Emily Safko practices a tune under the watchful eye of her teacher, Alex Boatright.
It was a real treat for young musicians Alexander Weir, 14, and Emily Safko, 11, to get some up close and personal time with their music teacher, All-Ireland harp champion Alex Boatright, last weekend. She was one of two instructors—the other, all-Ireland fiddle champ Dylan Foley—who taught at a two-day Irish music workshop in West Chester.
Though Boatright has been their teacher for some time, while she was getting her bachelor’s degree in music performance at Applachian State University in North Carolina, Alexander and Emily took their lessons from Boatright and her husband, Duncan, a composer and percussionist, over Skype. It may be traditional Irish music, where student learns at the feet of the master, but when you regularly earn a spot at the Fleadh Cheoil na Eireann—as Alexander and Emily do—sometimes it requires employing some nontraditional methods to hone your skills.
“Alexander and Duncan have really forged a bond over Skype. Duncan is teaching him music theory and they now also play video games together,” laughed Katherine Ball-Weir, Alexander’s mother, who organized and hosted this second annual weekend music workshops at just the perfect time—two weeks before the Fleadh, which this year is being held in Derry.
Though Alexander won’t be going (“next year in Sligo,” his mother promises), several of the other students, including Emily Safko, who tied for third in the All-Ireland last year, and singer and concertina player Alanna Griffin will be competing. As will their teachers. This year, both Alex Boatright and Dylan Foley will be competing in the senior division in harp and concertina (for Alex) and fiddle (for Dylan).
Boatright is also starting a PhD program at the University of Maryland and Foley has been touring with his band, The Yanks, with their eponymous debut CD. (The Yanks are a who’s who of the younger generation of Irish music in America: Along with Foley, there’s Dan Gurney who learned Irish music from legendary Galway concertina player Father Charlie Coen; three-time All-Ireland winner Isaac Alderson; and Sean Ernest, one of the most in-demand accompanists in Irish music today who has toured with Teada, McPeake, and the Paul McKenna Band.)
We spent some time at the workshop on Saturday. You can see our photo essay and watch a video of Emily Safko practicing a tune on her harp.
On Sunday, there will be a fundraiser at Lazy Lanigan’s Publick House, 139 Egg Harbor Road, Sewell, NJ for Emily and young fiddler Haley Richardson who will be making a return trip to the Fleadh.
