Irish Ring  Debuts

The American premier of The Irish Ring, a selection of 19th century Irish operas, opens at Boston Symphony Hall on Thursday, Sept. 19.  It features some of Ireland's best classical singers, including Anthony Kearns of the Irish Tenors.

For a chance to win a pair of tickets to this show, visit http://www.irishmassachusetts.com/Contest_IrishRing.htm for details. 

Maggie's Music Announces Two New Releases for September and the Holiday Season

Scottish Reflections 
Bonnie Rideout (no. MM226) 
Scottish Music featuring Bonnie Rideout on Scottish fiddle & viola "One of the world's leading Scottish fiddlers." — NPR Morning Edition

Scottish instrumental music featuring Bonnie Rideout & Maggie's Music artists includes music from more than 10 years of musical collaboration with top artists on the Maggie's Music label. It's musicians sharing their talents within a close Celtic community that is as small as your living room and as large as the world.

Includes: "MacDonald of the Isles March to Harlaw" (march), "Source of the Spey" (Strathspey), and T"he Periwig Reel" performed with Hesperus early music ensemble on pennywhistle, bass viol and Gothic "bray" harp; "Minstrel of MacDonald's," which showcases Bonnie's use of intricate variations and ornamentations; "Dunblane," an original composition with members of the world champion City of Washington Pipe Band; "Lochaber No More" and "Seal Songs," haunting melodies from the Patrick MacDonald Collection (1784) with four-time National Scottish Harp Champion Sue Richards.

Bonnie Rideout's other albums include Soft May Morn, Celtic Circles, Kindred Spirits, Gi'Me Elbow Room, Scottish Fire, Scottish Rant and A Scottish Christmas.

A Winter's Night: Christmas in the Great Hall
Ensemble Galilei (no. MM226)

Celebrate the joyous spirit of the holiday season, Celtic traditions and all of the best things about Christmas performed with crackling energy and brilliant performances on fiddles, Celtic harp, oboe, whistles, recorders, Scottish small pipes, Uilleann pipes, and the treble and bass viols. 

Includes: traditional Christmas favorites ("Bring A Torch," "Jeanette Isabella," "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," "What Child Is This,"  "The First Nowell,"  "In Dulci Jubilo,"  "I Saw Three Ships,"  "Danse Arabe" (from The Nutcracker Suite); Celtic carols from Galicia, Ireland and Scotland; medieval and Renaissance dance tunes, 17th century English carols and original compositions to mark the winter solstice.

ENSEMBLE GALILEI is: Liz Knowles, fiddle, viola; Deborah Nuse, Scottish small pipes, fiddle; Sue Richards, Celtic Harp; Carolyn Anderson Surrick, viols; Sarah Weiner, oboe, tinwhistle, recorder; and with special guest Kieran O'Hare, Uilleann Pipes, flutes, low whistles & tinwhistles.

The music from this CD has been chosen by National Public Radio for a holiday special hosted by Bonnie Grice from Washington, DC. It was aired on 110 stations across the USA last year and will be featured again this year.

Other Maggie's Music recordings that feature Ensemble Galilei are: (MM108) Ancient Noels and (MM107) Music in the Great Hall: Instrumental music from the ancient Celtic lands.

Maggie's Music, an independent record label, celebrates 15 years and more than 40 albums distributed worldwide. The label is known for its elegance, quality and a broad-ranging appeal in many musical genres. Also featured in its mail order catalog: music books, gift items and special collections suitable for music therapy, education and the healing arts. Presenting some of the finest musicians performing today, Maggie's Music brings a new vitality to traditional music without compromising the essence and spirit of its source — a "new" music from the deep well of our ancient folk traditions.

"Gaelic traditions are alive and well... Maggie's Music has been a driving force behind the popularity of Celtic 'chamber folk,' which combines the intricate harmonies of classical music with the energy and spirit of folk music." —- Washington Post

"Maggie's Music is a label that has pushed the definitions of traditional Irish music with New Age-flavored recordings. The Celtic invasion is here!"   —- Billboard magazine

PO Box 490
Shady Side, MD
(410) 867-0642
maggie@maggiesmusic.com
www.maggiesmusic.com

Boston Offers McCormick Deal

Canada's famous Irish Tenor, John McDermott, is coming to Boston Symphony Hall, on Monday, October 1, for a special performance.  You can win two front row seats to the concert by going to http://www.irishmassachusetts.com/Contest_JMcDermott.htm

For a full line up of Irish activities in Massachusetts visit us at www.IrishMassachusetts.com.  To discover the state's rich Irish history visit www.IrishHeritageTrail.com.

Celtic Women to Meet in New Orleans

The fifth Celtic Women's Conference, set for oct. 10-12 iin New Orleans. Presenters include:
 

Ireland	Padraigín Clancy and Pauline Patterson (via New Orleans)
Scotland	Maureen Jelks and Marjorie Warren (via N. Carolina)
Cornwall	Amy Hale
Wales	Elinor Bennett
Isle of Man	Annie Kissack and Breesha Maddrell
Galicia	Monica Garcia,  Elio Mayo, Patricia Fernandez and Monica Fontan
Brittany	Nolwenn Monjarret

A selection of American-Celts will also be directing sessions. Among them are Flora MacDonald Gammon, Cindy Matyi,  Beth Vaughan, Barbara Ryan and Susan Walmsley, Margaret Rogers,  Betsy McGovern, Eileen Niehouse and Annette White-Parks.

For  regististration and other details, check the Celtic Women website at www.celticwomen.org. 

Celtic Women International is an international organization which honors, celebrates and prromotes Celtic women and their heritage by offering global membership, a balance of intellectual and cultural pursuits and an international community through sharing and supporting all of those with an interest in Celtic culture and heritage.

Celtic Women International Again Offers First Friday Lecture Series

Celtic Women International again offers a season of lectures on Celtic issues,  with sessions beginning  at 5:30 p.m. and running until 7 p.m.  Programs at held at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center, 2133 W. Wisconsin Ave.,  Milwaukee.

Friday, September 6:  Seosaimhín Nic Rabhartaigh, Milwaukee's own Irish Lass.  "Seosi"  poet, singer, songwriter, teller of tales will regale us with an Irish evening. 

November 1:  to be announced.

December 6:  a Celtic Christmas celebration.

T he public is invited to CWI lectures.  Admission is $5 per person.  Tea is served.
 

Danú Puts on Midwest Gigs

Danú, the Waterford based traditional group, will be in America's Dairyland for two shows next week. They will be at the UW Madison Music Hall on Thursday, Sept. 12. On Friday, Sept. 13, you can find them at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center in Milwaukee. Both shows are at 8 pm. Seating is limited for both halls, so call ahead.

For the previous two years, Danú was the crowd favorite at Irish Fest in Milwaukee. One of the most exciting young bands to come out of Ireland in the last decade, this collection of seven lads, including some All-Ireland champions, has developed one of the most dynamic sounds since the likes of Altan and Solas. The peerless vocals of Ciarán Ó Gealbháin provide the perfect counterpoint to the irrepressible instrumentals.

Danu is a kickoff for a fall of concerts and classes for both metro areas. In Madison, there will be a number of classes being taught by members of the Celtic Music Association. These are being run through the University of Wisconsin system.

In Milwaukee, the ICHC is running a series of concerts through April, 2003. The week after Danú, Susana Seivane, a Galician piper, will make her Milwaukee debut on Friday, Sept. 20. From Galicia in northwest Spain comes Seivane, who plays the Galician gaeta, which sounds similar to the uillean pipes. She visits the ICHC with five other Galician musicians.

For more information about Celtic classes, concerts, and other events and organizations in the Madison area, go to: http://celticmadison.org/

For more information about the Madison concert, call Bob at 251-1072 or email the Celtic Music Association at cma@celticmadison.org
 

For information on the ICHC concert series, and how to subscribe for the series, call 414-345-8800, or click on http://www.ichc.net/concerts/ennrollmentform.html .
 

Metropolis to Present "Couple of Blaguards," Sept. 19-29.

Don't miss a bubbling stew of Irish humor, with dashes of poignancy to sharpen the flavor, when Metropolis Performing Arts Centre presents the two-character Irish comedy A Couple of Blaguards, created by the brothers Frank and Malachy McCourt, Sept. 19-29,

Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. at Metropolis, 111 W. Campbell St. in downtown Arlington Heights. Tickets are $25. For tickets and information, call the Metropolis box office, (847) 577-2121, stop by Tues.- Sun., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or show time), or purchase tickets online at http://www.metropolisarts.com.

Malachy McCourt, co-creator of A Couple of Blaguards, will be on hand in the Metropolis lobby signing his new book Voices of Ireland - Classic Writings of a Rich and Rare Land starting at 7 p.m., prior to the 8 p.m. performance on Friday., Sept. 20. McCourt is also expected to participate in a post-show discussion.

Unlike their best-selling books, Angela's Ashes, 'Tis (Frank) and A Monk Swimming (Malachy), A Couple of Blaguards is a tongue-in-cheek autobiography that spans their years growing up in Ireland, and their escape to America in search of a better life. Though times were tough for the McCourt family in Limerick, the tales spun by the Frank and Malachy characters simmer with bittersweet recollections and ferocious humor. 

NewYork's Newsday raved A Couple of Blaguards "mixes the sweetness and kick of an Irish coffee," while Variety called the Blaguards "lovable rogues with lovable brogues." However, their own mother Angela McCourt noted "Twasn't the way it happened at all! It's all a pack of lies."

On their web site, http://www.acoupleofblaguards.com, Frank McCourt explains "Malachy stood behind the bar and told his customers stories. I stood before the blackboard and told my students stories. At holiday gatherings we told our families stories. They said, 'Why not get together, cobble these stories into a script and tell the world." 

Malachy adds, "This show is the result of Frank and myself listening to the stories of our elders which in turn tunes the ear, the eye and the tongue to observe and give voice to even the most trivial of events. I think we had more fun than anyone writing and performing Blaguards, which has become an affectionate term for the rowdy outgoing and sometimes drinking sort boys. If you don't have a good evening, you should have yourself checked to make sure you haven't died during the day."

In Chicago, A Couple of Blaguards will star Mickey Kelly as Frank and Howard Platt as Malachy. Kelly has played Frank in several productions over the years, including opposite Malachy McCourt at New York's Triad Theater, Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and Dublin's Andrew's Lane Theatre. Platt has portrayed Malachy in numerous regional stagings of A Couple of Blaguards, and he directed the recent New York, Washington D.C., and Boston productions.

More Comedy Happenings at the Metropolis

Flanagan's Wake 
Oct. 1, 2002-Jan. 28, 2003
Tuesdays @ 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $25
Exceptions: No shows Oct. 15; Nov. 5, 19, 26; Dec. 24 & 31.

A smash hit this summer at Metropolis in its first suburban Chicago run,
Noble Fool's Irish interactive comedy Flanagan's Wake is being brought back by popular demand Oct. 1-Jan. 28, on selected Tuesday nights. 

Grieve as only the Irish can as Flanagan's Wake transports audiences back to the fictional village of Grapplin, Ireland, where the townsfolk gather to tell tales, sing songs and mourn the passing of one of their own. Share tales of your own misadventures with old Flanagan, or simply enjoy the stories and songs with Grapplin's eccentric cast of locals.

Metropolis is located in the heart of Arlington Heights' newly revitalized
downtown business district, at the intersection of Campbell Street and Vail
Avenue one block south of the Metra station.

As an anchor building in downtown Arlington Heights, Metropolis is surrounded by retail shops and fine dining establishments, including a new restaurant right in the Metropolis complex, Tuller's Chophouse and Bar.

Free parking is available in the garage behind the theater. Complimentary valet parking is now available directly in front of the theater on Friday and Saturday. Metropolis also offers wheelchair, easy access seating and a hearing amplification system. For more information, contact the Metropolis box office, (847) 577-2121, or visit Metropolis online at http://www.metropolisarts.com.