CELTIC LITTLE CHRISTMAS CONCERT 2013

I have been able to add a couple of video clips from our concert. 

Update......Unfortunately, I had to cancel our Christmas Concert which was scheduled for December 14th due to inclement weather.  The concert is now known as: 
The Little Christmas Celtic Concert. It has been rescheduled for January 4th. 

The Irish Cultural Center is located at 6 Lake Ave, Danbury, Ct. 06810. 

**THIS IS A FREE CONCERT**

Students on Tinwhistle, Flute and Tenor Banjo will perform Christmas Carol arrangements as well as Traditional Irish music.  Two of my students will be singing a mix of Carols and Irish Folk songs . The playlist will be mostly the same, with a couple of livelier songs added on. In addition, our Cultural Director, John Feeney, will recite some poems in Gaeilge translated into English. 


We will also have the pleasure of an appearance by a famed Irish author, Walter Keady.    Walter is a humanist, philosopher and novelist.  Walter has to date had five novels published.  He will be doing a reading from his novel, The Agitator, which introduces us to an important figure, Michael Davitt, in late 19th century Ireland who led tenant farmers in a valiant, peaceful demonstration against the oppression of the English Landlords.

Little Christmas, is celebrated in Ireland on January 6th (this is the closest we could get to that date). It's also known as, Women's Christmas in that the women who have worked so hard to prepare for the holiday can take it easy and have the men step in and do the housework on that day. Historically, a group of women were able to even go to a local pub and sit together in the snug (a special, quiet spot) and discuss all the gossip and hardships.  They would then take those painful experiences and go outside the door and name them and leave them outside.  Nowadays, the women meet up with friends  to go shopping or out to lunch.








The current semester just happens to end on December 14th and new students are welcome to contact me regarding signing up for the next session which will get underway on January 11th, 2014. 

**STUDENTS OF ALL AGES ARE WELCOME**


I will be running a separate class for children ages 7+ in Tinwhistle, Banjo, Flute and Mandolin next semester. The session consists of six 45 minute lessons.  We begin with scales and good tone and then move on to a simple tune.  I break the tune down into the phrases and offer both sheet music as well as ABC notation (for those not yet able to read the music) I also provide an mp3 to the student of the lesson.

Feel free to contact me for further details by going to my blog address below.

You can also check the website for updates and contact info.

*Lessons in Skype are available.* 


You can find out more about Walter at:
http://walterkeady.com


Here's the website for the Cultural Center:
www.gdicc.org


For John's website go to:
www.daltai.com


My blog:
http://irishflutewhistlelessons.blogspot.com



To pay for a lesson on Skype click on the paypal link below to make payment.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=668B6L7Z2VSU4

A new 6 week Semester in Tinwhistle, Irish concert Flute, Tenor Banjo and Mandolin will begin at the Greater Danbury Irish Cultural Center (GDICC)  www.gdicc.org on February 23rd, 2013. All levels are welcome. If you're 7 years of age, you are ready to take lessons.

If you don't have an instrument, the whistle is very inexpensive and you may be able to purchase one from Kate's Irish Gifts in Danbury. Here is the link:  www.katesirishgifts.com

The Irish Flute is different from the Silver Flute in many aspects.  Not least of which is  it's made of wood.  There are just too many types of wood to list here. As such, when the wood warms up from playing, it elicits a beautifully haunting, woodsy tone.  Most flute beginners start off on a keyless, simple system flute (trust me, that doesn't mean it's simple at all). If you're a beginner, you will start off by getting to know your instrument and how to achieve a good embouchure.....which will result in getting a good tone. It is of the utmost importance that you achieve this before moving on.  If you are just trying to learn new tunes, you won't be satisfied with the end result as you will be unable to progress to the next level. So, I promote different playing exercises to improve the quality of your tone and breath control from the beginning. 

If you don't have a flute, let me know. I have a couple of extra flutes myself, or, I can recommend other colleagues that can provide you with one. 

Regarding the Banjo, (I only work with the 4 string), which is defined as a Tenor.  This instrument is used primarily for playing entire melodies as opposed to a 5 string which is known for playing chords. If you don't have an instrument, you can take a look at some of the local music shops in the area.  There are a couple that carry both Banjos & Mandolins.  For a beginner instrument, you won't need to invest a lot of money, they are relatively inexpensive. 

*Please contact me for further details and to get your name on the waiting list for this upcoming session*