Festivals

Although the Philadelphia Ceili Group Irish Music Festival lost its long-time director, Frank Malley, this year to cancer, the show that must go on is going on in his honor.

 And, says his daughter Courtney Malley, his spirit will be all over it. Singer’s Circle, for example, will be moving from Thursday  to Friday night, a prime spot. “Dad and I are singers, that’s our big passion, so it’s going to be a fun night,” says Malley, who is a co-chair of this year’s festival.

 On Saturday, the emphasis will be on education. “My Dad was a natural-born teacher. He taught us the tradition, how to run festivals, do it on a shoe-string, find the manpower, and to be nice to the volunteers so they come back year after year,” she says.

 There will be workshops on genealogy, sean nos singing, dancing, and instruction and showcases on a variety of instruments, from the whistle to the harp.

 “In past years, we’ve really focused on more local musicians and we’re doing that this year too,” she says.

 Piper and flutist Tim Britton, who grew up in the Philadelphia area, will be back from his new home in Iowa for a concert on Thursday night and will be playing the whole weekend. (If you’re hankering for some new uillean pipes, you might want to talk to him. He’s one of the leading makers of these smaller, sweeter-sounding pipes.)

 On Friday, the singers will include locals Rosaleen McGill, Terry Kane, and Matt Ward, along with County Armagh singer Len Graham and all-Ireland ballad champ Brian Hart of St. Louis,who was the first American to win the title—and the youngest person ever. Graham, who was Ireland’s Traditional Singer of the Year in 2002, has been singing and recording for more than 30 years. He was one of the Irish singers featured in the Smithsonian’s 2007 Folklife Festival tribute to Northern Ireland. (He actually gave a concert at the Library of Congress. No one said, “Shhhhh!”) There will be a session afterwards, so bring your instrument and lilting voice.

 The ever-popular McGillian Family—some combination of patriarch Kevin, sons Jimmy and John, and perhaps Mary–will provide the music for the Friday night ceili dance.

 Saturday’s workshops will certainly be punctuated with music and there will be vendors and food. That evening, our out-of-town visitors Len Graham, Brian Hart, and Hart’s group, BUA, will share the stage with a new local trad group, Cruinn, featuring singer Rosaleen McGill. Also on hand—two remarkable fiddlers: Pairac Keane, who hails from Dublin and is the son of Chieftans’ fiddler Sean Keane, and six-year-old Haley Richardson from New Jersey, who won first place at the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Choil (Music Contest) in Pearl River, NY.

 And at 10 PM, all the chairs will be shoved aside in the Fireside Room for an old-fashioned Irish house party—music, dancing, and whatever else happens—all in honor of the late Frank Malley, who sang and danced and enjoyed whatever else happened.

You’ll want to be there. 

Buy tickets here.  

Here’s the way it looked in past years. 

Here are the workshops:

From noon until 2PM onSeptember 12th, attend workshops with

Brian O’hAairt (Sean Nos Singing/InIrish)

Sean Gavin (Uillean Pipes)

Chris Bain (Beginning Fiddle)

Len Graham(History of Ulster)

Brian Miller (DADGAD Guitar)

Josh Dukes (Flute)

TerryKane (Irish Language)

John Shields & Cass Tinney (Ceili/Set Dancing).

From3 until 5PM, attend workshops with:

Len Graham (Singing in English)

Sean Gavin(Tin Whistle)

Chris Bain (Intermediate Fiddle)

Will Hill (Genealogy)

BrianMiller (Accompanying Irish Music)

Josh Dukes (Bodhran)

Ellen Tepper (IrishHarp)

Brian O’hAirt (Sean Nos Dancing).

You'll be dancing too.

The Chicago supergroup, BUA, called by Irish Music Magazine “the essence of a superb band,” will headline the Saturday night concert at the thirty-fifth Annual Philadelphia Ceili Group Irish Music and Dance Festival, scheduled for September 10-12 at the Irish Center in Philadelphia.

Also on tap: noted County Armagh singer Len Graham; Pairaic Keane, a brilliant fiddler from Dublin and son of Chieftain’s fiddler Sean Keane; and Brian O’hairt, of St. Louis, who was the first American and youngest person to take first place in the All-Ireland Fleadh ballad singing competition, senior division.

But if there’s a theme fort his year’s festival, it’s that Philly has plenty of local talent. Sharing a stage with the out-of-towners will be Cruinn, a local trad band featuring RosaleenMcGill, Augie Fairchild and Tom O’Malley, and six-year-old Haley Richardson, the local fiddler who won first place at the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil in Pearl River, NY, and will be traveling to Tullamore, County Offaly,  this year to match her skills with other under-12s at the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, the all-Ireland music festival.

The festival kicks off on Thursday with Tim Biritton and Friends in Concert. Britton, who now lives in Fairfield, Iowa, is a virtuoso on the Irish uillean pipes (and a noted maker of same) who grew up in the Philadelphia area and was a fixture, with his musical family, on the Philly folk and Irish scene. He has performed with the likes of Eileen Ivers, Mick Moloney, Robbie O’Connell, and Bela Fleck.

On Friday, a set/ceili dance is scheduled at 8 PM in the ballroom with the local and popular McGillian Band. In the Fireside Room, A Night of Irish Song will be hosted by local singer and Ceili Group member Courtney Malley and feature Len Graham; Brian O’hAirt; the Jameson Sisters (local singer Terry Kane and harper Ellen Tepper), Matt Ward, and others. After the event, there will be a session to which all musicians and singers are invited.

After the concert on Saturday night there will be a traditional “House Party” in the Fireside Room honoring the late Frank Malley, a local musician, singer, and longtime CeiliGroup member and festival director, who died recently. His daughter, Courtney Malley, will perform, as well as other singers, musicians, and story tellers. And, since it’s a House Party, there will also be dancing and it won’t break up until the wee hours, if at all.

There will be food, the bar is open, and there will be vendors and workshops, some by festival performers. This is one of our favorite events of the year–don’t miss it. 

For more information on thefestival or to purchase advance tickets, go to the Ceili Group website or emailphillyceiligroup@gmail.org.