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October 7, 2004 • Volume 13 Number 3
Gaelic Music, Song and Story Enlivens Campus This Fall
Tommy Makem, whose singing, story-telling and humor has delighted generations of Irish music fans, will perform at the annual Boston College Irish Christmas Concert on Dec. 12, one of several notable Gaelic music events to be hosted this fall by the Center for Irish Programs and Irish Studies Program.
Visiting performers this semester also include Buddy MacMaster, a legendary fiddler from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and on-the-rise Irish duo Michael Rooney and June McCormack.
"We're very delighted to present these events to the University and local communities," said Sullivan Artist in Residence Seamus Connolly, director of Irish Music Programs at BC, whose performance on Nov. 4 will be part of a commemoration of the gift of G. Craig '64 and Maureen Sullivan endowing the position Connolly holds.
"The music traditions of Ireland, Cape Breton, Scotland and other Gaelic cultures are so rich and intertwined, and at BC it's our intent to showcase them in ways that appeal to both the scholar and the casual listener."
Connolly said BC's Irish music programs have been enlivened this fall by the presence of Burns Visiting Scholar Mick Moloney, who presented a lecture on Sept. 29 [see related story].
The schedule of music-flavored events continues this month with an Oct. 13 lecture by music scholar and author Alex Klein, who has written on the life and career of influential Irish composer-teacher Brian Boydell (1917-2000).
MacMaster, a recent recipient of the prestigious Order of Canada, will present a lecture and concert on Oct. 23. The native of heavily Gaelic-influenced Cape Breton has been playing fiddle for almost 70 years, and is recognized as a master of the exciting Cape Breton style.
Dublin native Danny Doyle, known for his lively ballad singing, will offer "Songs and Stories of Yeats, Joyce, O'Casey, Behan, and Kavanagh" on Oct. 30 as part of a two-day centenary conference and celebration of Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh that will include a keynote lecture by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney.
Rooney and McCormack will bring their talents on harp and flute, respectively, to campus Nov. 11. McCormack is a former all-Ireland flute champion who in 1998 was chosen as Young Traditional Musician of the Year by the Irish television network TG4. Rooney also has won all-Ireland honors and recorded and toured with The Chieftains.
In addition to their public performance, Rooney and McCormack will meet with BC music students, as will piper Mickey Dunne when he makes a return trip to campus this month. During his visit last year, Connolly said, Dunne fascinated students with his stories of his life in an Irish traveling family.
Another classroom visitor this fall will be John McGann, a much-in-demand local guitarist-mandolinist who performs with Connolly and in several other ensembles.
Wrapping up the semester schedule will be the Christmas concert with Makem, whose career as a soloist and as a member of the Clancy Brothers group spans some four decades. His robust interpretations of traditional and contemporary songs, poetry and stories have earned him a reputation as a modern-day bard throughout the world.
For times and locations of these events, see the Irish Studies Web site at www.bc.edu/irish.
-Sean Smith •