Upcoming Concerts
Brian Conway & Pat Egan
8:00 PM, Saturday June 22, 2019
The Rochester branch of Comhaltas is excited to bring Brian Conway, the preeminent Sligo-style fiddler of New York, back to Rochester for what will surely be an incredible concert of Irish music, joined by the fantastic guitarist and singer Pat Egan!
Presale Online:
Door:
Egan, from Tipperary, Ireland, began singing and playing the guitar at an early age and took lessons from Phil Kelly at the National School. He later moved to Westport, County Mayo and became a force on the session scene, playing seven nights a week and recording on the classic "Live from Matt Molloy's." He has been a longtime member of the band Chulrua with Paddy O'Brien and Patrick Ourceau, and has recorded and toured the world with a number of other Irish and old-time musicians.
Both Conway and Egan are frequent instructors at Irish Music camps and festivals, including the long-running Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, NY.
Workshops with both Brian and Pat on Sunday afternoon
Intermediate-Advanced Fiddle; Irish Guitar Accompaniment in Standard Tuning
Location: McMahon School of Irish Dance, 50 Carlson Rd, Rochester, New York 14610
12:00-2:00 PM
$30
Reserve your spot by emailing Dave Halligan at dhalligan@rochester.rr.com.
8:00 PM, Saturday June 22, 2019
The Rochester branch of Comhaltas is excited to bring Brian Conway, the preeminent Sligo-style fiddler of New York, back to Rochester for what will surely be an incredible concert of Irish music, joined by the fantastic guitarist and singer Pat Egan!
Presale Online:
- Comhaltas member: $15
- Non-Comhaltas member: $20
Door:
- Comhaltas member or student: $20
- Non-Comhaltas member: $25
- Children Under 16: Free
Egan, from Tipperary, Ireland, began singing and playing the guitar at an early age and took lessons from Phil Kelly at the National School. He later moved to Westport, County Mayo and became a force on the session scene, playing seven nights a week and recording on the classic "Live from Matt Molloy's." He has been a longtime member of the band Chulrua with Paddy O'Brien and Patrick Ourceau, and has recorded and toured the world with a number of other Irish and old-time musicians.
Both Conway and Egan are frequent instructors at Irish Music camps and festivals, including the long-running Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, NY.
Workshops with both Brian and Pat on Sunday afternoon
Intermediate-Advanced Fiddle; Irish Guitar Accompaniment in Standard Tuning
Location: McMahon School of Irish Dance, 50 Carlson Rd, Rochester, New York 14610
12:00-2:00 PM
$30
Reserve your spot by emailing Dave Halligan at dhalligan@rochester.rr.com.
Selected Recent Concerts
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Arise & Go CD Release Party
April 11, 2019 Arise & Go is an exciting Celtic trio that finds its roots in the dance music of Ireland, Scotland and Atlantic Canada. Blending pipes, whistles, fiddle, and guitar, the group’s varied musical backgrounds combine to produce a sound which is both grounded in tradition and uniquely fresh and driving. Have a listen to them play Ross Ainslie's "The Dirty Bee:" https://youtu.be/lUaH-cLgId8 McGinnity's 534 W Ridge Rd, Rochester, NY 14615 7:30 pm Admission (at the door): $10 general admission, $8 CCE members, free for children under 16. |
A St. Patrick's Celebration featuring
John Whelan, Katie McNally, and Low Lily
March 8, 2018
Location: First Baptist Church of Fairport
94 South Main Street, Fairport, NY
Performance (7:30 pm): $20 general admission, $15 for Comhaltas members, $15 for students, under age 16 free.
Legendary Irish accordion champion John Whelan teams up with the American Roots band Low Lily and Scottish-style fiddler Katie McNally for a spectacular St. Pat’s Celebration! Exploring the Roots music of Ireland, Scotland, and America, this diverse and energetic show will showcase fiery uptempo jigs and reels alongside lushly arranged songs, featuring two fiddles, accordion, guitars, mandolin, and harmonious vocals.
Joey Abarta, Nathan Gourley, and Owen Marshall
December 3rd, 2017
Nathan Gourley (fiddle), Joey Abarta (uilleann pipes), Owen Marshall (bouzouki)
Location: McGinnity’s Restaurant, 534 W Ridge Rd, Rochester, NY 14615
Performance (7 pm): $20 general admission, $15 for Comhaltas members, $15 for students, under age 16 free.
Watch and listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSekBRhK4vE
“To me, the fiddle is just perfect for playing with the pipes,” said Abarta. “The pipes have that kind of raw, unbridled power, and while the fiddle
can sound gentle in comparison, it also has a certain drive to it. And when you have a great player like Nathan, all the better.”
The tunes on “Copley Street” come from a variety of sources: published collections like O’Neill’s, Breandán Breathnach’s Ceol Rince na hEireann and
Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion, among others; recordings of traditional musicians such as Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford, Willie Clancy and Johnny McGreevy, and more contemporary performers like Dervish and John Carty; or from friends and acquaintances – Gourley and Abarta
credit Boston-area fiddler Helena Delaney for the jig “The Pretty Brown Girl.”
And then, adds Abarta, there were the tunes that “just follow you around.” One was “Cucanandy,” an example of a dandling song – a sort of anti-lullaby, made for entertaining children rather than lulling them to sleep – famously recorded by Elizabeth Cronin as part of a collection by Seamus Ennis in the 1940s. It’s included on the album as part of a medley of hop jigs.
December 3rd, 2017
Nathan Gourley (fiddle), Joey Abarta (uilleann pipes), Owen Marshall (bouzouki)
Location: McGinnity’s Restaurant, 534 W Ridge Rd, Rochester, NY 14615
Performance (7 pm): $20 general admission, $15 for Comhaltas members, $15 for students, under age 16 free.
Watch and listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSekBRhK4vE
“To me, the fiddle is just perfect for playing with the pipes,” said Abarta. “The pipes have that kind of raw, unbridled power, and while the fiddle
can sound gentle in comparison, it also has a certain drive to it. And when you have a great player like Nathan, all the better.”
The tunes on “Copley Street” come from a variety of sources: published collections like O’Neill’s, Breandán Breathnach’s Ceol Rince na hEireann and
Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion, among others; recordings of traditional musicians such as Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford, Willie Clancy and Johnny McGreevy, and more contemporary performers like Dervish and John Carty; or from friends and acquaintances – Gourley and Abarta
credit Boston-area fiddler Helena Delaney for the jig “The Pretty Brown Girl.”
And then, adds Abarta, there were the tunes that “just follow you around.” One was “Cucanandy,” an example of a dandling song – a sort of anti-lullaby, made for entertaining children rather than lulling them to sleep – famously recorded by Elizabeth Cronin as part of a collection by Seamus Ennis in the 1940s. It’s included on the album as part of a medley of hop jigs.
Open The Door For Three in Rochester, November 4th, 2017
Concert at 7 PM
Workshops in Irish fiddle, uilleann pipes, and guitar from 4-5:30 PM ($25)
Contact marta.driscoll@gmail.com to register for workshops.
First Baptist Church
94 S. Main St Fairport, NY 14450
Liz Knowles Kieran O’Hare Pat Broaders
Open the Door for Three is a trio that plays its Irish music powerfully.
They mine tune books, collections, and recordings for old and new tunes and songs. They add to those discoveries fiddler Liz Knowles’s compositions, harmonies, and arrangements, Kieran O’Hare’s encyclopedic knowledge of tunes and the uilleann piping tradition, and the rhythmic bedrock bouzouki and world-class singing of Dublin-born Pat Broaders.
The trio's members are veterans and mainstays of the Irish music scene around the world, having played with Riverdance, Cherish the Ladies, Secret Garden, Anúna, Liz Carroll, and The New York Pops, as well as with artists like Don Henley, Paula Cole, Bonnie Raitt, and Josh Groban. They have performed around the world: on Broadway, at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, at L'Olympia and the Palais des Congrès in Paris, in Malaysian rainforest festivals, in theatres from Shanghai to São Paulo, and even a bullring in Mallorca.
Their debut release ‘Open the Door for Three’ followed by ‘The Penny Wager’ and now their brand new third CD ‘The Joyful Hour’ are the culmination of years on the road, comprised of unearthed tunes, new arrangements of great songs, homages to the musicians and bands they grew up listening to, and the signature sound of a trio of good friends playing great music together.
Concert Admission: $20 adults, $15 CCÉ Members, $10 students.
Free for kids under 16!
Concert at 7 PM
Workshops in Irish fiddle, uilleann pipes, and guitar from 4-5:30 PM ($25)
Contact marta.driscoll@gmail.com to register for workshops.
First Baptist Church
94 S. Main St Fairport, NY 14450
Liz Knowles Kieran O’Hare Pat Broaders
Open the Door for Three is a trio that plays its Irish music powerfully.
They mine tune books, collections, and recordings for old and new tunes and songs. They add to those discoveries fiddler Liz Knowles’s compositions, harmonies, and arrangements, Kieran O’Hare’s encyclopedic knowledge of tunes and the uilleann piping tradition, and the rhythmic bedrock bouzouki and world-class singing of Dublin-born Pat Broaders.
The trio's members are veterans and mainstays of the Irish music scene around the world, having played with Riverdance, Cherish the Ladies, Secret Garden, Anúna, Liz Carroll, and The New York Pops, as well as with artists like Don Henley, Paula Cole, Bonnie Raitt, and Josh Groban. They have performed around the world: on Broadway, at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, at L'Olympia and the Palais des Congrès in Paris, in Malaysian rainforest festivals, in theatres from Shanghai to São Paulo, and even a bullring in Mallorca.
Their debut release ‘Open the Door for Three’ followed by ‘The Penny Wager’ and now their brand new third CD ‘The Joyful Hour’ are the culmination of years on the road, comprised of unearthed tunes, new arrangements of great songs, homages to the musicians and bands they grew up listening to, and the signature sound of a trio of good friends playing great music together.
Concert Admission: $20 adults, $15 CCÉ Members, $10 students.
Free for kids under 16!
Caitlín Nic Gabhann & Ciarán Ó Maonaigh
October 14, 2017
6:30 PM
McGinnity's Restaurant and Party House
534 West Ridge Road, Greece, NY
Concertina, Fiddle, and Dancing!
“Caitlín Nic Gabhann and Ciarán Ó Maonaigh are two of the finest instrumentalists on the Irish traditional scene. Individually they are stunning but together they bring a freshness and excitement to the music that is uniquely their own.” -- Robbie O’Connell (The Clancy Brothers)
Admission: $20 adults, $15 CCÉ Members, $10 students.
Free for kids under 16!
October 14, 2017
6:30 PM
McGinnity's Restaurant and Party House
534 West Ridge Road, Greece, NY
Concertina, Fiddle, and Dancing!
“Caitlín Nic Gabhann and Ciarán Ó Maonaigh are two of the finest instrumentalists on the Irish traditional scene. Individually they are stunning but together they bring a freshness and excitement to the music that is uniquely their own.” -- Robbie O’Connell (The Clancy Brothers)
Admission: $20 adults, $15 CCÉ Members, $10 students.
Free for kids under 16!
Past performances include:
John Whelan
Seamus Begley
Oisin Mac Diarmada
Dylan Foley
Dan Gurney
The Truckley Howl
Copley Street
Nathan Gourley
Joey Abarta
John Blake
Mairead Hurley
Jesse Smith
Sean Gavin
Len Graham and Brian Ó hAirt
Socks in the Frying Pan
Cillian Vallely
Niall Vallely
Alan Murray
Tony DeMarco
Goitse
John Whelan
Seamus Begley
Oisin Mac Diarmada
Dylan Foley
Dan Gurney
The Truckley Howl
Copley Street
Nathan Gourley
Joey Abarta
John Blake
Mairead Hurley
Jesse Smith
Sean Gavin
Len Graham and Brian Ó hAirt
Socks in the Frying Pan
Cillian Vallely
Niall Vallely
Alan Murray
Tony DeMarco
Goitse
