William Jackson and Grainne Hambly
What happens when one of the best Celtic music harpers in the world meets up with one of the best Celtic music harpers in the world? You can find out on Saturday night when Grainne Hambly and William Jackson perform at the Gates Family Recital Hall at West Chester University.
They don’t just bring harp to their performances either. You can hear these two musical masters play a variety of instruments, including the exotic bouzouki, the concertina and tin whistle.
Jackson is from Glasgow, a composer and a founding member of Ossian, one of Scotland’s best-loved traditional bands. (If you’re a History Channel aficianado, you may have heard his work on “The Battle of the Clans,” or on the soundtrack of the movie, “A Shot at Glory, starring Robert Duval and Michael Keaton.)
Hambly, of Mayo, is a senior All-Ireland winner for harp and concertina, and garnered many other awards for her playing. She tours most of the year, bringing her “danceable” harp playing to all the major Celtic music and harp festivals in the US and Europe.
The two are also holding workshops on Sunday at the Swope Music Building at the university in West Chester.
Looking for a respite from nonstop sports watching? Rosin up your bow (or what have you) and head over to the AOH Notre Dame Div. 1 hall in Swedesburg on Sunday at 4 PM for a session.
The Echoes of Erin 2011 North American tour stops in Middletown, NJ, at the Middletown Arts Center on Wednesday, October 12. Sponsored by the Comhaltas Coeltoiri Eireann (also known as Coal-tus), an international organization dedicated to the preservation of Irish music and dance, the show brings All-Ireland champions in singing, dancing, and playing from Ireland. This is the only show in the tri-state area this year.
On Thursday, let genealogy expert John McDevitt help you find your Irish roots at the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby. This week he’ll be talking about the Tithe Applotment Survey of the 1820s. Since it’s hard to find other Irish records going back that far, this should be enlightening.
Special heads up: Next Saturday, October 15, Father Sean McKay, founder of the Irish National Caucus, will be in Philadelphia at the AOH Div. 87 Hall to sign copies of his book, “My American Struggle for Justice in Northern Ireland.”
As you probably know, all the details on these events are on our handy-dandy calendar. Check it out now. And we mean it.
