Central Missouri Celtic Arts Association Newsletter, December 12, 2002
In this Issue:
* Irish music session at Cherry Street Artisan tonight
* Celtic music at First Night Columbia
* First Night needs volunteers
* Concerts coming up in 2003 - téada, Chulrua, Andy Irvine
* Classes, classes, classes!
* Tidbits
* CalendarPssst.... First Night buttons and CMCAA concert tickets make great gifts!
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Jam session tonight!
This is the second Thursday of the month, which means there will be an open Irish music session this evening at Cherry Street Artisan in downtown Columbia (corner of Ninth and Cherry Streets). Come on down and join us. Bring an instrument, a song or just your ears! 7:30 - 11 p.m.
If you are attending the "Lord of the Dance" show this evening at the Hearnes Center, you can come down for a cup of coffee and a few tunes afterward.
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Celtic Music at First Night Columbia!
If you've lived in Columbia for a few years, you probably know about First Night, our community New Years Eve celebration through the arts. An alcohol-free, family-oriented alternative celebration, First Night began in Boston in 1976 and has been growing ever since. This year 120 US cities will hold First Night festivals.
This is the ninth year for First Night Columbia, and it's going to be excellent! The organizers have made a special effort to make the entertainment really diverse this year; there is definitely something for everyone! Cajun music and dancing, latino music, rock and roll, blues, bluegrass, country, folk, Klezmer, classical and.... you guessed it... Celtic music!
CMCAA is collaborating with First Night to sponsor a great young Irish-American band called Anam Ri who will perform at First Night this year at Cherry Street Artisan, the Missouri Theater and at the midnight finale in Courthouse Square.
Anam Ri started out as four high school students from Milwaukee who were jamming together and over the last six years they've evolved into an energetic band that has garnered international attention and played at some of the biggest Celtic festivals in the world. Flutist Asher Gray, who's been known to sport vibrant blue hair, started the band at the tender age of 15 and now has three solo albums and three Anam Ri albums to his credit.
In 2000 Anam Ri added singer and accordionist Brian Hart to their mix, who grew up in St. Louis and participated in the St. Louis Irish Arts program (www.slia.org). This past August, Brian became the first American and youngest person ever to win the All-Ireland senior division ballad singing competition. In the milieu of Irish music, this is an extremely prestigious award. As Kevin Burke would say, he's certainly got the "Nyah" for the music! Brian will graduate this spring from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and in the fall enter the graduate studies program at the University of Ireland in Limerick.
We're so pleased to help make Anam Ri's appearance at First Night this year possible! AND as an added bonus, the band asked if it would be OK if they brought a couple step dancers with them... (wow!) so it's sure to be an excellent evening! AND there's all the OTHER great music going on at First Night! :)
First Night Columbia
5:30 p.m. to midnight, New Years Eve
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2002
Admission button is $5 for the entire evening (how's THAT for a good deal?!)The whole First Night schedule is on the web here: firstnight.missouri.org
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Volunteer at First Night
If you think First Night is a great community event, please consider being a volunteer. If you spend 2 hours as a volunteer, your admission button is free and you are invited to the post-First Night party and jam session with all the performers.
To volunteer to sell buttons, fun souvenirs and water; be an usher; a security ambassador; or to help set up during the day on the 31st, contact Leigh Nutter, LCNutter@GoColumbiaMo.com 573-874-7460 (day time).
To volunteer to be a stage hand at one of the nine music venues, contact Jane Accurso, j_accurso@hotmail.com 573-442-4683 (day/evening).
To volunteer to help with hospitality for the performers & volunteers by delivering food and water to the venues; or by baking goodies or a cooking up a pot of vegetarian soup or chili, contact Kate Akers kakers@chivalry.com or 573-442-2048
The First Night steering committee and board of directors work throughout the year to plan the festival, but it takes more than one hundred volunteers on New Years Eve to make First Night a success. It's truly a community effort!
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CMCAA 2003 Concerts in the works
téada
Sunday, February 2, 2003
7 p.m, Sacred Heart Church Activities Building
$12 public/$10 CMCAA memberstéada is A young band you probably haven't heard of yet, but their star is rising and we're fortunate to get them here to Columbia while they are still humble. These guys are heading for greatness. Danu, Lunasa and other hot young Celtic bands better make room for teada!
I got their CD in the mail and decided to book them after the first five tracks. Below are a couple reviews of their self-titled debut album. They laud Osian's fiddle playing, but I have to say that the banjo-playing of Seán McElwain really got my attention. Yowsa! They stand out in a crowd.
Folk Roots Review Aug/ Sept 02
Teada are a traditional quartet with a rising reputation, thanks in parts to the spirited unison playing of fiddler Oisin MacDiarmada and flautist JohnBlake, backed by first rate banjo and bouzouki from Sean McElwain and the sensitive bodhrah of Tristan Rosenstock.
Hugely enjoyable throughout and definitely one to watch out for. Thumbs UP!Taplas June/July. The Welsh Folk Magazine
Teada, (say tay-do) are a boy band of the exciting young, traditional variety.
Interestingly they are a bit different in their laid-back and more “traditional” approach to the music. Translation: they tend not to play fast and frantic, there are no cheesy “arrangements”, synthesisers or crossover attempts.
The band features flowing fiddle and singing from Oisin MacDiarmada, contrasting with exciting flute of John Blake, with banjo/ bouzouki and bohran completing the line up.Pay the Reckoning, Irish music e-zine at www.paythereckoning.com
Pay The Reckoning know what we like (and we like what we know, but that's a different story). And we LIKE this album.
Are you fed up with ham-fisted, hob-nailed approaches to Irish traditional music? Do you hanker after playing with depth, soul, meaning? Music where the wild, "high lonesome" sound is at the heart of its being?
Then look no further than Téada, the young 4-piece who have redefined the word sensitive and elevated understatement to an art-form.The musicianship on this collection is impeccable. John Blake (flute/guitar/piano/whistle), Seán McElwain (bouzouki/banjo/backing vocals) and Tristan Rosenstock (bodhrán/backing vocals) display a talent which can only be described as virtuoso. However I'm sure that they will forgive our waxing lyrical for a few moments over Oisín MacDiarmada's utterly mesmerising way with the fiddle.
Here is a young lad whose voice and style are unique. While aspects of his playing call to mind, variously, the approach of the Sligo maestri Coleman and Morrison (MacDiarmada's a Sligo man himself!), the fluid style of Kevin Burke, the keen intelligence of Martin Hayes and the heart-stopping subtlety of Paddy Canny, there's little doubt that MacDiarmada walks alongside the greats; not in their footsteps!
Young, ferociously talented, sensitive, intelligent. Pay The Reckoning cannot overstate just how accomplished this album is. The band have dug deep and constructed tune sets which are truly their own and yet which hold together so well that the listener could easily be fooled into thinking that time itself had brought the tunes together in a happy coincidence. The lads play like they've each been at the music for longer than their collective years. Let's hope they stick around for another two or three albums at least!
Chulrua
Concert and danceSaturday, March 1, 2003
First Christian Church
Ticket price TBA, contingent upon approval of grant funding.This event is a joint project with the Mid-Missouri Traditional Dancers.
Chulrua has played here several times in recent years, including an appearance at First Night 2000.Chulrua will play a concert then we'll have a dance with contra and Irish Ceilidh and Set dancing led by Jim Thaxter and Christine Harker. Local musicians are welcome to bring instruments and join in with the members of Chulrua to play for the dance.
About them:
Chulrua plays the old music of Ireland, in keeping with the tradition as it was handed down from generation to generation. Paddy O’Brien on button accordion is an acknowledged master, Uilleann piper Tim Britton is foremost in an innovative younger generation, and Tipperary man Pat Egan sings with a voice as smooth as foam on a pint of Guinness. Together they will lift your spirits, touch your heart, and send you dreaming to the land of turf smoke and green fields.Andy Irvine
Thursday, March 20, 2003
Sacred Heart Church Activities Building
$12 public/$10 CMCAA membersIt's been a long wait! We had Andy Irvine scheduled to play here last May, but complications with his INS visa forced him to cancel. This time, though, success is assured.
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Classes Classes Classes!
CMCAA is very pleased to announce that we will be offering four classes through the Columbia Area Career Center for the winter/spring session. Career Center course catalogs will be mailed to Columbia households during the first week of January.
You will also be able request a catalog or browse course listings and register online at their web site, www.career-center.org
Beginning Irish Social Dance
8 weeks, Wednesdays, beginning Feb 19 6:30 - 8 p.m.
Instructor: Christine Harker, Ph.D.Beginning Irish Language (Gaelic)
8 weeks, Wednesdays, beginning Feb 19 7 - 9 p.m.
Instructor: Evan Smith, Ph.D.Beginning Irish Music on the Tin Whistle
Tuesdays, Feb 18 7 - 8
Instructor: Elliott RibnerPlanning a Trip to Ireland,
One-evening seminar Tuesday March 10 6 - 9 p.m.
Presenters: Kate Akers and Vicki RightmyreIn addition to these classes, Christine will also teach Advanced Irish Social Dancing (Set and Ceilidh) for continuing students on Wednesday evenings from 8:15 to 9:30p.m. To register for this class, e-mail Kate Akers kakers@chivalry.com. Fee for this class will be $40 or $70 for two people.
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Tidbits
* Condolences go to the family and friends of Monica Hoban, a great supporter of CMCAA, who passed away last month. Irish immigrants, Monica and her husband Michael brought their family to Boone County in the 1960s. Michael, who passed away in 1996, was a great button accordion player who mentored many local musicians and wrote lots of tunes that we still play, and have traveled on with other musicians. Monica battled cancer valiently for the last several years and often came to CMCAA events, always expressing her support and encouragement for our efforts through her kind words and loving spirit.
* In the December issue of Mizzou Magazine, the UMC alumni publication, there is a great article about Ken Hines, Boone County Fire Protection District Chief and coordinator of the BCFPD pipe and drum corps. Kudos to Ken!
* January 23 Trinity Academy of Irish Dance will perform on the MU campus for the University Concert Series. CMCAA members may purchase tickets at a group discount rate ($5 off per ticket) by calling Jennifer Wright at 573-882-3781. See www.concertseries.org for show details.