians in an intimate, exceptionally constructed
musical venue like the Wilde Auditorium. I strongly encourage your attendance for a magical evening of Irish traditional music
with Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill at 7:30 on Saturday April 24, 2010.
Tickets
for the Celtic Airs Concert Series go on sale TWO MONTHS before the event and are ONLY available through the University of
Hartford Box Office, open Monday-Friday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm. Call 1-800-274-8587 or 1-860-768-4228. You can also purchase
on line at www.hartford.edu/hartt.
If you aren’t yet on the Celtic Airs Concert Series e-mailing list, simply go to the WWUH home page (wwuh.org).
In the center of the home page, half way down, you’ll find a small box where you can make your request to be added to
the list. Don’t worry, we don’t share the list with anyone, so it won’t generate any SPAM in your in box.
Celtic Airs can be heard on WWUH, 91.3 FM, every Tuesday from 6:00-9:00 am. If you can’t listen on your FM radio,
you’ll find us steaming live on the internet. Use the “Listen” link at the upper left
corner of the home page to make this simple connection. Thanks for listening!! I look forward to seeing you March 18th
at the Dervish concert and at many more shows over the course of 2010.
Steve Dieterich,
Producer /host of Celtic Airs and the
WWUH/ Celtic Airs Concert Series
PROGRAM GUIDE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2009
Cherish the Ladies is the best all female Irish traditional band in the world. They’ve been around since 1983
and are still going strong albeit with some line up changes over the years.
The
band originated in the New York City area, led by Joanie Madden on flute and whistle. Now, miraculously, this hot bed of Irish
traditional music and dance has produced another talented all female ensemble. They call themselves Girsa (pronounced
gersha) which is Gaelic for “young girls” and that they most certainly are! This octet of talented young musicians
originated in Pearl River, NY. Though they’ve been together as a band since 2004, their current ages are just seventeen
to nineteen! Joanie Madden says “The combined talent of Girsa is frightening. They are already a force to be reckoned
with.” High praise indeed from one who should know.
Girsa’s
self –titled, self issued debut recording, released in April 2009, sold over 1500 copies in it’s first two months!
Earle Hitchner, well known music critic for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and
Irish Echo had accolades for Girsa as well. “They have the ability, poise, taste, diversity, imagination,
fire and finesse to go as far as their commitment to staying together can take them. Their sparkling debut CD is proof of
that.” He goes on to say, “Youth is not wasted on Girsa. Their precocity and passion combine impressively.”
The band is not only impressive in the recording studio. Their live performances at the Catskill Irish Arts Week in
2008 and 2009 blew away everyone in the audience including some veteran performers from Ireland. Traditional jigs and reels
were played with precision and panache. Compelling renditions of traditional Irish ballads nestled comfortably with crisply
delivered contemporary songs. Their seamless three and four part vocal harmonies hushed the crowd. For all their youth, their
wit and stage presence is exceptional. They’re not afraid to speak up and will carry on a hilarious exchange of smart
rejoinders with their audience.
It’s rare for an Irish
traditional band to have two good singers. Girsa have four, giving them a vocal versatility that compliments
both lead and harmony vocals. There is no lack of instrumental variety either; between them the band members play a total
of twenty instruments. And as if that’s not enough to keep you entertained, two of the girls are accomplished
hard shoe step dancers.
Girsa’s talented members
include two pairs of sisters: Emily McShane (vocals, piano, bodhran) and her sister Kristen (fiddle and percussion) and Bernadette
Flanagan (piano, bodhran, , step dancing) and her sister Maeve (fiddle, whistle, percussion). The rest of the ensemble comprises
Deirdre Brennan (fiddle, vocals, mandolin), Margaret Dudasik (fiddle, vocals, step dancing), Pamela Geraghty (accordion, vocals,
guitar, percussion) and Blaithin Loughran (accordion, percussion). Their teachers include some well known
New York talent including Rose Flanagan, Patty Furlong, Mary Coogan (of Cherish the Ladies), Margie Mulvihill, Frankie McCormick,
Eileen Goodman and Annemarie Acosta. The girls come from musical families and have grown up participating in Irish music and
dance. No strangers to competition, they have won numerous prizes in fleadhannas in America and in August 2009, competed in
the Senior Ceilidh Band competition at Ireland’s annual Fleadh Cheoil, an event that requires competitors to play a
set of music that seamlessly combines ALL the types of dance tunes including jigs, reels, hornpipes, slipjigs, polkas, a march
and a slow air among others.
I saw Girsa in a non-competitive event,
the Irish Music Festival at the Irish American Home in Glastonbury in July 2009, and was duly impressed!
I imagine they will be even more exciting in an indoor venue. They will appear in the University of Hartford’s Wilde
Auditorium on Saturday, November 7th at 7:30PM. This intimate venue and small stage will be stretched to the limit
by the combined talents of the eight young ladies who together are Girsa. Please come see “the girls”; I know
you’ll have a good time!
Tickets are only available
through the University of Hartford Box office, open 10:00AM to 6:00PM Monday through Friday. Call 1-800-274-8587 or 1-860-768-4228.
On line purchases can be made at www.hartford.edu/hartt. Bring a friend, relative or neighbor; they’ll thank you for doing so!
Celtic
Airs can be heard on WWUH, 91.3 FM, every Tuesday from 6:00 to 9:00 AM. Tune in for the latest concert news and a wide variety
of Celtic music, new and old. You can also add your name to the concert e-mail list. Just go to the wwuh.org homepage
to sign up. It’s easy
and quick!
Thanks for listening to Celtic Airs, now in it’s 16th year. I hope to see you at a concert soon.
Steve Dieterich, Producer/host of Celtic
Airs.
