Arts and Entertainment

John Carty and Michael McGoldrick, “At Our Leisure” • Leisure, indeed. It took the better part of eight years for these esteemed gentlemen to put on record a collaboration that started with their appearance in a special ensemble at a 2014 Royal Albert... Read more
There are fiddle duet albums, and then there are magnum opus-level fiddle duet albums.  On “Brightly or Darkly,” the second recording by Boston-area musicians Nathan Gourley and Laura Feddersen, their fiddles sync up together, sometimes harmonize, play... Read more
Two very special productions are onstage this month at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York.  Both have connections offering interest to Boston audiences. Manhattan is easily accessible as a day trip or a quick overnight theater visit via Amtrak.  And... Read more
Damon Leibert, a former Boston-area resident now living in Maine, has quite the resumé: a fiddler in Irish bands that performed at beloved local venues like Tir Na nOg and The Skellig; the driving force behind the rebirth of Somerville’s Davis Square... Read more
Her stay in the Boston area was a relatively brief one, but the area’s folk/traditional music scene made an impression on Vermont fiddler-vocalist Lissa Schneckenburger, and she returned the favor. The Maine native came to town in the late 1990s as a... Read more
Karan Casey admits it: She was nervous. Yes, she’s been performing for decades in front of audiences big and small, in her native Ireland, the UK, the US, and many other places. But at January’s Celtic Connections in Glasgow – one of the premier Celtic... Read more
A look at some upcoming Irish/Celtic music events in the Greater Boston area. •Harvard Square’s Club Passim has quite the intriguing mix of Celtic-related sounds/styles on the calendar this month, starting Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. with singer-songwriter Anna... Read more
  Déjà vu: a rhyme It is impossible to experience déjà vu  for the first time I reckon  the first time déjà vu happens is the second Déjà vu: a rhyme… Les Barker   We’ve been here before, haven’t we? It’s late December as I write this, and I am thinking... Read more
For two decades, BCMFest (Boston Celtic Music Fest) has spotlighted some of the Greater Boston area’s best musicians, singers, and dancers in the Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and other Celtic and Celtic-related traditions. The all-ages festival will... Read more
For two decades, BCMFest (Boston Celtic Music Fest) has spotlighted some of the Greater Boston area’s best musicians, singers, and dancers in the Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and other Celtic and Celtic-related traditions. The all-ages festival will... Read more
If you've found yourself unable to purchase in-person tickets to the 20th Anniversary of A Christmas Celtic Sojourn, not to worry! You can stream the live program every night this week in the lead up to Christmas. Virtual ticket prices run at $40 (a steal... Read more
With a crispness in the air and the anticipation of Santa’s arrival, there’s plenty of holiday entertainment onstage throughout Greater Boston this month. Keep in mind, theater tickets provide an excellent opportunity for an early Christmas gift.   We... Read more
Anthony Quigney, “Breath-Taking”; Draíocht (June McCormarck & Michael Rooney), “Tobar an Cheoil” • Apologies for the lack of attribution here, but somebody – somewhere, at some time – once observed that the flute could be considered one of the more... Read more
This is a year unlike any other for “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn.” The 2022 edition marks the 20th anniversary of the popular holiday stage production, which features music, dance, and storytelling from Irish, Scottish, other Celtic – and occasionally non-... Read more
A sampling of this month’s Irish/Celtic music-related events in, or slightly beyond, Greater Boston.  Not surprisingly, most performances in and around town this month are holiday-oriented, but there’s at least one that isn’t, strictly speaking: Boston... Read more
Tir Na Theatre is remounting one of its most acclaimed productions.  Artistic Director Colin Hamell has announced the company will present Mark Doherty’s “Trad” from Nov. 30 to Dec. 18 at Boston Center for the Arts’ Black Box Theatre. The cast features... Read more
The stunning west of Ireland plays a starring role in a new movie, providing the dramatic setting for the darkly comedic story.    The Banshees of Inisherin, from Searchlight Pictures, is the latest film from Academy Award and BAFTA winning director... Read more
“The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin, Irish Traditional Singer” • Elizabeth Cronin (1879-1956) – familiarly known as “Bess” – was easily one of the foremost traditional Irish singers of her time, or arguably any time, and an important figure in the run-up to... Read more
A sampling of this month’s Irish/Celtic music-related events in, or slightly beyond, Greater Boston.  •At last, at last: Fiddle Hell, one of the area’s most popular traditional/folk music festivals, is back on an in-person basis for the first time since... Read more
    John Cullinane, who founded the Boston Public Library Foundation, the Fund's predecessor, recently published a book entitled, Stories Along the Way.   John is known as one of the fathers of the Massachusetts tech industry. He didn't set out to write a... Read more

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