teachers and lecturers for the tom crean authentic ireland festival (tcaif) 2012

7/31/2019 Teachers and Lecturers for the Tom Crean Authentic Ireland Festival (TCAIF) 2012

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TOM CREAN AUTHENTIC IRELAND FESTIVAL

(T-CAIF)

NOVEMBER 16TH, 17TH & 18TH, 2012

T-CAIF Teachers and Lecturers

ils Crean (Fiddle)

ils Crean, founder of Authentic Ireland Cultural Enrichment (A.I.C.E) was born inBallintubber, Co. Roscommon, Ireland and grew up in a house where traditional Irish

music was cultivated, cherished and appreciated. She plays fiddle and was taught by thehighly esteemed and legendary Eddie Kelly and her childhood years saw many hourswith Eddie, teasing through the artful arrangement of his notes during the weeklylessons.Through the years, ils has competed and won prizes at various events throughoutIreland and Great Britain. ils, whose profession is Healthcare Information Technologyconsultancy, brings fulfillment to her life these days by teaching traditional Irish musicstyle and technique, specifically the East Galway style of fiddle playing, in Eddie'sinimitable way. She is the sole proponent of this unique style and she derives great Joyfrom passing it along to those who want to learn it.

Brad Hurley (Flute and lecture on East Galway flute-playing)

Brad Hurley has been playing Irish music on the flute and whistle for more than 35years. His education began in earnest when he spent a week learning from the late EastGalway flute player Jack Coen at the Catskills Irish Arts Week. He later became stronglyinfluenced by the brilliant Roscommon flute player Catherine McEvoy, spending yearsstudying her music. He has performed at many concerts and festivals in New Englandand Canada, recorded as a guest musician on several CDs, and taught flute and whistleat Montral's Siamsa School of Irish Music.

Meait J Shamuis Fathartha (Uillean pipes, flute and sean ns singing)

Meait J attended the festival last year and was so well received by everyone. Hisauthentic expression of the music and song (he sings the sean ns style) was a wonderfuladdition to our festival and made him a household name. Since then he has been


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teaching our Gaelic language classes, online and has a huge following in this area. He

brings so much to a gathering since he plays flute, uilleann pipes and speaks thelanguage. And add to that, he is true historian. Meat Js place over the Novemberweekend is surely at the T-CAIF festival in Franklin TN.

Mirn U Chide (Sean ns singing and dancing)

Mirn U Chide (Irish singer and speaker) was born in July, 1958 in Leitirmir, theheart of the rural Conamara Gaeltacht, like other rural places in Ireland except that Irishwas spoken by almost everyoneexcept those in authority or the professions. Surroundedthere by a strong oral tradition, it seems to Mirn that she has been singing all of herlife.

Mirn came from a long line of poets and singers from both sides of the family. TheSeoige from Inis Barr an Chuain and the Kelly family from Maumeen. Her mother isPeige an tSeoige from Sconsa Leitirmoir, a great dancer and a beautiful singer.

Her uncle Coilimin Seoige was her mentor; he has thousands of songs and was a toughtaskmaster and teacher. A purist, he insured that her singing was as correct as possible;her phrasing and language had to be true to the poet. Her paternal grandfather MichaelKelly was also a great storyteller and had a trove of Irish and some English folksongs

(learned in his travels and his time with the Irish Army). Often his rendition of thesesongs would take place as he lay on his bed memorizing verses, such as a never-endingsong in English about a boxing challenge, "Morrisey and the Mighty Russian."Inretrospect, Mirn says, it is no wonder she had no interest in the rock and pop musicexplosions happening all around her in the late 60s and early 70s. She was steeped in afast-disappearing tradition of poetry, song, and storytelling. She was fortunate to havehad a great Irish literature teacher, Sen Gaora who encouraged her to sing most ofthe old poetry which she already knew as songs, Songs often with many more variationof verses than appeared in standardized textbook selections.

Mairin had already won the coveted Corn U Riada ( Rada Cup) at Oireactas naGaeilge, the highest honor in sean ns singing at the Oireactas, when she moved toBoston with her husband and four children in 1986 (now they have five). Since then, shehas sung for many an occasion.


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When performing in her native tongue, whether it is a President, international

dignitaries, or a small gathering of cultural events, she is back in Leitirmir, proud andyet humbled by the great gift of an oral tradition that can take its place on any stage. Sherealizes she had a dream childhood and experienced a treasure, priceless in anymeasure. Mirn sings her sean ns with pride and awareness that it is her duty to passit on. She has taught Irish language and singing for many years, maintaining the oralnature of the transmission of the culture as much as possible, through teaching andmentoring. Mirn continues to sing the songs and the folk music of her childhood in theGaeltacht.

amon Donnchadha (Flute and sean ns singing)

amon Donnchadha was born and reared in the parish of Bluebell in Dublin. Hebecame interested in traditional Irish music and especially in sean ns singing while hewas staying in Tr Bhin and Leitir Mir in Connemara. He was captivated by the magicof the poetry, the music of the language and the earthiness of sean ns singing. amonsings in the Connemara style and has a special affinity for the compositions of theConnaught poet, Raftery. amon has the distinction of having won the most covetedprize in sean ns singing, Corn U Riada, three times at the Oireachtas na Samhnafestivals. amon has performed at various festivals and has accompanied the IrishPresident Mary Mc Aleese as part of the cultural delegation to Norway and Spainas well

as at home in Ireland. amon is also an accomplished flute player and has been livingand teaching in the Meath Gaeltacht of Rth Chairn for over twenty years.

Jim Higgins IBodhrn & Piano Accompaniment in Irish music)

Jim is in high demand as a live and studio artist. He is featured on the recent Altan andLunasa recordings and many other studio albums, incl. Cora and Jims wife BredaSmyth, Kevin Crawford, Alan Kelly and Josephine Marsh. He also toured with thefamous dance show Riverdance. His first and true love is East Galway music and hetruly respects and honors Eddie Kelly and Paddy Fahy. He teaches bodhran and piano.In my experience this past year, it has been ideal to offer tuition on both of these

instruments because bluegrass or country artists can easily sit in and participate in aclass when it is an instrument of accompaniment. It is a wonderful way to offerparticipation and camaraderie. Jim is a master of his instrument and wonderfulteacher.


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Paul Groff

Paul Groff is a musician and biologist, currently teaching at Florida InternationalUniversity. While living in Bangor, North Wales for a year of his graduate work, Paulbegan learning the concertina and musical friends brought him over to Ireland for acouple of memorable visits. On returning to Berkeley, California, Paul met morewonderful Irish musicians including concertina players Maureen Murtagh, Sabra Daly,and Miliosa Lundy. The late Tony Crehan, Tommy McCarthy senior, and John Kellysenior also inspired Pauls interest in the concertina. Paul has been asked to play andteach the concertina locally and in festivals including the 2003 North AmericanNational Convention of Comhaltas Ceoltir ireann, the Boston Irish music school, the

Boston College Gaelic Roots Festival (1997), Philadelphia Ceili Festival, John BoyleOReilly Club of Springfield, and the Southeast Irish Pipers Tionol. Recording creditsinclude work with David Byrne (formerly of Talking Heads), Aine Minogue, and SarahBlair. Paul was twice recognized by the Florida Department of State, Bureau of HistoricPreservation, as a Master musician, with apprenticeship grants to teach the concertina(2006, 2007). In sessions Paul would rather play guitar or piano and listen to othermusicians, and enjoyed many nights backing some great musicians around Boston --Tommy McCarthy jr., Louise Costello, Sarah Blair, Jack Conroy, Kathleen Conneely,Brendan Tonra, Helen Kisiel, ils Crean, and many more! He was also an invited guestpiano and guitar backer for Gaelic Roots (2002). In recent years Paul has mostly been

playing a Walters 1-row button accordion, inspired by the music of Jack Conroy, the lateWilliam Sullivan, and P. J. Conlon.

Laura Powers & Brent Backhus (Film-makers and sing/songwriter in IRISHNASHVILLE)

Brent Backhus is based out of Los Angeles and comes to filmmaking from a backgroundin music, recording and editing. Laura Powers is a singer/songwriter and has produced5 CDs on her Red Harp Records Label. This documentary on Connemara is a verypersonal project as it includes the search for Laura's Irish relatives while filming the

people and music of the region.

Layne Hendrickson (Lecture East Galway music & history researcher)

The multi-media presentation by Laybe will cover the history of East Galway music. Itwill focus on the fiddlers Eddie Kelly & Paddy Fahy. Notable flute-players from that


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region include Paddy Carty, Jack Coen, the Moloneys (Stephen, Eddie, Sean), Tommy

Whelan & Mike Rafferty. It will cover Aughrim Slops cili and the Ballinakill cil bandalso.

Dr. Janice Hayes (Writer ofWise Oonagh)

Dr. Janice Hayes, an award winning educator and professor emeritus of educationalleadership at MTSU and a member of the Board of Trustees at O'More College of Designtravels the world over in search of beautiful, cultural children's tales. Wise Oonagh isher second educational, cultural children's book. Inspired by the William Butler Yeatsversion, Dr. Hayes adapted this classic Irish folktale for children. Fionn McCumhalwishes to avoid a horrible fight with the nasty giant C Chulainn. Can Fionn'swife Oonagh outwit the fiend? She'll have to come up with a quick plan to save herhusband and earn the title of Wise Oonagh.

John Watts (Lecture on OMore Celtic Cross)

John Watts is a graduate of the University of Georgias Masters program of Sculpture,in Athens, Georgia. Currently, John resides in Franklin TN, teaches DesignFundamentals and Sculpture at OMore College, designs veterinary clinics in Nashvilleand Atlanta, GA, and designs educational iPhone, iPad, and Android apps for childrenwith his wife. John studied carving and casting in Italy during graduate school, and has

exhibited in Seoul, Korea, Germany, Italy, and all over the U.S.

In the summer of 2009, John accompanied OMores Studies Abroad Program toAbbey Leix, Ireland, to research Celtic crosses, at the request of Dr. Mark Hilliard,president of OMore College. Upon returning to Tennessee, John ordered an 800 poundblock of limestone, quarried in Indiana, and produced the Celtic Cross on OMorescampus over the next year. The illustrations carved into the face tell the story of theOMore clan from the mythological past, through the dark ages, and into modern timesand the founding of OMore College by Mrs. Eloise Pitts OMore.

Mark Hilliard (Phd) (President of OMore College of Design)

Dr. K. Mark Hilliard is the President and CEO of O'More College of Design, where he isalso a full-professor of behavior science and higher education. Dr. Hilliard is a fellowand scholar at Oxford University Summer Research Institute where he has studied forthree summers. His training and expertise include research and educational activities


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with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee and Sensory Teaching and Learning training for

teachers and professors for a number of universities. He is a published author on thesubject of Sensory Teaching and Learning, Spirituality, and Holistic Wellness and iscurrently writing his 4th book on Sacred Places.

teachers and lecturers for the tom crean authentic ireland festival (tcaif) 2012

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