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Kansas City Irish Festivals, Music, Pubs, & Events by an Artist in Ireland

March is nothing in Irish events in Kansas City, if not spectacular, and this year March brings you The Irish Spectacular in a presentation by the Harriman-Jewell Series at the Folly Theater on Friday, March 6, 2009 at 8pm.

This Irish and Celtic music celebration is performed by the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra and features Irish traditional folk music, new arrangements of famous Irish airs, and new compositions by Irish composers.

A lot of people are going to love this I’ve no doubt - it clearly oozes with talent - but I have to wonder why we need Irish Orchestras touring America to be accompanied by Irish dancing, trad music, and interpretations of Irish folklore? In many concerts on this tour of the US the DPO are performing Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Brahms.

Soloists in Celtic Orchestral Gala Concert Program
Cora Venus Lunny (Violin) : Frankie Gavin (Traditional Fiddle) : Athena Tergis (Traditional Fiddle) : Aidan O’Brien (Uilleann Pipes, Irish Flute and Whistles, Banjo) : Peadar Townsend / Eric Cunningham (Bodhran, Percussion) : Michelle Lally, Denise Brennan, Ingrid Madsen (Vocalists) : Sinead McCarthy (Irish Traditional Dancer)

Inishlacken
Inishlacken is a double violin concerto for classical violin (Cora Venus Lunny) and traditional Irish fiddle (Athena Tergis) by the composer of that thing called Riverdance, Mr. Bill Whelan.

Also
Aughrim Suite is performed by Patrick Cassidy and is based on the Battle of Aughrim, featuring Uilleann pipes (Aidan O’Brien). The aria (Carmel Conway) from Cassidy’s cantata Deirdre of the Sorrows, is based on the ancient Celtic legend of the same name. Trad Irish fiddle player Frankie Gavin is featured on Bardinerie, 1920’s Jigs, and Queen of Sheba.

DPO
Although founded in the mid 1800s, the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra did disappear for most of the 20th century, ceasing activities with the advent of World War 2, only to be reconstituted again in 1997. This is the debut performance of the DPO in Kansas City, being part of its inaugural tour of the US - a 49 concert tour under the guidance of Columbia Artists Management Inc.

Gala Celebration
The 2nd half of the concert is called a Gala Celebration of Celtic Music, and it includes original orchestral arrangements by Irish composers.

Celtic mystical and folklore traditional musical elements are interwoven with symphonic orchestral color and structures, some featuring Irish instrumental soloists performing on traditional Irish instruments of fiddle (Frankie Gavin and Athena Tergis), Uilleann pipes, Irish flute, whistles, and banjo (Aidan O’Brien), bodhrán and percussion (Eric Cunningham and Peadar Townsend), vocals (Michelle Lally, Denise Brennan, and Ingrid Madsen), and Irish traditional dancer Fiona Collins.

Irish Composers Featured In Celtic Orchestral Gala Concert Program
Bill Whelan, Patrick Cassidy, Antonio Cafallo, Jonathan Casey, Derek Dolan, Michael Fleming, Carl Hession, Vincent Kennedy, Mick Langan, Greg Magee, Andreja Malir, Gloria Mulhall, Kevin Nolan, Jean O’Sullivan, Anna Rice, Peadar Townsend, Ken Tuohy, and J.J. Vernon, and more.

Program
    Celtic Song Overture
    Patrick Cassidy: Aughrim Suite
    Patrick Cassidy: Deirdre of the Sorrows Aria from Oratorio
    Bill Whelan: Inishlacken
    Gala Celebration of Celtic Music

Location
The Folly Theater is located at 12th and Central in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Tickets
Tickets to the Irish Spectacular concert on Friday, March 6, are priced $20, $25, $40, $55, and $70, and can be ordered online or by phone at 816-415-5025.

Sponsors
Gaye McCarty Stevick sponsors this performance.

Links
The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra have just started a blog which doesn’t have very much to it so far, and surely should be on its own site rather than the amateuristic presentation of Blogspot. There is also some information on the Harriman Jewell site.

Calendar
This event is posted on the Kansas City Irish events calendar.

Elsewhere
There are also performances of the Irish Spectacular in Lincoln, Nebraska on March 3 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts; in Colombia, Missouri on March 4 at the Jesse Auditorium, University Missouri; and in St Louis on March 5 at the St. Louis Cathedral - though Columbia and St Louis also get treated to classical performances of the non-Irish spectacular kind.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 11:13 am and is filed under 1-eolai, Classical, Events, Shows. You can follow responses via my RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.