2016 May IMDA Newsletter

May Irish Music & 2016 Bealtaine Dance Association 34rd Year, Issue No. 5 The mission of the Irish Music and Dance Association is to support and promote Irish music,, dance and other cultural traditions to insure their continuation. ‘Pride of New York ’ promises rollicking Inside this issue: Summer Dance Camp 4 Minnesota Irish Music Weekend June 10-12 MIM Teaching Artists 5—7 ‘The Pride of New York,’ an eminent US-based band in the Irish Tradition Irish Festival Preview 15 headlines a lively, toe-tapping weekend of traditional Irish music performance and teaching at the Eighth Annual Minnesota Irish Music Weekend (MIM) June 10-12, 2016, at the Center for Irish Music, 836 Prior Avenue North in Saint Paul. Distinguished band members and teaching artists include Cherish the Ladies founder and leader Joanie Madden,All-Ireland Senior All-Ireland Championship winners Brian Conway (fiddle) and Billy McComiskey(button accordion), and keyboard and flute player Brendan Dolan, who is regarded as one of the most respected and inventive keyboardists in Irish music today. Traditional singer Sheila Shigley from the Celtic band Navan rounds out the lineup. The event offersa free Friday night "Great Session Experience," and a Saturday night concert featuring all visiting artists, as well asworkshops and lectures for children, teens and adults. Workshop and concert prices range from $6 to $225 for a weekend package and can be found online at http://www.centerforirishmusic.org/mim/. The Minnesota Irish Weekend offers distinctive music programming, including classes for young beginners, teenagers and adults; a one-day IrishTrad Immersion Camp for intermediate-level students ages 9-12 looking to expand their skills and learn new tunes; the Teen Program , offering a rare opportunity for youth ages 12-19 with intermediate to advanced experience in Irish music to study with the renowned Irish artists and; and a Beginner’s Program especially designed for children just getting started in Irish music. Taught by the Center for Irish Music’s expert teaching staff, the hands-on workshops include traditional songs in Irish Gaelic and English, crafts, and opportunities to experiment with several Irish instruments. Adult programs are designed for intermediate to advanced-level students and include workshops in instruments such as fiddle, flute, tin whistle, piano, accordion, song, and Irish music accompaniment as well as talks on the Irish musical tradition by Altan member Dáithí Sproule. All Irish instruments are welcome. Teen and adult program participants all have the opportunity to learn in a small class environment from the visiting master artists. In addition to hands-on music workshops and lectures, MIM offers the Friday evening Great Session Experience , a free event bringing together the Twin Cities Irish music community with six simultaneous sessions, including one dedicated to song. Other activities include social community meals, sessions throughout the weekend, and a Saturday evening concert featuring all of the visiting artists. Additional information including pricing at www.centerforirishmusic.org . This activity is funded, in part, by the Minnesota State Arts Board through the arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008. The Center for Irish Music is a 501c3 non-profit music school located in the Midway neighborhood of Saint Paul. In 2009, CIM began "handing down the tradition" in its own permanent facility at The Celtic Junction, a flourishing Twin Cities hub of Celtic arts. CIM's staff of 18 professional musicians serve over 300 students of all ages through workshops, master classes, and year round instruction in song, fiddle, harp, whistle, concertina, flute, bodhrán, guitar and more. www.IMDAwww.IMDA----MN.orgMN.org Irish Music & 2 Dance Association The IMDA Board is : Tune of the Month by Amy Shaw President: Julia Rogers Vice President: Jan Casey It’s pretty exciting that the entire Pride of New York (Joanie Madden, whistle and Treasurer: Mark Malone silver flute; Brian Conway, fiddle; Billy McComiskey, accordion; and Brendan Dolan, Secretary: OPEN piano), as well as singer Sheila Shigley, are coming here next month for the Minnesota Board Members: John Concannon Irish Music Weekend. (Don’t forget to register for this event on the Center for Irish Music Kevin Carroll Kathie Luby website!) I like to feature tunes from the visiting artists in this column, so here’s the first Kathleen Rogers (actually, the second – Brian Conway’s setting of The Silver Spire was featured here last December). Editor: John Burns IMDA Board Meetings are open to the membership. Joanie Madden is probably well-known to our readers as co-founder and front woman The Board meets regularly on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm at the of Cherish the Ladies, which recently celebrated 30 years of touring and recording. Born Dubliner Pub in St. Paul. Members are encouraged to verify the time and location in New York, this big-hearted woman has roots in Clare and Galway. She was the first shortly before, as meeting times and locations can change. American to win a Senior All-Ireland on the whistle, is the top-selling whistle player in history, and has done a great deal to promote and preserve Irish culture in America. Contact Information E-mail: [email protected] Researching this column, I learned that she is a featured soloist on the final Lord of the Rings soundtrack, and that a street in the Bronx is named after her (who knew?). This jig has become a popular session tune all over the world. Joanie’s story about it is quoted on thesession.org and it’s too good not to share here: Newsletter Submissions "The Cat’s Meow is the first tune I ever wrote. I was going to Ireland to compete in We welcome our readers to submit articles of interest, news, and notices of events to be published in the newsletter. The deadline is the 20th of the preceding month. the FleadhCheoil at the All-Ireland Championship and didn’t have a good jig. I was looking for a three-part one. After searching and scouring records and music books for Send to: [email protected] weeks to no avail, I decided to try to write one. I wrote it one night very late sitting at the kitchen table. My father got up to go to work at 4:30 in the morning, and I had just finished it. He asked what tune that was. I said I had just written it. He said ‘What?! Play that again. That’s lovely!’ …I named the tune after Sean McGlynn, who was an amazing accordion player from County Galway. He taught Billy McComiskey to play and was the man who bought me my first flute and the reason I play a silver flute to this day. The last time I saw him before he was murdered, we were at a session at Pat Henry’s house in the Bronx. We were all saying our goodbyes on the street and, as Sean was driving home in his Volkswagen van, I shouted out to him that one of his headlights was out. He responded as he drove off, ‘I’m just looking back at you Joanie like a cat winking, because you are the cat’s meow!’" Usual disclaimers: Any errors replicating Joanie’s transcription are my own. The notation here is not meant to be a substitute for listening. It is simply an aid to learning the tune. www.IMDAwww.IMDA----MN.orgMN.org Irish Music & 3 Dance Association “It’s a fine day we’re having." You wouldn’t be Unlike in English, where the words and their order at all surprised to hear something like that in Ireland. were constant, in Irish we are using word position, Or you might hear the variation, "Isn’t it fine the day rather than voice stress, to make our point. we’re having?" These kinds of This structure is also common utterances would sound strange in proverbs, such as, Is minic a coming from our lips, but seem bhris béal duine a shrón , quite natural to the Irish. And meaning, "It is often that a they reflect an influence of the person’s mouth broke his nose." Irish language on English as it is That Is minic at the front of the spoken in Ireland. sentence give us the characteristic "It is often that ..." The structure in question arises because in Irish expression, rather than the more mundane "A we cannot use voice stress to emphasize something person’s mouth has often broken his nose." the way we can in English. That is, in English we This "fronting" is not the only grammatical trick express emphasis by saying one word (or even a part Irish uses to compensate for its lack of voice stress in of a word) louder than the other parts of the the spoken language. But it is one that continues to be sentence. reflected in the English spoken on the island today. Let’s suppose that someone is buying something from me. If I say, " Síle will buy my car," I’m At Gaeltacht Minnesota, we put a lot of emphasis on emphasizing that it is Síle, not Susie, who is buying having fun learning Irish! That attitude was in evident it. But I might say, "Síle will buy my car" to in our April workshop, in which we welcomed a good emphasize that she is buying my car rather than mix of experienced students and brand new learners yours. Or I could say, "Síle will buy my car " to to our event at St.

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