CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT PENN STATE ONSTAGE Today’s performance is sponsored by Robert and Helen Harvey COMMUNITY ADVISORY COUNCIL The Community Advisory Council is dedicated to strengthening the relationship between the Center for the Performing Arts and the community. Council members participate in a range of activities in support of this objective. Nancy VanLandingham, chair Bonnie Marshall Lam Hood, vice chair Pieter Ouwehand Melinda Stearns Judy Albrecht Lillian Upcraft William Asbury Pat Williams Lynn Sidehamer Brown Nina Woskob Philip Burlingame Deb Latta student representatives Eileen Leibowitz Brittany Banik Ellie Lewis Stephanie Corcino Christine Lichtig Jesse Scott Mary Ellen Litzinger CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT PENN STATE presents Paddy Moloney THE CHIEFTAINS and special guests 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, 2015 Eisenhower Auditorium The program will be announced from the stage. The concert is presented without an intermission. sponsors Robert and Helen Harvey media sponsor WPSU The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. THE CHIEFTAINS TOURING PERSONNEL Paddy Moloney uilleann pipes and tin whistle Matt Molloy flute Kevin Conneff bodhran and vocals Ályth McCormack vocals and dance Cara Butler dance Jon Pilatzke harp and dance Nathan Pilatzke dance Tríona Marshall harp and keys Tim Edey guitar Tara Breen fiddle and saxophone Martin Murray banjo and mandolin with Doug Leahy and the Next Generation Leahy Nittany Valley Children’s Choir Lou Ann Shafer artistic director Exclusive Tour Management and Representation: Opus 3 Artists 470 Park Avenue South, 9th Floor North, New York, NY 10016 www.opus3artists.com Kevin Kelly Kevin THE CHIEFTAINS As a six-time Grammy Award-winning band, The Chieftains has been recognized for reinventing traditional Irish music on a contemporary and international scale. The performers’ ability to transcend musi- cal boundaries and blend tradition with modern music has nota- bly hailed them as one of the most renowned and revered musical groups in the world. As cultural ambassadors, The Chieftains’ performances have been linked with seminal historical events, such as being the first West- ern musicians to play on the Great Wall of China; participating in Roger Water’s The Wall performance in Berlin in 1990; and being the first ensemble to perform a concert in the United States Capitol. The group’s collaborations extended out of this world when Paddy Moloney’s whistle and Matt Molloy’s flute travelled with Cady Cole- man, NASA astronaut, to the international space station. Although the early following was purely a folk audience, the band’s range and variation of musical choices—plus the accompanying musicians with which it collaborated—quickly captured The Chief- tains a much broader audience. The Chieftains performed for Pope John Paul II, with an audience of more than 1.3 million people, during his visit to Ireland in 1979. In honor of The Chieftains’ fiftieth anniversary, the ensemble garnered the inaugural National Concert Hall Lifetime Achievement Award at a 2012 gala in Philadelphia. The American Ireland Fund hosted the event, at which the band was recognized not only for its contribu- tions to the music industry worldwide but also for promoting the best of Irish culture. Also in 2012, The Chieftains invited friends from various musical styles to collaborate on its album Voice of Ages. Featuring some of modern music’s fastest rising artists—including Bon Iver, The Decem- berists, and Paolo Nutini—the album transcends stylistic, traditional, and generational boundaries. The band is never afraid to shock purists and push genre boundar- ies. Yet the trappings of fame have not altered the members’ love of, and loyalty to, their roots. They are as comfortable playing spon- taneous Irish sessions as they are headlining a concert at Carnegie Hall. After more than half a century of making some of the most beautiful music in the world, The Chieftains’ sound remains as fresh and relevant as when the group was founded in 1962. ÁLYTH McCORMACK is one of McCormack is also an actress the most exciting singers on the performing for both stage and Celtic scene. Her vocal talent screen. She has worked with and understanding approach directors Alison Peebles, Ian give her an ability to cross McElhinney, and Chris Baldock. diverse singing styles and make She is also a founding member her comfortable performing of the Scottish Theatre Group with a variety of artists. She was Dogstar and has had leading born and raised on the Scottish roles in award-winning produc- island of Lewis. After attending tions. She has contributed to academy, McCormack returned various film soundtracks, most to her roots and began tour- notably Festival by Annie Grif- ing throughout Germany, Spain, fin, winner of the British Com- Italy, Estonia, Brazil, Ireland, edy Award for Best Comedy Switzerland, Greece, Austria, Film of 2005. Hungary, Norway, and Sweden plus countries in North America CARA BUTLER started danc- and the United Kingdom. In ing when she was 6 years old. 2000, she released her first Under the tutelage of renowned solo CD, An Iomall, on Vertical Irish dance master Donny Records. She has appeared at Golden, she won numerous various festivals, including Celtic Irish dance championships at Colours, Celtic Connections, The world-class levels, including five Edinburgh International Festival, regional and six national titles. The Lammertree Festival, and Her competitive years were the Hebridean Celtic Festival. intermingled with performing In 2001, McCormack performed alongside the best of Irish music with her trio as part of Distilled- exports, including Cherish the Scotland Live in New York City. Ladies, Greenfields of Amer- ica, and Solas. This marks her and unique dance shows touring twenty-first year as the principal the world today. The StepCrew female dancer with The Chief- brings together tap, plus Irish tains. She appeared numerous and Ottawa Valley step dancing, times on Late Night with David and boasts a collective of vir- Letterman, The Tonight Show tuosic percussive dancers and with Jay Leno, and Late Night musicians. www.stepcrew.com with Conan O’Brien. Butler is famous for her role as the lead JON PILATZKE is a creator of dancer in the Folgers coffee and performer in The StepCrew, commercial, “A Dancer’s Morn- one of the most dynamic and ing,” and can be seen dancing in unique dance shows touring the Shania Twain’s video “Don’t be world today. The show brings Stupid.” She has also appeared together tap, plus Irish and in, and choreographed dance Ottawa Valley step dancing, sequences with, Brad Pitt in and boasts a collective of vir- The Devil’s Own and Cher and tuosic percussive dancers and Ryan O’Neal in Faithful. In 1999, musicians. Hailing from Ontario, Butler opened as a principal Canada’s Ottawa Valley, Pilatzke dancer in Jean Butler and Colin has been step dancing and play- Dunne’s Dancing on Dangerous ing the fiddle for three decades. Ground at London’s Theatre He’s the three-time winner of Royal Drury Lane. She contin- the Canadian Open Step Danc- ues to work with her sister, of ing Championships. He has had Riverdance fame, doing dance the pleasure of performing in workshops and appearing in many musical and theatre pro- Jean Butler’s Irish Dance Mas- ductions, including Bowfire, a terclass, an instructional DVD. virtuosic display featuring ten Butler’s expertise lies in formal of Canada’s best violinists from Irish dance training but is not various genres. For eleven years, limited by it. Her various tal- Pilatzke has been ecstatic to ents have enabled her to excel step dance and play lead fiddle in many mediums. In 1996, she across the world as a perma- toured with Ashley MacIsaac nent fixture with The Chieftains. showcasing her virtuosity as a Performances include every- singer and a dancer. In 2006, thing from Late Night with she joined her talents with David Letterman to the 2003 Tríona Marshall and the Pilatzke Nobel Peace Prize Awards. In Brothers—both of The Chief- recognition of their talents, tains—creating TREAD, a tour Pilatzke and his brother, Nathan, de force of traditional music and received a Gemini Award (the dance influenced by mentors in Canadian equivalent of an Irish music. Butler joins husband Emmy) in 2005 and performed Jon Pilatzke and brother-in-law alongside The Chieftains for Nathan Pilatzke as the creators the 2006 Grammy-nominated and performers of The Step- album The Chieftains Live from Crew, one of the most dynamic Dublin: A Tribute to Derek Bell. CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT PENN STATE “Cash comes full circle as a storyteller and singer of exceptional grace and grit.” The Boston Globe ROSANNE CASH The River & The Thread The singer-songwriter and bandmates perform music from her 2014 album. The River & The Thread evokes the American South’s rich landscape— physical, musical, and emotional. 7:30 P.M. THURSDAY, APRIL 9 EISENHOWER AUDITORIUM cpa.psu.edu Grammy winner! 814-863-0255 BEST AMERICANA ALBUM sponsors Richard and Sally Kalin Clay Patrick McBride Patrick Clay Pilatzke was happy to expand shows touring the world today. his horizons in the summers of The StepCrew brings together 2009 and 2012 as the violin- tap, plus Irish and Ottawa Valley ist for international sensation step dancing, and boasts a col- Loreena McKennitt, performing lective of virtuosic percussive at some of the most prominent dancers and musicians. www. outdoor music festivals in Can- stepcrew.com ada and Europe. www.stepcrew. com TRÍONA MARSHALL, a classi- cal harpist, was the principal NATHAN PILATZKE is one of harpist with the RTE Concert the most dynamic and ener- Orchestra until 2003, when she getic step dancers to ever hit was invited to play as guest the stage.