Ottawa Celtic Choir Christmas Season Gigs!

The Ottawa Celtic Choir has a few performances this holiday season you might be interested in. Come out for some Celtic-y songs of Christmas and of the winter season!

Sunday, December 15, 2013A Celtic Christmas
Where: St. Luke's Anglican Church, 760 Somerset Street West
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: admission by donation

Saturday, December 21, 2013
Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Christmas Ceili
Where: 194 Fourth Avenue, Ottawa
When: 8 pm
Cost: Members – $10, Non-Members – $15, Students – $5, Children under 12 years of age – free!

Saturday, January 4, 2014National Anthem, Ottawa 67's Game (Ottawa vs. North Bay)
Where: Canadian Tire Place
When: 2 pm
Cost: $22. Tickets available from Choir members, or by contacting ellen@laughingbrook.ca
(NOTE: a portion of the proceeds of tickets sold via the choir go to benefit the choir - with this money we can undertake things like recordings, travel to other cities for performances, etc. So instead of going to the 67's website for tickets, please talk to me or to any of the choir members!)
 

Busy weekend of events for Cape Breton music

Dance/Ceilidh - Cape Breton Square Sets, Gaelic piping
With Ben Miller, Anita MacDonald and Tyson Chen - Friday Nov. 22
RCAF Officer's Mess at 8pm.
158 Gloucester St. Ottawa
Tickets in advance: $10 at Ottawa Folklore Centre
Tickets at the door: $15

Workshops in Cape Breton Style Fiddle and Piano - Saturday Nov. 23
Faith Lutheran Church, 43 Meadowlands Dr. (Between Merivale and Woodroofe)
Beginner/Intermediate Fiddle/Piano 9am-12noon
Intermediate/Advanced Fidde/Piano 1pm-4pm
Intermediate Scottish Smallpipes/border pipes 1pm-4pm

House Concert -Cape Breton Ceilidh - Saturday Nov. 23 7:30pm-9:30pm
An evening of high energy Celtic fiddle, with Cape Breton fiddler Anita MacDonald, accompanied by Tyson Chen of Mabou, and with special guest Ben Miller on Scottish small pipes and border pipes. Jam session to follow - bring your instruments!
Hosted by Aylene and Brian Gracie at 925 Parkhaven Ave. 613-820-1535

Reserve seats for the house concert, or in the workshops by email to cbsession@cbsession.com. Workshop registrations accepted onsite, space permitting. House concert reservations are recommended but we'll squeeze you in even if you haven't reserved.
More information/maps for all events are available at cbsession.com.

Although barely recovered from Celtic Colours International Festival where she both performed AND worked as stage manager and media spokesperson. Anita, along with Tyson Chen are both ready to bring a bit of that Celtic Colours feeling to the National Capital, they are also bringing a piper with them to round out the experience.

Anita is uniquely qualified to perform of traditional Cape Breton music, having spent more than seven years with the cultural component of Feis an Eilein at Christmas Island Cape Breton where she had close contact with some of Cape Breton's oldest and most respected tradition bearers. She's a triple threat, being an accomplished Gaelic singer and songwriter, a noted step dancer AND a fabulous fiddler. Putting her exposure to the oldest traditions of the Island together with her Gaelic speaking and dancing gives her playing the 'lift and lilt' that makes the Cape Breton fiddle so well liked around the world. Add to that her youth, energy and enthusiasm and she becomes an unstoppable force!

Anita and Tyson will be sharing the spotlight this year with an amazing piper. Ben Miller is a player of Scottish smallpipes, Border pipes, and Highland pipes, whose repertoire and style draw mainly on the Gaelic traditions of Western Scotland and the Canadian Maritimes, blended with a healthy dash of Irish tunes for good measure. Early in his career Ben left the pipe band scene to pursue traditional Scottish and Cape Breton dance music. He now teaches and performs in Scotland, USA, and Canada.

Tyson is originally from Ottawa, although he has been living and playing in Mabou, Cape Breton for several years now. He is immersed in the Celtic music scene in Cape Breton and performs at many ceilidhs, concerts and dances with some of the Island’s best known fiddlers, including Anita MacDonald. He can often be seen at the keys at Celtic Colours International Festival, the Glenora Distillery, the Red Shoe Pub or a West Mabou square dance.

Thanks, Beth

FILM: Natural Grace: Irish Music and Martin Hayes - 26 Nov 2013

DO NOT MISS!

The documentary about Martin Hayes by Director Art O Briain that will be shown in the EU film festival on Tuesday, November 26 at 7:00 pm in the Auditorium, 395 Wellington St., Ottawa:

http://www.cfi-icf.ca/index.php?option=com_cfi&task=showscreening&id=801&Itemid=1150

This film documentary explores the world of Irish music as lived and played by Martin Hayes. From East Clare, Hayes is widely regarded as the finest fiddle player of his generation and has brought a new audience, worldwide and in Ireland, to this music. It reveals his background in Maghera, near Feakle, the shaping influence of his father who was a founder of the renowned Tulla Ceili Band, and his subsequent development as a player in the U.S., teaming up with the guitarist Denis Cahill to create an enduring body of work. A compelling and captivating live performer the film captures him solo, in concert with Denis Hayes, with a new supergroup ‘The Gloaming’ and in a special concert with the RTE Concert Orchestra. Natural Grace also reveals how Hayes’ understanding of melody in Irish tunes has opened up the very nature and character of this music. Prof. Micheal O Suilleabhan of the Irish World Academy University of Limerick describes it as both ‘ancient and new’. This film is an up close and personal portrait of a fascinating and important figure in the evolution of Irish culture and follows Martin Hayes to Japan and the U.S. as he continues to engage new audiences.

Ticket prices are as follows:
$12.00 (includes HST): Non-member General Admission
$8.00 (includes HST): CFI Members, seniors (65+), students