Info on Wolf Trap Irish Festival 5/28/95 (long)
John Kerr
The performing lineup for the 19th annual Washington DC Irish Folk
Festival is now set. The Festival will be held on Sunday, May 28th
(Memorial Day holiday weekend) at Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, VA
(about 10 miles outside the city). The weekend festivities will begin the
evening before the Festival, with a Ceili Mor in the Spanish Ballroom at
Glen Echo Park in suburban Maryland, along the Potomac River just past
the DC line.
Here's who will be appearing at this year's Festival:
MOVING CLOUD (button accordionist Paul Brock, fiddlers Manus McGuire and
Maeve Donnelly, flute player Kevin Crawford and pianist Carl Hession),
from County Clare will be making their North American debut at the
Festival. One of Ireland's finest dance bands, they will also provide the
music for the Saturday night ceili, which will be run by set dancing
master Mick Mulkerrin of County Meath.
REELTIME, from Galway, is an exciting new band featuring fiddler Mairin
Fahy (who is also a member of the Temple House Ceili Band) and box player
Eilis Egan. Look for their debut album, which will be out soon on Green
Linnet.
WOLFSTONE, from Scotland and making their first appearance in the
mid-Atlantic region. Nothing more need be said!
From Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia: BUDDY MacMASTER, his piano-playing
daughter MARY ELIZABETH MacMASTER and 21-year-old fiddle, piano and
step-dancing whiz JOEL CHIASSON.
From Chicago: Fiddler and NEA National Heritage Fellow LIZ CARROLL, with
concertinist and button accordionist JOHN WILLIAMS and singer/guitarist
JIM DEWAN.
CELTIC THUNDER, Green Linnet and Rego recording artists and a Washington
institution.
CHERISH THE LADIES, the crowd pleasing all-woman (plus a couple of male
dancers) band from New York.
Dublin singer DANNY DOYLE, making an all-too-rare appearance in his
current hometown area. (Evening concert only.)
JOE DERRANE on button accordion, with FELIX DOLAN on piano, returning to
the scene of his amazing comeback of a year ago.
SEAMUS EGAN (flute & banjo), WINNIE HORAN (fiddle), JOHN WILLIAMS (button
accordion & concertina) and JOHN DOYLE (guitar): a glimpse into the
future of Irish ensemble playing.
THE IRISH TRADITION (fiddler Brendan Mulvihill, button accordionist Billy
McComiskey and singer/guitarist Andy O'Brien), the trio who put
Washington on the Irish music map back in the '70s, making only their
second reunion appearance in over a decade.
Singer, guitar and bouzouki player ANDY IRVINE (of Sweeney's Men, Planxty
and Patrick Street fame) in a solo appearance.
A set of expatriate Dublin virtuosos: button accordionist JAMES KEANE and
uilleann piper PADDY KEENAN, with guitarist JOHN DOYLE.
MICK MOLONEY (singer, guitar and tenor banjo), EUGENE O'DONNELL (master
of the slow air on fiddle) and SEAMUS EGAN (flute, banjo, mandolin,
whistle, and maybe more): three generations of Irish music from
Philadelphia.
Metchif Indian fiddler MIKE PAGE, his guitarist wife DOROTHY PAGE, and
dancer MARTIN TROTTIER, who all live on a reservation near Belcourt, ND,
come from a tradition with rich Celtic roots. Find out why their
homestead has been called "the Celtic center of North America" by at
least one noted folklorist!
Fiddler BRENDAN MULVIHILL and pianist DONNA LONG are perhaps the finest
performing duet in all of Irish music. Also appearing will be acclaimed
young fiddler JESSE SMITH, Brendan's student and Donna's son, who will
perform with All-Ireland (15-18) champion button accordionist COLM GANNON
of Boston and guitar and bouzouki whiz ZAN McLEOD.
Eight CHAMPION IRISH STEPDANCERS (Donny & Eileen Golden, Regan & Linnane
Wick, Cara Butler, Kevin Broesler, Liam Harney and Deirdre Goulding) with
music by JOANIE MADDEN on flute, button accordionist BILLY McCOMISKEY,
fiddler BRIAN CONWAY and pianist FELIX DOLAN.
Plus a few more surprises yet to be confirmed.
***ALL OF THE ABOVE ARTISTS (except Danny Doyle) will appear in the
afternoon portion of the Festival, which will feature simultaneous
performances on five stages scattered throughout the park, along with a
crafts demonstration and sales area, participatory dance workshops, CD
and tape sales and full food concessions.
***THE EVENING CONCERT IN WOLF TRAP'S FILENE CENTER (an outdoor
auditorium with 3800 covered seats and a sloping lawn area which seats
another 3200) will be hosted by FIONA RITCHIE of NPR's weekly "Thistle
and Shamrock" radio show. Featured performers will be DANNY DOYLE,
WOLFSTONE, REELTIME, the Dublin set of JAMES KEANE, PADDY KEENAN and
JOHN DOYLE, and a performance by the EIGHT CHAMPION IRISH STEPDANCERS.
******************** TICKET PRICES (same as last year)
**************************************
FESTIVAL CEILI (Saturday, May 27th, 8 pm to midnight): $12
AFTERNOON FESTIVAL (Sunday, May 28th, noon to 5 pm)
Advance: $12 Adult, $3 Child
At the Door: $16 Adult, $5 Child (Age 3 and under: Free)
EVENING CONCERT (Sunday, May 28th, 8:15 pm)
Advance: $12 in-house, $7 lawn
At the Door: $15 in-house, $8 Lawn (Age 3 and under $3 - lawn only)
************** ORDERING INFORMATION, ACCOMODATIONS, ETC
**************************
A four page brochure with ticket mail-order form and information on local
hotels will be mailed in the next few weeks. To receive a copy, send your
name and address to John Kerr, 2929C South Woodstock Street, Arlington,
VA 22206, or via email to <jk...@mitre.org>. To those who have emailed
me earlier: Don't worry, you're on the list!
Advance tickets will also be available via phone charge, but not starting
until May 8th. As that date approaches, I will post again with the phone
numbers to call. But if you're planning to come from out of town, I'd
advise sending for the brochure and making your plans and reservations
early. Although the Festival will probably not sell out in advance (we
should be so lucky!), hotel space may be at a premium, since it's a
holiday weekend and the height of tourist season in Washington.
Hope to see many of you there!
John Kerr (jk...@mitre.org)
Festival Program Committee