Potomac Celtic Festival

2010 Festival Entertainment

Liz Carroll & John Doyle

Part of the new traditionalist movement in Irish music, the partnership between fiddler Liz Carroll and guitarist and singer John Doyle is exciting news in the folk and Celtic worlds.

After John’s appearances on Liz’s last two solo CD’s, and having co-produced the latter (Lake Effect) with Liz, they have discovered a dynamism and sympathy in their creative work together that now moves from the studio to stages across the world. Liz and John have appeared in festivals and venues throughout the U.S., and in special toursacross Europe and Asia.

Double Play, their second recording for Compass Records, is scheduled for release on March 3, 2009. and continues Irish music’s most exciting and dynamic musical twosome. We hope you’ll enjoy Liz and John doubly, on Double Play and when they play live near you.

Scythian

Rousing and raucous, Scythian (sith-ee-yin) plays kicked-up Celtic and world music with hints of Gypsy and Klezmer, all infused with a touch of punk-rock sensibility. Take a pair of classically trained dueling fiddlers, toss in a rhythm guitar and the occasional funky accordion, then power it with the driving rhythm of a jazz percussionist, and you've got the ingredients for a show you won't soon forget. Their high-energy, adrenaline-peddling, interactive brand of music has one goal in mind: to get people on their feet and dancing. Their repertoire ranges from traditional and contemporary Celtic and folk music to the alluring and dramatic strains of Gypsy and Eastern European tunes, and then crosses back over the border to pick up some good old-fashioned bluegrass licks.

Click here to hear Scythian now!

Billy McComiskey, Laura Byrne and Pat Egan

This Baltimore based trio perform, teach and are recognized and respected in Maryland and far beyond its borders. Billy McComiskey, is one of only two American born musicians to win the senior All Ireland Championship in button accordion. Billy is credited along with Brendan Mulvihill and Andy O’Brien for bringing Irish traditional music to the Maryland/Virginia/D.C. area by way of their trio The Irish Tradition. Regarded as one of the world’s greatest button accordion players, he also recorded and toured with fiddler Liz Carroll and guitarist Daithi Sproule in their group Trian. In 2008 Compass Records re-released his first solo recording, Making the Rounds, along with his long awaited new solo recording, Outside the Box. http://compassrecords.com/billy-mccomiske

Laura Byrne is highly regarded on both sides of the Atlantic for her mastery of the Irish traditional flute and whistle. She’s performed and taught at countless festivals, ceilis and concerts in the U.S. Canada and Ireland and was recently awarded a 2010 Maryland State Arts Council grant for solo performance. She released her first solo album Tune for the Road in 2005 and her second solo recording will be released in July 2010. www.laurabyrne.com.

Singer and guitarist Pat Egan, is from County Tipperary Ireland. Known for his driving rhythmic guitar playing and rich, emotive vocals, Pat spent years performing in Westport, Co. Mayo before moving to the U.S. to join the band Chulrua. Also known for his work on the great recording “Music at Matt Molloys”, Pat still tours internationally with Chulrua which includes highly esteemed musicians Paddy O’Brien, accordion and Patrick Ourceau, fiddle. He won a 2007 Maryland State Arts Council grant for a Master of Ballad singing.

Iona

IONA's music is a unique, acoustic weave of the traditional music of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany (France), the Isle of Man, Asturies and Galicia (Spain), as well as their transplants in America.. Blending songs, dance tunes, and aires into a rich and stunning tapestry, their style is outstanding in an arena where these traditions are seldom intertwined. Conceived in 1986, IONA was the musical offspring of lead singer, bouzouki, guitar and bodhrán player Barbara Ryan and wind section, Bernard Argent. With fiddlers Jim Queen (banjo and vocals as well) and Cassie Smith-Christmas and bass guitar player Chuck Lawhorn, IONA has become the leading Celtic group in the Mid-Atlantic region. They are all seasoned performers: entertainers who involve their audiences with the history and cultural backgrounds of the music, with teaching words to the songs -- even those sung in a Celtic tongue, with leading simple Breton dances, with humor, and with every emotion in the spectrum.

Click here to hear IONA now.

Tinsmith

Tinsmith is a high-energy folk band playing traditional music of Ireland, Scotland and Appalachia. Citing influences from blues to bluegrass, from funk to jazz to mountain music, they bring traditional songs and tunes into the new century. Known for their fun and energetic performances and for the taste and delicacy of their arrangements, Tinsmith has been making audiences dance since 1997. They are three-time invitees at the North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas, Tx, and have played such prestigious gigs as The Barns at Wolf Trap Park for the Performing Arts, Potomac Celtic Festival, The Institute of Musical Traditions and Blackrock Center for the Performing Arts. Tinsmith has also been invited to perform at the National Folk Alliance Convention and has numerous WAMMIE (Washington Area Music Association) awards to its credit.

Led by core members, multi-talented Rowan Corbett (guitar, bouzouki, bones, djembe) and WAMMIE-winning vocalist Brooke Parkhurst (banjo, Irish flue, tinwhistles), the group also includes superb bassist Henry Cross and their talented, WAMMIE-winning guitar and mandolin virtuoso, Avril Smith.

Click here to hear Tinsmith now.

Jody Marshall

Growing up with a jazz musician for a father, a mother who loves to sing, and a drummer for an older brother who introduced her to the music of the Beatles, Jody Marshall absorbed the strains of many different musical styles - from swing-era standards and Dixieland jazz to pop, rock, and folk. So began an eclectic love for music that continues to nourish her imagination today.

The Washington Post has described Jody's work as "...deftly balancing the artful and the playful...lovely, lively, and shimmering." With her new solo recording, Cottage in the Glen (Maggie's Music, MM232), Jody has put together a fine collection of music, including original tunes of light-hearted whimsy, tender poignancy, and irresistible rhythms.

Jody is also a popular hammered dulcimer teacher. Her clear and insightful style of instruction has helped hundreds of students become more confident players with a greater understanding of how their instrument "works." She teaches both private lessons and group classes, and is frequently an instructor at workshops and festivals. She has been on the staff of the Augusta Heritage Arts workshops in Elkins, WV; the Upper Potomac Dulcimer Festival in Shepherdstown, WV; the Northeast Dulcimer Symposium in New York's Adirondack Mountains; and the Cook Forest festival in Clarion, PA, among others.

Nominated as best folk instrumentalist by the Washington Area Music Association, Jody's performance credits include the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center, and the White House.

She was a founding member of the D.C.- based folk trio, Ironweed, and currently performs with the award-winning Celtic bands, MoonFire and Connemara. She also enjoys performing both solo and with other musicians at weddings, parties, and other special events. And when she's not playing, teaching, composing, or recording music, Jody writes articles and stories for publications such as Ranger Rick, a children's nature magazine. She also likes to dig in the dirt in her native plant garden and play with the numerous felines that let her live in their house.

Maggie Sansone

America's premier hammered dulcimer player and recording artist, Maggie Sansone's music and pioneering artistry has brought the ringing beauty of her music to hundreds of thousands of music lovers around the world.

Maggie has been featured on CBS-TV Sunday Morning, and NPR's All Things Considered, Performance Today, and The Thistle & Shamrock.

As producer and performer, Maggie has performed at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, National Geographic Grosvenor Auditorium and many other venues; from the large stage to small town fairs, Renaissance and folk festivals, special events and weddings.

Maggie brings her unique vision and virtuosity to music of the ancient Celtic lands and her hammered dulcimer has been praised as the perfect music for Renaissance weddings and special events.

Recent awards include:

WAMMIE award for best Irish/Celtic instrumentalist from the Washington Area Music Association (DC's answer to the Grammies);
ANNIE Award for Performing Arts from the Anne Arundel Country Cultural Arts Foundation.

Maggie is the author of hammered dulcimer music books published by Mel Bay Publications. Mel Bay included Maggie in their Hammered dulcimer Anthology Series featuring America’s finest performers and teachers.

Maggie is founder and CEO of Maggie's Music record label. The label, which features over 50 albums distributed worldwide, is an eight time WAMMIE winner for "Record Label of the Year."

The Bog Band

The Bog Band is a talented group of young people with a passion for Irish music. The band leader is Pete Moss (aka Mitch Fanning), a strings teacher at the Washington Waldorf School. Most band members play fiddle (many of them play multiple instruments), but the band also includes a variety of instruments including flute, guitar, bodhran, tin whistle, uilleann pipes, harp and cello.

The Bog Band was created in September, 2004 when a group of sixth grade boys at the Washington Waldorf School (Bethesda, Maryland) and their strings teacher, Mitch Fanning, formed a fiddle club to play traditional Irish tunes. As their talent and success grew, other young musicians joined. Today, the Bog Band has about 15 musicians ranging in age from ten through teen (and beyond).

The Bog Band has performed to great reviews at events and festivals throughout the Baltimore/Washington area including: Potomac Celtic Festival, The Folklore Society of Greater Washington, Smithsonian's Discovery Theatre, The DC Mayor's Awards Gala, Montgomery County Arts Council events, ShamRock Fest, and MetroPerforms!

They have recorded two CD'S: "Got Bog?", a studio album, and "Own Their On Turf", a live session recording that captures the excitement and enthusiasm these musicians bring to their performances.

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes has been playing the fiddle for fifteen years, beginning at the age of three. When she was fourteen, she was the youngest person ever to place in the Open Division of the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship. At age fifteen, she won the 2007 Virginia State Open Fiddle Championship. Last year she won the 2009 Mid-West Fleadh Cheoil Solo Fiddle Competition and went on to compete with distinction in the 2009 All Ireland Fiddle Competition. Bronwyn is a fluent player of many different styles of fiddling and has performed in such diverse genres as: Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, Bluegrass, Rock, Jazz, and Texas-style fiddling. In 2008 Bronwyn was featured on the Irish television station RTE, playing fiddle in Tullamore, Ireland. In 2009 she spent six weeks playing fiddle with the Irish music and dance show Emerald Beat, which performs at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia as well as a tour in Kansas City, Missouri playing fiddle with Tomaseen Foley’s ‘A Saint Patrick Celebration’. At the age of sixteen, Bronwyn was accepted to Berklee College of Music. During her second semester, she was one of the soloists to perform with Mark O’Connor at the Berklee Performance Center. She is currently a third semester student, studying towards a Diploma in Violin Performance.

Emerald Glen

Emerald Glen’s music embraces everything from rousing Celtic reels to exquisite classical themes to ancient Renaissance dances, creating a sparkling mosaic of sound that is both contemporary and timeless. This trio includes three of the Washington area’s best-known performers in the traditional music scene. Flutist Barbara Heitz, a former member of the Richmond Symphony, founded the Celtic and classical ensemble, Goldenwood, and is on the music faculty of the Holton-Arms School Center of the Arts. Violinist Andrea Hoag, well known for her versatility and improvisational abilities, plays everything from Celtic to jazz to traditional Swedish music, and is one of the members of the acclaimed Scandinavian ensemble, Hoag, Kelley, and Pilzer. Jody Marshall, one of the regions’ foremost hammered dulcimer performers, plays a variety of styles and genres with equal finesse, and delights in arranging and composing music for both solo hammered dulcimer and mixed ensembles.

Aoibhneas an Rince (Joy of Dance) The Joy of Dance is both the English name and the creed of the Aoibhneas an Rince Irish Dancers. This group returns to the Potomac Celtic Festival for the tenth time from their home at Applause! Applause! Performing Arts Center in South Riding, VA. They are proud to have been awarded both “Best Performing Group” (2003, 2006) and “Best Irish Dance School” (2004, 2005) in the Washington, D.C. St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Under the direction of Denise Foster Fumagali, TCRG, classes for children and adults are offered in Ashburn, Burke, Purcellville, South Riding, and Warrenton, VA. Contact: www.irishdancer.org or call 703.327.6836.
The Broesler School of Irish Dance, under the direction of Kevin Broesler, is recognized as one of the leading Irish Dance schools in the United States. Broesler School dancers have competed and won awards at regional, national, and international competitions. They have danced at the White House and at the Kennedy Center with both The Chieftains and Eileen Ivers, the fiddler of River Dance fame. In December, 2007, they performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in the “Holiday Spectacular” at the Meyerhoff. They have also danced throughout the Baltimore/Annapolis/D.C. area, at various festivals, at weddings and other celebrations, and at many local churches and retirement/nursing homes. For more information about the Broesler School, go to www.broesler.com.
The Celtic Rhythm School of Dance teaches both traditional Irish dances and steps and more contemporary Irish dances, similar to those seen in popular contemporary Irish dance productions. The school places it's emphasis on performance rather than competition. All students have the opportunity to perform three times each year, and older advanced students have the opportunity to join the Celtic Rhythm Dance Company. The company performs 50-60 times each year at schools, hospitals, and local events. Most of the performances are free of charge as a community service. The purpose of the Celtic Rhythm School of Dance is to provide professional yet fun and friendly Irish dance instruction, with a family and community focus. The school is located in Leesburg VA. (703)443-8858 www.celticrhythmschool.com
The Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance The Culkin School was founded in 1997 and currently enrolls more than 500 students. Founder and director Sean Culkin, TCRG, is assisted by instructors Caterina Earle, TCRG, Nicki Sack Elliott, TCRG, Bridget Launi, TCRG, Lorna Ballard, Kate Bole, Megan Howard, Megan Moloney, Ed Parmalee, and Jennie Williams Rittenhouse. The mission of the school is to pass on the tradition of Irish dance by teaching the basics of step and ceili dancing, and the types of Irish music used for dancing. Students are prepared to compete to the best of their ability, but competition is not the sole focus of the school. Classes are held in Baltimore, Bethesda, Kensington, Rockville, and Silver Spring. Contact: 301.593.9600 or see www.culkinschool.com.
Shannon Dunne Dance Shannon Dunne, Director Shannon Dunne Dance presents a musical, playful, and spirited demonstration of traditional Irish Sean-nós Dance. Shannon Dunne's dancing has been seen in theaters, festivals, and workshops all over North America and Ireland, including the Kennedy Center, Comhaltas Ceoltori Eireann North American Convention, ICONS Festival (Boston), Saline Celtic Festival (MI), the University of Milwaulkee Sean-nos Festival (WI), Choilin Sean Dharach Festival (Ireland), Temple Bar Trad Fest (Ireland), Brennan's (Nova Scotia), Greyfox Music Festival (NY), the Institute of Musical Traditions (MD), and the Mainstay (MD). In addition, she tours nationally with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, The Wren Girls: American Women in Sean-nos Dance, and Kitchen Quartet. She has appeared as guest artist with Solas, Flook, Karan Casey, Kevin Crawford, Killian Vallely, Tony DeMarco, Tim O'Brien, and Bruce Molsky. Her choreography has been performed at the Jack Guidone Theater, and her Jig and Irish Suite are part of Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble's touring theater/festival show. She has been commissioned to create pieces for Teelin Irish Dance Company, Maldon Meehan Dance (Portland), and The Kieran Jordan Dancers (Boston).		She is the Artistic Director of Shannon Dunne Dance, a Sean-nós Dance performance group, and the Slán Abhaile Dance Project, which offers regular multi-age, and multi-generational classes in Sean-nós instruction, serving Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Ms. Dunne is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the 2008 Dance Fellowship and multiple Folk Arts Grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She is on the roster of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and was the recipient of a Performers Grant from the University of Milwaukee. She was a 2001 nominee for the WATCH Award for Best Actress in a Musical. In her spare time, she can be found playing concertina and bodhran at Irish sessions or social dances. Shannon Dunne lives in Silver Spring, MD at Hogwarts, with her son, Jack. She holds a B.A. in Medieval Studies from the University of Notre Dame.
Frederick Scottish Country Dancers Scottish Country Dancing is the traditional ballroom dance of Scotland. It’s fun, friendly, and beautiful, and the dance music is joyous and lively. The Frederick Scottish Country Dancers of Frederick, MD, have been holding classes and giving performances of Scottish Country Dancing since 1994. They welcome new dancers to class at Hood College beginning each September. Contact: 301.739.4553
Thistle Dancers Formed in 1998, the Thistle Dancers are a group of young, talented dancers who perform the traditional dances of Scotland extensively throughout the Washington Metro region. Many of the members are currently competing successfully at various levels, ranging from Beginners to Premier. They also cover a great spectrum of ages, from 6 years old up to adults. Susan E. Hyams, a member of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing, is their founder, director and instructor. Contact: Susan W. Hyams, 703.913.6143, thistledancers@cox.net
Patchwork Dancers The Patchwork Dancers do a patchwork of Appalachian clogging, modern clogging, and crossover dances (including Celtic and tap) to Appalachian, old- time, and Celtic fiddle music. Clogging has Celtic roots, which Patchwork demonstrates in their dancing. They are based in Northern Virginia and teach clogging and other percussive dancing. Contact: Jim Maxwell 703.597.8180, see http://patchworkdancers.org

Ring of Kerry Irish Dancers The Ring of Kerry Irish Dancers is a group of people dedicated to having fun, learning Irish social dances, and preserving a cultural tradition. They are well known for creating an atmosphere of friendship, support, and encouragement among the members. Beginners and experienced dancers are welcomed at their classes held on Tuesdays in Gaithersburg, MD. The group encourages its members to attend céilís and workshops throughout the Washington, DC area. Contact: Joan O'Connor 301-977-0983, joaneejet@hotmail.com Directions and more information at www.geocities.com/ringofkerrydancers
Carissa Koontz took her first dance class at the age of four and has been dancing ever since. Throughout her career she has studied and performed ballet, modern, Irish, and Scottish Highland Dance. She has danced in a multitude of performances including Rhythms of Scotland with world-renowned fiddler Alasdair Frasier, whose music is featured in The Last of The Mohicans and Titanic. Carissa has competed across the eastern seaboard, and her many placings include being a runner up at the Atlantic Seaboard Championships and wining the pre-championship at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. Carissa is a certified highland dance teacher through the British Association of Teachers of Dance, and a member of the Federation of United States Teachers and Adjudicators. In 2010, she and her husband founded Mercier School of Dance, which provides on-site instruction for young children, as well as public Scottish Highland Dance and Ballet classes for all ages.
Tir na nOg Irish Dance Troupe Tir na nOg (Land of the Forever Young) performances feature adult dancers who entertain using a fast-paced program of Irish set and step dances. Woven throughout the performance is information about each dance, the music, and the area of Ireland for which the dance is named. For more than 10 years, this group has performed at festivals, fundraisers, and retirement communities throughout the Maryland and Washington DC area. For more information, contact Evie Hersperger at 410-235-2451.
Pipe Bands
MacMillan Pipe Band For over forty years, students learned to play the bagpipes and drums at Robert E. Peary and Rockville High Schools in Rockville, Maryland, and after their graduation, many continued to perform with pipe bands all over the country. While many moved on to other interests, a significant number developed successful solo and band careers. Some became teachers and adjudicators, and others volunteered their expertise to piping associations and Scottish games contest committees. It is undeniable that few high school programs in the United States have had the kind of impact on the world of piping and drumming as did the pipe band at Peary and Rockville High Schools.
Rockville High School Pipe Band The Rockville High School Pipe Band was originally formed in 1961 at Rober E. Perary High School. At the time, the band was the first and only high school pipe band in the state of Maryland. The band remained at Peary until 1984, when the school closed down. The next year, the band moved to Rockville High School. The founding members of the band chose the Ancient Hunting MacMillan tartan to honor Rear Admiral Donald Baxter MacMillan, a Scots-American who was second in command on Peary's polar expedition in 1909. Admiral MacMillan gave permission for the band to use his name. The band has had many notable performances, including the Kennedy Center, the 1976 Bicentennial parade, the dedication of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, a Redskins halftime and the a Maryland governor's inauguration. They have toured Scotland five times.
City of Winchester Pipe and Drums The City of Winchester Pipes and Drums is dedicated to the highest standards of bagpipe music performed on the great highland bagpipes of Scotland. The band officially formed in July of 2002 and initially called itself The Northern Shenandoah Valley Pipes and Drums. At its core were six friends who had been playing together informally in the northern Shenandoah Valley for several years. In 2002 they were joined by five other bagpipe enthusiasts and several drummers who were committed to learning the pipes and highland drumming and forming a band. The band's first public performance occurred in October of 2002 when of City of Winchester officials asked them to provide music for a building dedication. So pleased were city officials with the performance that the City Council voted to adopt the band as the official pipe band of the city and their name was changed to The City of Winchester Pipes and Drums. Even from its first years, the band has made a tremendous impact in making the communities of the northern Shenandoah Valley more aware of and appreciative of pipe music. Band members come from all walks of life and include a dentist, educators, students, engineers, business executives, a director of a nonprofit organization, a police officer, a computer programmer and a member of the Coast Guard. All members are dedicated to excellence of performance. The City of Winchester Pipes and Drums looks forward to a bright future as we grow in proficiency and add to the culture of the communities we serve.
Storytellers
Margaret Chatham Margaret Chatham loves storytelling enough to organize and then spend nearly the entire Potomac Celtic Festival at the Storytelling Stage, listening when she isn’t telling. Join her there! Margaret.chatham@verizon.net
Ralph Chatham Ralph Chatham; storyteller, physicist & all-purpose curmudgeon, now retreaded as technology and training Private Insultant; began storytelling 300’ below the Arctic Ocean to a submarine crew who hadn’t seen sunlight for six weeks. Surfaced now, this NSN Oracle Awardee tells and records (7 recordings so far) sea and Celtic stories plus folktales defrosted for our microwave age. Ralph tells at the drop of a hat – and brings his own hat. Contact coordinates: Ralph.chatham@verizon.net, 703-698-5456.

Ming Diaz This picture is more than a decade old. Nowadays you will see Ming Diaz at the festival and realize his eyebrows are trimmed with a small lawnmower, his beard is much lighter, and the laugh lines are becoming crowded landmarks. Bring a blanket, sit and listen for a while to The Gamekeeper and Fox. Take a nap if you've a druthers. 301-737-1576
Jane Dorfman tells stories of dutiful daughters and wise women, faithful sons and wicked kings, of magic skipping ropes and Irish heroes, for children and adults at festivals, in libraries and schools. The world has an amazing heritage of stories and she wants to pass them on. dorfmans@erols.com
Bill Mayhew has been telling stories for more than thirty years, in all sorts of places. He tells folk tales for the most part, his favorites being humorous ones. He tells ghost stories, sad ones, and classics such as Beowulf and Odysseus, but mostly likes the funny ones. He has been known to carry pictures of his grandkids. Be careful. (Cassette: D. Crockett, the Cyclops & Me; CD: Maren & the Bears & Me) billmayhew@comcast.net
Jane McDaniels Born in Limerick, Ireland, Jane McDaniel moved to Texas in 1993, brining with her a wealth of Celtic lore and story. Rollicking tales of Irish country folk, a range of Celtic myths and legends, and stories filled with imagination, superstition, and traditions passed from generation to generation, these are the tools she uses to transport adults and children alike to a wonder world on the edge of Tir na nOg, Land of Eternal Youth. A four-year national champion in Irish storytelling, she hones her skill by telling and collecting stories each summer on Achill Island, Ireland. 210-930-1026
Merrillee Pallansch When she was three and a half, Merrillee Pallansch moved from Manhattan to the Chicago suburbs, where she began telling stories to the neighbors of the lions and tigers that lived in the tall, grassy field nearby. Alas, they didn’t understand a word, for she only spoke French. Nowadays she tells her tales in English, whether traditional folktales, narration for musical groups, or encouraging others to create their own tales. 703-532-0137
Fiona Powell When she moved from Wales to the US, Fiona Powell found that her knowledge of sheep was not appreciated, but her ability to play the fool with a Somerset accent, or to translate herself into a crone, was. Each year, she returns to the British Isles to study the folkways of her ancestors, so that she can regale us with tales from Wessex and Wales, of Cornish piskies and Scots brownies. FionaPowell@wvia.org