Newsletter, October 8, 2002
In this issue:
This Thursday - "Celtic Jam Session" at
Cherry Street Artisan, 7:30 - whenever.
Bring an instrument, a song, your dance shoes or just your ears and enthusiasm
and join us for an evening of Irish and Scottish traditional tunes and songs in
an informal, social setting. Smoke free, family-friendly. Corner of Ninth
& Cherry in downtown Columbia www.cherrystreetartisan.com
Concert -- Ed miller, Songs of
Scotland
Sunday, October 13, 7:00 p.m. at Cherry Street Artisan, Corner of Ninth and
Cherry Streets in downtown Columbia
Smoke free, family friendly show!
$8 CMCAA members, $10 public, kids 14 & under attend free
From old traditional ballads and the timeless songs of Robert Burns, to contemporary songs of urban change, emigration, nationalism and humor, a performance by Miller gives a real taste of Scotland and shows his continuing love for his homeland.
"Ed Miller is one of the best singers to emerge from the Scottish folk revival, a guitar-wielding folkie who wins his audiences over with a sweet but powerful voice, a great ear for material, and equal doses of populist politics and wry humor. He learned his craft in the sessions, clubs, and festivals of the folk revival, both in Scotland and the United States. Miller is also a scholar with an academic degree in folklore and a deep curiosity about history and culture, and his multiple roles and approaches to music and song make his performances and recordings that much more rewarding." Steve Winick, contributor to The Music Hound --The Essential Albums Guide.
"Hearing Ed Miller is like picking up a book of
favorite short stories. Even though the characters are familiar and you remember
the basic plots, the telling itself is worth hearing time after time."
L. E. McCullough, Austin Chronicle
Ed's web site: www.songsofscotland.com
Concert -- Navan, Celtic Harmonies
(Navan's web site: www.navan.org)
Sunday, October 27, venue TBA (check www.moceltic.org)
Navan is a four-person a capella vocal group who sing in the Irish, Scots Gaelic, Welsh, Manx and Breton languages. Choosing a repertoire of seldom-heard songs in seldom heard languages, Navan offers a sampling of nearly-extinct song traditions. Because Celtic languages developed as oral languages, with little or no writing until Christian monks began recording the oral histories, these languages have a natural rhythm and poetic quality that is especially evident in the songs.
During their performances, Navan explain the songs and their origins, and often combine different versions of the songs they've researched, sometimes singing in the Sean Nos solo voice style, but more often adding rich 4-part harmonies that will send chills down your spine!
Come dance with us!
Beginning and Advanced Irish Ceili and Set Dancing
Beginning/intermediate class: Wednesdays, 6 – 7 p.m. $7 drop-in fee if you just want to give it a try. Easy ceili dances for groups of 6 – 20 people, teaching basic footwork and figures, working up to more complex dances. No experience and no partner necessary.
Advanced set dance class: Wednesdays, 7 - 8 p.m.
For more experienced dancers who want to learn fast-paced set dances. No partner
necessary.
So far we have not had enough people to make this class work for the fall
session. If you are interested, please think about joining us. If you are an
experienced dancer in another style - contra, ballroom, etc, this class will
suit you fine.
$30 for 6 weeks, Oct 9 – Nov 13
For more info on both, see www.moceltic.org or call Kate Akers at 442-2048
Title:
Irish Flutemaking (One workshop comprised of two meetings)
Instructor: Christian Cepel
Dates: Saturday, October 12th,
and Saturday, October 19th, from 10am - 1pm
Cost: $12 per person
Location: MSA/GPC Craft Studio, 203 Brady Commons,
UMC Campus
Children are welcome if accompanied by a parent or guardian. Register by phoning the MSA Box Office at 882-4640. This class needs to be registered for in advance of the start date, and will be canceled if a minimum number of people are not registered before the workshop begins. We will begin the first session by discussing the method and technique and then begin building our flutes. Depending on how far we get and how many people are enrolled, the second session will involve finishing any remaining work, putting an attractive finish on the exterior, and, time permitting the basics of playing the completed flute. Attendees will receive a course packet detailing building plans and options, a fingering chart, and a packet of Irish tunes to play around with, in addition to their completed flute. Additional information may be obtained by calling the MSA/GPC Craft Studio at 882-2889, or by contacting me, Christian Cepel, at 573.268.7533 or at Christian@cepel.org .
Please register early.
Follow-up: Musical Outreach in September
In September Irish musicians Johnn B Connolly and Aidan Brennan were here to perform with Leela and Ellie Grace in the concert titled "Two Traditions, One Song." The concert was great fun for everyone involved -- These two pairs seem to compliment eachothers' talents perfectly. In addition to giving an excellent concert, Johnny and Aidan spend several days in Columbia and shared there music during three school visits.
On Thursday, they visited with students from the Music Theory and Choir classes at Rockbridge High School, and on Friday morning they visited Pam Jones' 3rd hour World History class. Students in both groups had great questions and gave their rapt attention to Johnny and Aidan's music. One band student at Rockbridge, lacking a notebook at hand, hastily wrote on his arm the names of bands that Johnny recommended for learning more about traditional Irish music.
Friday afternoon the kids at Lee Elementary had a special treat as Leela, Ellie, Johnny and Aidan all played music for their Friday Assembly. Leela and Ellie danced for them as well, but when a student asked Aidan if he and Johnny could dance, too, they gave a cheerful but definite "no!" that made everyone laugh. Several kids came up to them at the end to ask about their instruments and Johnny let a few try out his accordion.
Many, many thanks to Aidan and Johnny for making the effort to do these school programs for us. We hope to continue this in the future, giving young people opportunities to listen to and interact with professional traditional musicians.
There are some photos from the concert, the Lee Elementary Assembly and a couple informal session photos on our web site: www.moceltic.org
WANTED! orphaned instruments - we'll give them a good home and put them to use!
In further effort to encourage and facilitate the growing interest in playing traditional music, CMCAA is beginning to acquire instruments to loan to beginner players. If you have an instrument that isn't being used is in playable condition, please consider donating or selling it to CMCAA. We're especially interested in 1/2, 3/4 and full size fiddles, button and keyboard accordions, mandolins, harp, concertina. We're currently working on obtaining practice sets of Uilleann pipes.
Students borrowing the instruments are required to sign a contract agreeing to take proper care of them and participate in CMCAA music classes.
For more information, contact Kate Akers kakers@chivalry.com
Group discount available to CMCAA members for Lord of the Dance concert
On December 12, University Concert Series and the Hernes
Center present "Lord of the Dance", the Michael Flatley sequel to
Riverdance.
Read more about the show here: http://www.concertseries.org/lord.html
Section B: $31.50 (including handling fee)
Section C: $26.50 (including handling fee)
This discount is only available to CMCAA members. If you
aren't already a member, you can join online here:
http://www.chivalry.com/moceltic/membership.html
To purchase tickets for "Lord of the Dance", call Jennifer Wright, Group Sales Coordinator at 573-882-3781
Aer Lingus is currently offering $199 roundtrip fares from Chicago to Dublin for travel between November and end of March. Must be booked by October 15. See www.aerlingus.com for details.
There are loads of other fare sales going on now, too. It's a good time to go to Europe, if you've thinking about it.
Remember, if you're planning a trip to Ireland, Scotland, Wales or England, CMCAA members can borrow our "travel library" of books, brochures and lots of other travel information.