Upcoming Celtic Events

Click on the group's photo to hear a sample of their music.
Andy Irvine
Presented by the Celtic Society
When
Wednesday, February 8th at 7:30pm 		Where
Don Quixote's, 6275 Highway 9, Felton

Admission is $16 advance/$18 at the door or $14 to Celtic Society members. You can purchase tickets by clicking here:


Tickets are also on sale at the venue, Don Quixote's, and More Music, 512 Front St, Santa Cruz. For reservations, you may also call the Don Quixotes hotline at (831) 603-2294 or contact Bob at celtsoc@aol.com or (408) 847-6982.
Celebrating the recent release of his critically acclaimed CD, 'Abocurragh,' and hailed in Dublin's 'Hot Press' as 'Woody Guthrie's representative on earth' and in the 'Irish Press' as 'a tradition unto himself,' Andy Irvine has maintained a personal integrity and highly individual performing skills throughout a carrer that has spanned almost half a century. From the groundbreaking group Sweeney's Men in the mid-60's and the enormous success of Planxty in the 70's to the Irish supergroup Patrick Street since the 80's and currently with the world music powerhouse Mozaik, Andy has been an icon for traditional music. In solo concert, he plies his trade like an archtypal troubadour reflecting his traveling lifestyle and life-long influence, Woody Guthire, with a repretoire encompassing Irish traditional songs, dexterous Balkan dance tunes and a compelling canon of original material. As the 'Sydney Morning Herald' observed, 'What makes an evening with Irvine so special is that every note he picks and every line he sings comes straight from the heart. Everything he touches is performed with honesty and conviction and his playing is never less than breathtaking. By any measure Irvine is one of the towering talents on the international folk scene. For more, visit www.andyirvine.com.
Athena Tergis & Kyle Alden
Presented by the Celtic Society
When
Saturday, February 18th at 7:30pm;

Sunday February 19th at 7:00pm 		Where
Feb. 18 at St. Mary's by-the-Sea, 146 12th St. in Pacific Grove. You can purchase tickets by clicking here:


Tickets are also available at Bookmark, 307 Forest Ave. in Pacific Grove. For out of town reservations & info, contact Bob at celtsoc@aol.com or (408) 847-6982.

Feb. 19 at Don Quixote's International Music Hall in Felton, CA. You can purchase tickets by clicking here:


Tickets also on sale at the venue, Don Quixote's, and will also be available starting January 4th at More Music, 512 Front St. in Santa Cruz, or you may contact Bob at celtsoc@aol.com or (408) 847-6982 or the Don Quixote's hotline at (831) 603-2294 for reservations.
Admission is $16 advance/$18 at the door or $14 to Celtic Society members.

The Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay proudly present two concerts by the charismatic Celtic fiddler Athena Tergis & the brilliant Bay Area singer & guitarist Kyle Alden.

Celebrating the release of their CD, 'Songs from Yeats' Bee-loud Glade,' 13 poems by W. B. Yeats set to music, the spectacular fiddler Athena Tergis and the brilliant Bay Area singer & guitarist Kyle Alden will be presenting an evening featuring selections from their album and high-energy Irish reels and jigs.

From Alasdair Fraser's Valley of the Moon fiddle camp, Athena was soon touring Ireland with the Sharon Shannon Band, starring for a year and half on Broadway in New York in the mega-hit Riverdance, released dazzling debut 'solo' CD, 'A Letter Home,'produced by and featuring guitarist John Doyle, with whom she subsequently toured and currently tours and records with the esteemed ensemble 'Green Field of America.'

Following a recent limited New York engagement with Riverdance composer, Bill Whelan, the 'Irish Voice' raved, 'Once or twice in a decade, if you're lucky, you'll get to hear a fiddler this gifted and Tergis - who has a dancer's build and often embodies the music she's playing - is the kind of musician who might have inspired Irish poets such as William Butler Yeats to dream their mighty dreams.'

Alden is a vibrant figure on San Francisco's active Irish music scene. A member of the popular bands The Mild Colonial Boys and The Gas Men, Kyle has accompanied many traditional Irish luminaries, including Paddy Keenan and Tommy Peoples. For more, visit their Web sites at www.athena.cd and www.kylealden.com.
Goitse
Presented by the Celtic Society
When
Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:30pm. 		Where
Don Quixote’s International Music Hall, 6275 Highway 9 in Felton

Tickets: $12 advance/$14 at door, or $10 to Celtic Society members. You can purchase tickets by clicking here:

Tickets are also available at Don Quixote’s & from 1/4/2012 at More Music, 512 Front St. in Santa Cruz.

Reservations: (831) 603-2294, (408) 847-6982 or celtsoc@aol.com.
Goitse (pronounced ‘Gwitcha,’ an informal Irish Gaelic greeting meaning ‘come here’) is the hot, new Irish traditional band of students of Traditional Irish Music and Dance at the University of Limerick who have been wowing audiences in Ireland, Europe & at Irish music festivals in the U.S., including Milwaukee & Dublin, Ohio. Members, vibrant fiddler & stunning singer Aine McGeeney, 4-time All-Ireland Banjo champion & 3-time All-Ireland Mandolin champion James Harvey. All-Ireland Piano Accordion champion Tadhg O’Meachair, 2-time All-Ireland Bodhran champion Colm Phelan & guitarist Conal O’Kane have been hailed by Irish Music Magazine editor Sean Laffey, ‘they have a big musical imagination and are not afraid to tear the edges of the trad envelope… glowing examples of the potential energy we all know is locked in traditional music… they make it (trad) explode.’ The excitement & boundless enthusiasm of youth bursts through in their dazzling debut CD, ‘Goitse,’ which has drawn raves from critics, including the assurance from Dublin’s Hot Press, ‘those fretting about the future of Irish trad can rest more easily at night.’ Indeed, truly a band whose future is all ahead of them, the bewitching Goitse is out to getcha. For more, visit the website at www.goitse.ie.
Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas
Presented by the Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay
When
Sunday, March 4th at 7:00pm 		Where
Kuumbwa Jazz 320 Cedar St., Santa Cruz.

Tickets: $20 advance/$22 at the door or $18 to Celtic Society members. Tickets can be purchased on-line at


Tickets will also be available starting January 4, at More Music, 512 Front St. in downtown Santa Cruz. Reservations can also be made by contacting Bob Breheny at (408) 847-6982 or celtsoc@aol.com.
The dazzling and dynamic duo of Fraser and Haas return to Kuumbwa for an evening of traditional Scottish fiddle and cello music of unrivalled beauty, eloquence and passion. Long regarded, as much for his warm personality as his powerful playing, as Scotland's premiere fiddle ambassador, Fraser's concert and recording career spans over 30 years with a lengthy list of accolades. The sizzlingly-talented, young Californian cellist first met Fraser at his Valley of the Moon Fiddle Camp. The sparks ignited there served to fire enormously successful international touring as one of Celtic music's top 'live' acts and a trio of CDs that have been aclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. As the 'Boston Globe' noted, 'You would think they had been playing together for centuries. While his fiddle dances, her cello throbs darkly or plucks puckishly. Then [Haas] opens her cello's throat joining Fraser in soaring sustains, windswept refrains and sudden, jazzy explosions.'

For more information, visit www.alasdairfraser.com and www.nataliehaas.com.
Andrew MacNamara, Orla Harrington & Ged Foley
Presented by Pippa Siersema & the Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay
When
Friday, March 9th at 7pm. (There's a potluck from 7pm and the concert starts
at 8pm.) 		Where
At a private home on Summit Rd in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Admission is $20 or $17 to Celtic Society members. For reservations, contact Pippa at (408) 353-4366 or pippasiersema@yahoo.com.
Pippa Siersema & the Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay proudly present a concert of the joyous traditional Irish music of East Clare with button accordionist extraordinaire Andrew MacNamara, fiery fiddler Orla Harrington & the gifted guitarist, singer & fiddler Ged Foley.

There will be a potluck from 7pm & the music begins at 8pm.

The tree of Irish music has many branches, but if you follow the branch back to the trunk & go down the trunk to the earthy roots, this is where youll find the music of tonights performers. The lively lift of Andrews accordion has delighted audiences around the globe from his tours with the famed Tulla Ceili Band, the Irish traditional group Skylark & his own ensemble, The Lahawns. Orla is one of Irelands brightest young fiddlers, touring with Michael Flatleys, 'Lord of the Dance.' The discovery of box of old reel to reel tapes containing many unusual tunes in the attic of the Harrington household in East Clare, led to the release of Andrew & Orlas marvelous CD with percussionist Jim Higgins, 'Flagstone Memories.' Filling in for Jim on this tour, Ged has been a member of some of the finest trad bands of our time; the Battlefield Band, the House Band, Patrick Street & the Celtic Fiddle Festival. The craic will indeed be mighty; hope you can join us. For more, visit www.andrewmacnamara.com.
The Black Brothers Band
Presented by the Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay
When
Saturday, March 10th at 8pm;

Sunday, March 18th at 7pm. 		Where
March 10th at Don Quixote's, 6275 Highway 9, Felton. You can purchase tickets by clicking here:


March 18th at Chautauqua Hall 162 16th St. (at central), Pacific Grove. You can purchase tickets by clicking here:


Admission is $20 advance/$22 at the door or $18 to Celtic Society members.

For the March 10th show you may also call the Don Quixotes hotline at (831) 603-2294 or contact Bob Breheny at celtsoc@aol.com or (408) 847-6982. Tickets will also go on sale January 4th at More Music, 512 Front St. in Santa Cruz. For the March 18th show, tickets will go on sale January 4th at Bookmark, 307 Forest Ave. in Pacific Grove.
There's no better way to get in a merry mood for the upcoming St. Patrick's Day than by spending an enchanted evening with with The Black Brothers Band featuring the singing siblings from Ireland's first family of song, Shay and Michael Black. Hailed in the 'Irish Echo' as 'one of the most impressive groups of Irish singers to be found anywhere... exquisite, exhilarating and nothing short of thrilling' the sheer joy of singing is everywhere apparent in Shay's robust baritone, Michael's thrilling tenor and their heavenly harmonies.

The brothers' rich repertoire includes traditional Irish ballads, Dublin street songs, music hall ditties, sea shanties and works by contemporary writers. Joined in concert by fiddler Bobbi Nikles, button accordionist and Irish step dancer Aislin Roche, cellist Myra Joy and keyboardist Bryan Seet, performances include high-energy reels and jigs and dazzling dancing.

With each show interspersed with comic stories, jokes and humorous childhood anecdotes, audiences invariably leave their concerts grinning broadly and humming song choruses. For more, visit www.black-brothers.com.
Karan Casey & John Doyle
Presented by the Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay
When
Wednesday, March 14th at 7:30pm 		Where
Kuumbwa, 320 Cedar St. in Santa Cruz. You can purchase tickets by clicking here:


Admission is $20 advance/$22 at the door or $18 to Celtic Society members.

Tickets will go on sale January 25th at More Music, 512 Front St. in Santa Cruz, or you may call Ariel at (831) 336-9810 or contact Bob at celtsoc@aol.com or (408) 847-6982 for reservations.
Five acclaimed CDs into her solo career & a Grammy winner for her collaboration with Paul Winter, Karan is widely regarded as one of the finest singer Ireland has ever produced; twice been voted by Irish Music Magazine as, 'Best Female Traditional/Folk Artist,' hailed in the Wall Street Journal as, 'One of the true glories of Irish music today,' in USA Today as, 'shiver-inducingly excellent;' made the Irish Echo proclaim, 'Seeing and hearing Karan Casey in concert constitutes an event' & had the Associated Press rave, 'A voice so beautiful its almost impossible to avoid falling under her spell.'

Called by Irish Edition, 'John Doyle has a magical touch ... a dream guitarist,' Doyle has been receiving increasing plaudits for his superb singing. (Doyle is a born singer; just correctly anagram his name.) John has released three 'solo' CDs, been a Grammy nominee for his triumphant triumvirate of recordings with fiddler Liz Carroll & currently tours a musical director & guitarist with folksinger Joan Baez.

For more, visit the websites at www.karancasey.com and www.johndoylemusic.com.
Dervish
Presented by the Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay
When
Wednesday, March 21st at 7:30pm 		Where
Kuumbwa, 320 Cedar St, Santa Cruz

Tickets: $23 advance/$25 at the door, or $20 to Celtic Society members. Tickets can be purchased on-line here:


Tickets can also be purchased at More Music at 512 Front St., or can be reserved at (831) 336-9810, or by contacting Bob Breheny at (408) 847-6982 or celtsoc@aol.com.

From Sligo in the wild West of Ireland, Dervish has long stood at the forefront of traditional Irish bands. From high energy tunes played with virtuosic, intuitive fluidity on button accordion, fiddle, flute, bouzouki, mandola and mandolin to beautifully measured songs, from charming lyrics of life and love to inspiring melodies that lift audiences from their seats, all the elements are drawn together by vocalist Cathy Jordan's masterful stage presence. Her stories to the songs and interaction with the audience draw people into the music in a way very few performers can achieve.

Befitting one of the great 'live' acts in Irish music, Dervish's most recent release, "21 Years... From Stage to Stage," features concert material from Sebastopol, California and Sligo, as well as including a DVD of a performance on Irish TV from Dublin. As the Irish Times declared, "The musical integrity makes the group a formidable heir to the throne abandoned by The Bothy Band, if not a serious contender for The Chieftains' international space... Simply a brilliant and uncluttered testimonial to music imagination and talent."

For more information, visit www.dervish.ie.

All items on this site are listed free of charge. To have your event listed, contact Bob Breheny by email at celtsoc@aol.com or phone (408) 847-6982.