Irish Fest Set for Aug. 16 to Aug. 19

Milwaukee Irish Fest will focus on Co. Clare for its 2007 venue, set for Aug. 16 to 19 on the Henry W. Maeir Lakefront Festival grounds. To see the festival’s schedule for its 27th year, check www.irishfest.com.

Cedarburg Set Dancing Starts Sept. 10

Sets in the 'burg" means Irish set dancing for southeastern Wisconsin. This is the dancing real folk do in the pubs in Ireland and there are no curly wigs or high steppin' involved! No previous experience, no partner, not even talent required. It is social dancing, for fun, for fitness, for adults. But especially for fun. 

Sessions start Monday, Sept 10, run weekly till Oct. 29 at the Roadhouse Bar & Grill at 5 Corners in Cedarburg. Classes are from 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Open dancing follows the class from 8:30 till 9:30. Class is $45 per person, for the eight-week program. Visit the first class and try it out - no obligation! 

More information at: www.setsintheburg.org; or call Kathy at 377-8639.

‘On Raglan Road’ to Open in London

On Raglan Road, by Tom O’Brien and directed by Russell Kennedy will open at the Old Red Lion in London, 8 p.m. Aug. 21 to Sept. 8 (closed Mondays; with a 6 p.m. performance Saturday and Sunday. Two for the price of one offer @ £10, from Aug. 21-23.

Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh was born in Inishkeen, Co Monaghan, on the Oct. 21, 1904. On Raglan Road explores Kavanagh’s obsession with his muse and inspiration, Hilda Moriarty. The play also details Kavanagh’s rivalry with another Irish writer of the time, Brendan Behan. The play is full of pathos, mixed with poetry and song.

Kavanagh is now regarded as Ireland’s most important poet after William Butler Yeats. The son of a shoemaker and small farmer, he moved to Dublin in his mid-30s where he lived in poverty for most of his life, surviving on handouts, the occasional bit of journalism, but mostly being supported by his younger brother, Peter. 

On Raglan Road is a poem about his thwarted love affair with Moriarty, which was doomed from the start. Always a controversial figure, Kavanagh was hated as much as loved in Dublin, and his long-running feud with Behan is well-chronicled. 

For further information contact: John Dunne, Croft Productions, The Croft, Wall Street, Islington, London N1 3NB. Phone: 020 7226 0524/E: John@croftproductions.com.

Frank Patterson Remembered: From Galway to Broadway

Chicago’s Irish American Heritage Center will host a memorial concert honoring iconic Irish musician, the late Frank Patterson, this fall. the program, entitled "Frank Patterson Remembered: From Galway to Broadway" is set for 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased by calling the IAHC office at 773-282-7035. 

"From Galway to Broadway" features Irish tenor, Ciaran Sheehan and award-winning soprano Gay Willis. Patterson’s wife, Eily O'Grady Patterson, will accompany on piano. Sheehan performs music from the Ireland and Broadway and Willis accompanies him on such classics as "Memory," "Danny Boy," "Galway Bay," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and "God Bless America."

The production has toured America and Ireland for four years, selling out venues including The National Concert Hall in Dublin and New York's Carnegie Hall. 

Sheehan made his Broadway debut in Les Miserables and was later cast as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera for more than a thousand performances. Award-winning soprano Willis starred in the world tour of "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber: A Concert Spectacular with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman." 

The concert is dedicated to noted tenor Patterson, who performed sellout concerts from London's Royal Albert Hall to New York's Carnegie Hall. He performed many times at the IAHC up until his death in 2000. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 773-282-7035. 

18th Annual Golf Open on Sept. 8

Polish off the five-iron and get ready for the 18th Annual Irish American Heritage Center Golf Open on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007. 
The outing is set to begin at noon at the St. Andrews Golf and Country Club in West Chicago. The $100 fee includes golf and dinner at the course. 

To book a tee time, call Alan Duggan, 312-401-2603, Maureen 
O' Looney at 773-286-6866 or the IAHC at 773 282-7035. All proceeds from the open go to the Irish American Heritage Center. 

First Friday Film Series Set at the ICHC

Film fans are encouraged to visit the Chicago Irish American Heritage Center for its First Friday Film Series this fall. Films are shown on the first Friday of each month at 8pm unless otherwise noted. A moderator leads a discussion on the film’s content after each screening.

The sSeries is designed to promote Irish and Irish-American artistically and culturally significant films that have not received significant distribution channels in the US market. The series also honors the breakthrough work of the great Irish and Irish-American film artists and helps develop an understanding of the influence of the film on the perception of Irish culture in American society.

Friday, Sept. 7, 8 p.m.: Home 
New York filmmaker, Dawn Scibilia follows Dubliner, Alan Cooke as he reflects on his recent immigration to New York City in the contemplative and poetic feature film, Home. The film features off-the-cuff interviews with native New Yorkers, immigrants and notable New Yorkers Susan Sarandon, Liam Neeson, Woody Allen, Pete Hamill, Frank and Malachy McCourt and Fran Lebowitz. The cost is $10. A discussion on emigration and the concept of Home follows the film. 

Friday, October 5, 8 p.m. Shalom Ireland
Shalom Ireland is a documentary about Ireland's remarkable, yet little known Jewish community. The film chronicles the history of Irish Jews while celebrating the unique culture created by blending Irish and Jewish traditions. Today, as their population declines and their culture is in jeopardy of becoming extinct, Irish Jews have launched an effort to revitalize Ireland's once vibrant Jewish community. The cost is $10. Following the film, there will be a concert, featuring noted Irish musicians and Klezmer musicians. 

Friday, Nov. 2, 8 p.m.: finalists and winners of The CelticTUBE Film Festival 
This contest focuses on all aspects of Celtic culture. Submissions must contain subject matter related to this broad topic. Entries can be filmed using any device including mobile phones. All submissions must be sent to the IAHC on a DVD in MPEG format. Entries must be no longer than five minutes, not including credits. Entrants must ensure that they own or have obtained all licenses and copyright to allow the film to be screened in public. Entries that contain material which is excessively violent, sexually explicit or defamatory will be rejected.

There is no charge to attend the screening, but there is a $5 suggested donation at the door. For more information on the First Friday Film Series, call the Center office at 773-282-7035, ext. 10. 

Second Annual Chicago Invitational Choral Festival on Oct. 7

The Irish Heritage Singers are proud to present the Second Annual Chicago Invitational Choral Festival on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 3 p.m. The event is at the Irish American Heritage Center at 4626 North Knox Avenue in Chicago. Tickets are $15 and children 12 and under are free.

The festival features performances by several area choirs that culminates in a massed choir performance which includes all participants. A grand prize will be awarded for best overall performance, with the audience getting to play a part in selecting the winner, as well as by judges with backgrounds in choral music.

The Chicago Invitational Choral Festival was conceived to give quality choral groups a venue for performance, a chance to increase their reputations and a means of reaching diverse audiences. The Festival also provides a platform for people throughout Chicagoland to experience and enjoy a broad variety of choral talent in one evening.

Some of the choirs participating include: The Irish Heritage Singers, The North Wave Chorus, the Kol Zimrah Men’s Chorus, the Skokie Concert Choir, The Old Town School of Music Woman’s Choir, Sing To Live Community Chorus, the Chicago Metro Chorus and the North Shore Harmonizers.

The Fifth Province Pub will be open for refreshments after the show, where a sing song will take place and attendees can enjoy a cash bar and cash buffet dinner. To order tickets, call the IAHC at 773-282-7035, ext. 10. 

The Coolera Dramatic Society Presents ‘Sive’

The Irish American Heritage Center will host the Coolera Dramatic Society of Co. Sligo for a production of John B. Keane’s Sive. The company will perform the play on Sept. 5 and 6, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and reservations are necessary. To purchase tickets, call the IAHC office at 773-282-7035. 

John B. Keane was one of Ireland's most prolific literary figures. His massive volume of work includes 18 plays and 32 works of prose and poetry. Sive was Keane's first play and was an immediate success when it premiered in 1959, earning the budding playwright the prize at that year's All-Ireland Drama Festival. 

Set in a remote area of North Kerry, Sive tells the story of the promise in marriage of the young and beautiful Sive to a much older man. Written more than 40 years ago, it is a rich character and social portrait of mid-century rural Ireland and a morality tale about the consequences of greed and bitterness.

The Coolera Dramatic Society (C.D.S.) is one of Ireland’s premier community drama companies located in County Sligo’s scenic Coolera/Strandhill peninsula on the West coast of Ireland. The company has been in existence since 1974, producing one and three act plays and youth theater.

C.D.S. has participated in Drama Festivals since 1991 and have performed in theatres all over Ireland, culminating with appearances in 11 All Ireland Drama Festivals. The group won the All-Ireland confined Drama Finals in 1993 and second place in the 2000 All- Ireland Open Drama Final in Athlone. 

For more information or to purchase tickets, call the IAHC at 773-282-7035.

IAHC Lecture to Discuss Graphology

The Center will offer a lecture and presentation on graphology this fall. Graphology, The Science of Handwriting is a lecture and showcase by Brigid O’Malley on Sunday, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m. Cost for the lecture is $5. 

Graphology is the study of handwriting especially for the purpose of character analysis. By analyzing a person's writing, a behavioral profile can be determined to gain insight into physical, mental, and emotional states of the writer. Handwriting reveals the essentials of personality and character. O’Malley will focus on the handwriting of 10 famous Irish writers. 

For more information, call 773-282-7035, ext. 10. 

Irish School Resumes Classes

The first Irish School in the Chicago area resumes classes at the Irish American Heritage Center this fall. The school, Scoil Na Bpaisti: Children’s Center for Cultural Studies, meets on Saturday mornings from 8:45am-noon. Children from ages 6-16 can participate in lessons on Irish heritage, culture, customs, language, art and music, through drama, storytelling, crafts and games.

The fall session runs from Sept. 29-Dec. 1. Fees for the Saturday classes are $45 per class for IAHC members and $60 for non-members. Students who enroll in the Saturday classes, excluding the summer program and take any three classes; one per term, pay $100 for members and $150 for non-members. Discounts for families apply. 

Classes include Irish language, a teen theater workshop and Celtic mythology and art

To register, call 773-282-7035, ext. 10.

ICHC Great Irish American Books and Authors Discussion

The Center continues its Great Irish American Books and Authors discussion from September, 2007, through May, 2008, in the Irish American Heritage Library. Sessions are held at 2 p.m. on the second Sunday of the month. The discussion is free and open to the public.

The program is led by moderator Virginia Gibbons, who has been at the Oakton Community College since 1989 as a writing and ESL teacher. She has also taught Modern Irish Literature and Chicago literature. Gibbons is a member of the Geneva Writers’ Group and holds a bachelor’s. from Loyola University and a master’s in Applied Linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University. 

The 2007 schedule is below.

Sept. 9: Maeve Brennan: Homesick at the New Yorker, by Angela Bourke
Oct. 14: All Will Be Well byJohn McGahern
Nov. 11: Chicago May by Nuala O’Faolain
Dec. 9: Dubliners by James Joyce

For more information on the Great Irish American Books and Authors discussion group, call the IAHC at 773-282-7035, ext. 19. 

Irish Heritage Singers Release New CD

The Irish Heritage Singers’ latest CD, Tir Na Ceol/Land of Song, is now available on CDBaby (www.cdbaby.com)! CDBaby is a website devoted to selling the music of independent artists. You can find our CD by title, artist name, or under Celtic, Folk or World Music. Order a copy by calling the group’s mailbox at the Irish American Heritage Center: 773-282-7035 ext. 34.

The Irish Heritage Singers are currently seeking six to eight new tenors to fill out our choral ranks. Contact the director at 773-282-7035, etx. 34 for more information, or come to one of the rehearsals held eachThursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Room 308 of the IAHC, 4626 N. Knox Ave.

Conference of Celtic Women Begins Oct. 4

The annual conference of Celtic Women is set for Oct. 4 –6, 2007, at Milwaukee’s Irish Culural & Heritage Center, 2133 W. Wisconsin Ave. Admission is $ 5.00 at the door. Call 414-257-3770 or email conference@conferenceofcelticwomen.org

This three-day event features speakers and performers from the Celtic Nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Isle of Man, Cornwall and Galicia.  Music, dance, talks, vendors, and all meals included as well. 

Milwaukee’s ICHC Offers Autumn Concert Series

Gráda: Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007
The Elders:  Friday, Oct. 26, 2007
Gan Bua: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007
The Clancy Legacy: Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007

To order tickets online at www.ichc.net
or by phone all the ICHC at (414) 345-8800

Hallamór Concert #1 
Saturday, Sept. 22 
8 p.m.
Doors open at 6:45 pm 
This concert will be opened at 7 p.m. with a supporting act.

Gráda
Tickets: $19 in advance, $21 on concert day
Alan Doherty: flutes; whistles; vocals 
Nicola Joyce: vocals; bodhran; fiddle; whistles 
Colin Farrell: fiddle; whistle 
Gerry Paul: guitar; bouzouki 
Andrew Laking: double bass; vocals; guitar

Gráda is a young band comprised of Irish musicians who reflect the world of traditional Irish and popular music as well. The musicians "play with obvious respect for the ancient roots of their music, but also without any apparent fear that they might break it through experimentation," according to Rick Anderson, all-Music Guide. Gráda combines instrumental virtuosity with an elegant, timeless and refreshingly distinct vocal style. They have recently received a number of rewards and reviews that have propelled them into the elite circle of Irish super groups. 

Gráda web site: www.gradamusic.com
 

Hallamór Concert #2 
Friday, Oct. 26 
8 p.m.
Doors open at 6:45 p.m. 
This concert will be opened at 7 p.m. with a supporting act.
 

The Elders 
Tickets: $19 in advance, $21 on concert day
Ian Byrne: vocals; percussion 
Norm Dahlor: bass; banjo; guitar; vocals 
Brent Hoad: violin; mandolin; keyboards; vocals 
Joe Miquelon: keyboards; saxophone 
Tommy Sutherland: drums; percussion 
Steve Phillips: guitar; mandolin; vocals. 

The Elders, our October concert performers, will bring their high energy, Celtic contemporary music to the Hallamór concert series. These six Kansas City musicians blend their heritage into many of their own compositions that are virtually indistinguishible from that which is authentic and timeless Their music, like the history of the Irish, ranges from happy hand clapping, foot stomping music, to the mournful and haunting. Fans of The Elders are known to drive hundreds of miles to see them perform – come see why! This is a concert for the young and the young at heart! 

The Elders web site: www.eldersmusic.com
 
 

Hallamór Concert #3 
Saturday, Nov. 10 
8:00 p.m.
Doors open at 6:45 p.m. 
This concert will be opened at 7 p.m. with a supporting act.

Gan Bua 
Tickets: $19 in advance, $21 on concert day
Jackie Moran: bodhran; percussion; vocals 
Christy Bain: fiddle 
Sean Gavin: flute; uillean pipes 
Brian Hart: vocals; concertina; tin whistles 
Brian Miller: guitar; vocals

Gan Bua is a new major force on the traditional Irish music scene. Coming from different places and backgrounds, each member adds their contribution to create a powerful and cohesive musical display. Their blend of stimulating instrumentals and spellbinding songs leaves audiences wanting more. "In the spirit of Dervish, Solas, Danu and the like, this driving, flighty, bodhran-motored, Chicago-based band steps out into the light with their head-turning sound that can only come from top notch musicianship and immaculately-crisp delivery...." Tamara Turner, reviewer CD Baby. 

Gan Bua web site: www.ganbua.com
 
 

Hallamór Concert #4 
Saturday, Dec. 22 
8 p.m.
Doors open at 6:45 p.m. 
This concert will be opened at 7p.m. with a supporting act.

The Clancy Legacy 
Tickets: $19 in advance, $21 on concert day
Aoife Clancy: lead vocals; guitar 
Donal Clancy: guitar 
Robbie O’Connell: vocals; guitar 
George Keith: fiddle

Founded in 2006, The Clancy Legacy is the second generation of one of the most storied families in Irish music. Aoife Clancy, daughter of Bobby Clancy, has toured with Cherish the Ladies and has a voice described as honest, clear, and her delivery as straightforward with "gorgeous naturalism." Robbie O’Connell, nephew of the Clancy brothers and an acclaimed singer and song-writer, has toured and recorded with Green Fields of America, Eileen Ivers, Seamus Egan and his famous uncles. Liam’s son Donal Clancy is a guitarist and founding member of Danú, who has also recorded with Solas and Cherish the Ladies. Rounding out the group is George Keith, a midwest fiddle player who discovered Irish traditional music at Brown University, won the Cheoil championship in 1994. and has since toured worldwide with Robbie and Aoife. 

To vist The Clancy Legacy online, go to: www.woodenshipproductions.com