Gaelic Roots Fall Slate
09/06/12
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Appearances by Chieftains co-founder Michael Tubridy and keyboardist-composer Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin — who helped establish Boston College as an important venue for Irish and other Gaelic music — highlight the fall 2012 schedule for the Gaelic Roots Music, Song, Dance, Workshop and Lecture Series at Boston College.
The series, directed by Sullivan Artist-in-Residence and master fiddler Séamus Connolly and sponsored by the Boston College Center for Irish Programs, brings to campus acclaimed musicians and experts in Irish, Scottish and other related Gaelic music traditions. The fall Gaelic Roots events are free and open to the public.
Gaelic Roots will open on Sept. 25 with a concert by Joey Abarta, a talented young performer on the uilleann pipes who has been based in Boston the past couple of years. Abarta, whose debut solo album is due out this fall, tours with Mick Moloney and the group The Green Fields of America, teaches at the local music school of the Irish cultural association Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and organizes various traditional music concerts and events. Accompanying Abarta will be another local musician, guitarist-percussionist Paddy League. The concert will take place from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at 2101 Commonwealth Avenue on the Brighton Campus.
On Oct. 23, Connolly and Tubridy will be the featured musicians at a participatory Irish dance and ceili evening co-organized by Kieran Jordan ’96, who teaches Irish dance at BC. Tubridy was a founding member of The Chieftains, one of the most celebrated Irish bands of the past five decades, and his prowess on flute, whistle and concertina was a hallmark of the group, which he left in 1979 to resume his career as an engineer. He continues to be active in traditional music circles as a teacher and performer. The event will take place in the Gasson Hall Irish Room from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
The trio of Kathleen Conneely (whistle), Dan Gurney (accordion) and Eamon O’Leary (guitar, vocals) will perform Nov. 1 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Gasson Irish Room. Conneely is a widely respected musician and teacher who has often appeared at BC. Gurney, who lived in Boston while attending Harvard University, released a well-received solo album last year. Dublin native O’Leary has been part of the thriving New York City Irish music scene for the past two decades.
The Gasson Irish Room also will be the setting on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. for “Between Worlds,” a concert by Ó Súilleabháin, who will perform with Connolly and a string quartet. While a visiting professor at BC in 1990, Ó Súilleabháin organized the “My Love Is in America” fiddle festival that laid the groundwork for Irish music activities at BC. His recorded interviews of musicians at the festival, along with other recordings of the event, inaugurated what is now the University’s Irish Music Archives.
The Gaelic Roots fall schedule concludes on Dec. 5 with “A Christmas Gathering: Irish Music, Songs and Stories,” with singer and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Donohue — his resume includes performances with Eileen Ivers, Cherish the Ladies and The Chieftains — and Marian Makins, who was trained in classical and popular vocal styles but in recent years has emerged as a gifted traditional-style singer in Irish and English. Also appearing will be Connolly and students from BC’s Irish music classes. The event takes place from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Walsh Hall Function Room.
See the Gaelic Roots website at www.bc.edu/gaelicroots.