If you’re a die-hard Irish trad music lover, getting the chance to see Martin Hayes, Daithi Sproul, Billy McComiskey, Brian McNamara ,The Kane Sisters, Willie Kelly, Tony DeMarco, Randall Bays, Mike Rafferty, and Myron Bretholz, all playing on the same stage, you’d think you’d died and went to heaven. Those of you who aren’t die-hard fans but want to be, trust us, this is the concert you want to hear.
And you can see and hear all of these incredible performers—and more—on Saturday, July 21, at the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural & Sports Centre in East Durham, NY, at The Andy McGann Traditional Irish Music Festival.
The concert marks the end of a week of arts instruction, ranging from piping with Brian McNamara and fiddling with Tony DeMarco to learning the art of oil painting from painter Vincent Crotty or Irish stone carving with Laura Travis. Tuition for the week ranges from $150 to $350, depending on how often you want to take lessons. Accommodations are extra. You can find more information on the festival, including driving directions, at www.east-durham.org/irishartsweek/index.htm .
This year, the concert has been renamed to honor a longtime teacher and Sligo-style fiddler Andy McGann, who died in 2004. “It was my first year as artistic director and Andy passed away during Arts Week,” says Paul Keating. “It was a poignant time–he was a hero to many of the people on our teaching staff. But there was a comfort factor in us all being together at the time. He was a very humble, soft-spoken guy who never sought the spotlight and I know he wouldn’t care a fig about us naming the concert after him, but he’s the man who looks over Arts Week for all of us symbolically.”
