Area Irish Music Events
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
MOHAWK VALLEY IRISH CULTURAL Volume 15, Issue 12 EVENTS NEWSLETTER Dec 2018 Cherish The Ladies: A Celtic Christmas One of the most engaging and successful ensembles in the history of Celtic music, Cherish The Ladies have shared timeless Irish traditions with audiences worldwide for over thirty years. Hailed by The New York Times as “passionate, tender and rambunctious,” Cherish The Ladies have released three critically acclaimed holiday albums, On Christmas Night, A Star In The East, and 2015’s Christmas In Ireland, and have recently released their 17th CD, “Heart of the Home.” This year, A Celtic Christmas – part of their “Heart of the Home” tour – finds the ladies at two fairly close venues: on December 8th at the Walton Theater (30 Gardiner Place, Walton, NY) and again on Dec 18th at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (30 Second Street Troy, NY). In their Celtic Christmas program, the Ladies put their signature mark on classic carols such as “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Silent Night,” in arrangements that highlight the group’s unique Celtic instrumentation, beautiful harmonies, and spectacular step dancing. Tickets for the 7:30 PM Walton Theater show are $20, and are available on-line or by calling (607) 865-6829. Tickets for the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall performance -- also a 7:30 PM show -- range from $29-$34, and are available online. Best not tarry, though; many of their shows on this tour are already sold out! The Turning of the Year: A Celtic/Americana Holiday Celebration On Saturday, December 8, 2018, Proctor Theater’s 8th Step welcomes back award-winning musician John Whelan - original Riverdance cast member and legendary player - and some very talented friends for their holiday concert “The Turning of the Year: A Celtic/Americana Holiday Celebration.” Seven-time All-Ireland Accordion Champion and Narada recording artist John Whelan teams up with members of American roots band Low Lily (Liz Simmons - vocals, guitar; Flynn Cohen - vocals, guitar, mandolin; Lissa Schneckenburger - vocals, fiddle; and Corey DiMario - double bass) and Scottish-style fiddler Katie McNally for a spectacular holiday celebration. Featuring traditional and original music from Ireland, Scotland, and America, this diverse and energetic show ushers in the holiday season with a festive flair. Up-tempo jigs and reels take their place alongside Christmas carols and wintry classics, featuring two fiddles, accordion, guitars, mandolin, and lush, layered vocals. This delightful show brings the generations together for a fresh new take on roots music from both sides of the pond. Tickets for the 7:30 PM show range from $26-$45 and are available on-line. Proctors is located at 432 State Street in Schenectady, NY Mohawk Valley Irish Cultural Events - 1 “A Very Blarney Christmas” Save the date Dec 21st on your social calendar, and make plans to attend the 14th annual “A Very Blarney Christmas” at Piggy Pat’s Smoke and Ale House. What better way could there be to go into the final weekend before Christmas, to celebrate getting your shopping done, or just to get together with friends and family over laughs and libations? Time’s up, I’ll have to give you the answer: There is no better way. The Blarney Rebel Band promises a night of music and madness, harmonies and humor, singalongs and something that starts with “s.” And of course, this special night would not be complete without their infamous set of traditional and classic Christmas music, Irish dancers, guest vocalist Lisa Kopie stepping out from behind the bar, and the beautiful closing singalong, Silent Night. Reservations are going quickly, why not call today! SING! An Irish Christmas featuring Keith and Kristyn Getty On Sunday, Dec 16th, the Clemons Theater in Elmira presents a night of reverence, singalongs, celebration and harmony, as they bring in modern hymn-writers Keith and Kristyn Getty and their seventh annual Christmas concert tour, “Sing! An Irish Christmas.” The Gettys, who have helped to reinvent the modern-hymn form, are now invigorating Christmas carol singing in cities across America. Keith Getty was recently awarded the “Officer of the Order of the British Empire” (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to “music and modern hymn writing.” The Getty’s Christmas concert tour has grown to be one of the largest annual Christmas concert tours in the nation and has been broadcasted on public television to over 45 million households across the country. They will be joined by their award-winning band of instrumentalists – fusing Celtic, bluegrass, Americana, modern and classical music as well as cultural dance and the choral sounds of the holiday. General admission tickets for the 7:30 PM performance are $30, and are available through NewCreationEvents.com. VIP packages are also available for $50. Included are refreshments with the artists, early orchestra seat selection, photo opportunities with the artists, and early entry 6 PM. Children 1 year old or under are free with accompanying adult in either general or VIP admission. Save the D… Hang on a sec… SING! An Irish Christmas, continued Okay, I’ve gotta ask. Are they really expecting any 1-year olds coming without an accompanying adult? Save the Date: The Halfway to Great American Irish Festival Hooley The Great American Irish Festival wants you to mark your calendar for one of the most fun winter parties of all: The annual Halfway to GAIF Hooley! The party, which marks the big reveal of the 2019 festival lineup and the announcement of the 2019 St. Patrick’s Day Grand Marshal, is set for January 25th, 2019 at the Saranac Brewery’s 1888 Tavern. Stay tuned for more details next month. There is No Joy in the MVICE Office… With this issue, our saintly cousin and MVICE co-founder, Beth Loftis, will be retiring from the newsletter. That’s right, after 182 months of doing whatever it was she did here, she’s calling it quits, qualifying her to roll over the IRA we promised her. And since zeroes are essentially O’s, they’ll roll quite nicely and for a long time. But seriously Beth, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the grace, humor and diligence you brought to the job, month after month. You will most certainly be missed. Oh, and Kari says: “Clean out your desk.” Mohawk Valley Irish Cultural Events - 2 Call of Caledonia – by Kari “McKendrick” Procopio For Auld Lang Syne, Times Long Passed In November my Grandmother passed away. I have fond memories of her mother (my Granny) sharing Scottish tales, but it was my Grandmother who truly raised me to know and honor my roots. Her passing during the holiday season and the coming of Hogmanay has given me pause to examine this festival of remembrance and renewal. Hogmanay is the Scottish word for last day of the year and the New Year celebration which has early Norse and Celtic roots. Hogmanay is lively and spectacular – with parties that have lasted up to five days. It is also a holiday steeped in ancient ritual. As I child, I remember my Grandmother explaining to much juvenile disbelief, “Oh, it’s much bigger deal than Christmas.” But as I later learned, Christmas was virtually banned in Scotland for over 400 years as a result of the Protestant Reformation and not celebrated until the 1950s. Up until the mid-20th century, many Scots worked over Christmas and celebrated their winter solstice holiday at Hogmanay when family and friends would gather to party and exchange presents. I think of Hogmanay as a nod to new beginnings while honoring yesteryear. The firework displays we know today, and torchlight processions still enjoyed throughout Scotland are modern reminders of a country’s pagan past. And of course, there’s “first footing,” a Hogmanay superstition that calls to ensure good luck for a household, the first foot to cross the threshold after midnight should be a dark-haired male or female. The individual would bring symbolic pieces of salt, shortbread, coal, or whisky (lucky would be recipient of the whisky). It is believed that superstition arose from Viking days, when a blonde male stranger at your door could mean immediate trouble or for the year ahead. Perhaps the most iconic Hogmanay tradition occurs at midnight of January 1. The sound of Robert Burns’ famous song, Auld Lang Syne, can be heard like a bell ringing across Scotland, and now the world over. However, the melody we know today was not the one Burns intended. The one that became famous was published by Edinburgh song editor, George Thomson, in the late 1790s. Burns died in 1796. Burns’ inspiration for Auld Lang Syne was an existing song called Auld Kyndes Foryett, with the same line – “Should auld acquaintance be forgot.” There were many versions of the song that date back as far as the 16th century, with Burns’ likely inspired by print and performance versions he heard in the 18th century. It is Scottish tradition to begin singing the song before just midnight, with revelers joined in a circle, holding hands, and rushing to the center as the song ends. It’s true the Scots celebrate with wild abandon, but we’re also a practical sort. Amidst the joyful consumption of whisky and shortbread, music and dance, the Scots like to get their affairs in order before the New Year. There is the ritual of house cleaning, which includes sweeping out the fireplace to rid one of unwanted burdens. And clearing any debts before midnight is also considered an advisable practice. It is said that Hogmanay is derived from the mid-winter impulse to chase away the darkness with light, warmth, and spectacular celebration.