Current and past All-Ireland senior champion and prize-winning musicians will perform at Waltham High School when the annual Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann “Echoes of Erin” North America tour makes its stop in the Boston area on Oct. 12.
Throughout its more than four decades of existence, “Echoes of Erin” has showcased some of Ireland’s top traditional musicians, singers, and dancers, many of whom have gone on to successful careers in their own right, such as accordionists Joe Burke, Martin Donohoe and John Whelan, fiddler Oisin MacDiarmada, flutists June McCormack and Mike Rafferty, concertina player Padraig Rynne, and dance duo Donncha O’Muineachain and Celine Hession.

This year’s line-up features Alice Fitzgerald, a well-known singer and emcee on many previous Comhaltas national and international tours; Noel Battle (mouth organ), who holds a record nine Senior All-Ireland Titles; Lorraine McMahon, a fiddle, whistle, and flute player who has won numerous awards at all levels of Fleadhanna and a member of the All-Ireland champion Siamsa Céilí Band; Shane Keating, an All-Ireland champion on pipes and whistle in dance music and slow air-categories who has toured extensively abroad; Joseph Keane, one of the most respected junior button accordion champions in Irish music; harpist and pianist Emer Toale, who, in addition to excelling at Irish music, has earned a nomination for the Royal Irish Academy’s high-achiever award for her classical piano studies.
Also performing: Claire Heffernan, a former All-Ireland flute champion and a member of the Naomh Íde Céilí Band; Elaine Reilly, a multi-prizewinner at national level on banjo and mandolin; Róisín Broderick, a multi-instrumentalist All-Ireland prize-winner and traditional singer who has performed with the Siansa Gael Linn winning group Tuaines Cinn; dancer and concertina player Aisling Vaughan, an All-Ireland prize-winner and a music and Irish student at University College Cork; Christine Mulcahy, a concertina player and champion step-dancer; Seán Hanafin, a prize-winning step-dancer at Munster, All-Ireland and World-Championship levels who also has been part of the National Folk Theatre; and Tomás Ó Sé, who in addition to garnering Munster, All-Ireland and World Championship honors is an accomplished accordionist.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. at the high school, located at 617 Lexington Street. For ticket information and other details, call 617-481-5503 or 508-947-8688 or send an e-mail to cceboston@verizon.net.
– SEAN SMITH