CROSSROADS MUSIC NEWSLETTER SPECIAL JUNE EDITION
Contents 1. Plans for the fall, or why there aren't any concerts announced yet 2. Some June concerts (at other locations) to keep you busy until then.
--
The 2003-2004 concert season is now over – we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!. During the last nine months, we’ve become one of the city’s leading multicultural concert venues for traditional, ethnic, international, and non-commercial music. We’ve presented performances by some of the worlds finest musicians (including a rare hometown appearance by the Dixie Hummingbirds and the late Johnny Cunningham’s last Philadelphia concert), and numerous double bills that you’d never see anywhere else. Our regular concerts have brought well over a thousand visitors to the historic Calvary Church building, while our outreach programming at community events like the Spruce Hill May Fair has brought great music to thousands more.
We’d like to continue this level of programming during our next September to May season, but success always comes with a price. In this case, that price is just over $30,000, of which ticket sales and other program income only cover about two thirds. We rely on grants and individual donations to make up the difference, and several of last year’s were one-time awards. A generous grant from Citizens Bank for a combined Calvary Center marketing campaign will greatly reduce next year’s publicity and outreach costs, and several other grants are pending or in preparation, but we still need about $2,000 to start booking the fall season.
Unfortunately, we cannot delay this much longer. Booking late means that fewer artists are available at all, as well as less time for publicity. This means smaller audiences, which means less money, which means more late booking. Venues that get into this downward spiral seldom survive. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to keep Crossroads going. You can donate online at:
http://www.justgive.org/giving/donate.jsp?charityId=12011&;
(Please remember to specify that your donation is for Crossroads Music. The charge will appear on your credit card bill as “Just Give,” but we still get all the money except for a small credit card processing fee).
If you prefer to mail your donation, please send it to:
Calvary Center for Culture and Community 801 S. 48th Street Philadelphia, PA 19143
(Again, please remember to write Crossroads Music on the memo line of the check).
--
On a happier note, several friends of Crossroads have asked us to let people know about upcoming events that they thought might interest our audience. We never rent or sell our mailing list, but we thought these might interest some of you. In fact, they’ll probably interest you a lot more than our fundraising appeals!
--
Alicia Björnsdotter Abrams, the Swedish fiddler who played at Crossroads in December, has a show in the neighborhood tomorrow! She writes:
Dear music friends,
I am delighted to welcome Jeremiah McLane who is coming down from Vermont to play with me. Jeremiah is an excellent accordionist and pianist who has devoted himself to traditional music with French origins. With my background in Swedish fiddle and vocal music we have had a wonderful time sharing tunes and musical ideas. Our program is spanning from Scandinavian dance tunes and songs to Bourrées from Auvergne and Reels from Quebec, from lyrical to energetic.
Björnsdotter & McLane
Fiddle and Accordion duo
Sunday June 6th: 7pm at the Photo West Gallery, Philadelphia Tickets: $10 kids free Address: 3625 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA
Details: Drinks and snacks will be served, hang out with the crowd and the musicians! Across the street from Lemongrass Thai restaurant.
You are all welcome to come enjoy our music!
Please forward this announcement to anyone who might want to come.
Vi ses!
Alicia Björnsdotter Abrams
For more information about the musicians: www.aliciaabrams.info www.jeremiahmclane.com
--
The Philadelphia Ceili Group, which has cosponsored many of Crossroads Scottish and Irish concerts, has two events coming up in June. Both will take place at the Commodore Barry Irish Center at Carpenter Lane and Emlen Street in Mount Airy.
For more information on the Ceili Group, http://www.philadelphiaceiligroup.org
For directions, http://www.swingdance.org/dircbc.html
Friday, June 11
THE KANE SISTERS
with pianist Donna Long of Cherish The Ladies.
Concert at 8:30 pm
Fiddle and piano workshops 6:30 PM (contact Marianne Ferrin, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
215-849-8899)
Admission $15, $13 for members
"Fiddle players of an extraordinary calibre..." - Folkroots
"...is a must for anyone with the slightest interest in fiddle music and a prime candidate for traditional music's top shelf." - The Irish Examiner
Together Liz and Yvonne Kane create a highly exciting and vibrant sound. These sisters come from Dawros on the outskirts of Letterfrack, a village in Connemara along the West coast of Ireland. With a musical tradition on both sides of the family, it was only natural for the girls to play music. Their grandfather, fiddle player Jimmy Mullen, has been a leading figure on the traditional music scene in Connemara for over 50 years and it was his enthusiasm that encouraged the sisters to learn to play the fiddle.
Yvonne and Liz consider their style to be heavily influenced by South Sligo fiddle playing, the music of East Galway and in particular the fiddle playing and compositions of Paddy Fahey. In recent years, the sisters have been privileged to meet and play with Paddy whose music plays a central role in their repertoire. The recordings of Michael Coleman, Hughie Gillespie, Andy McGann and Kathleen Collins have also made an impact on their music.
Liz studied music at University College Cork and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree and a Higher Diploma in Education. Yvonne moved to Galway and began playing music fulltime. After finishing in Cork, Liz returned to Galway and they both shared a house with musician, Sharon Shannon. The following year, they joined her band as part of 'Sharon Shannon and The Woodchoppers'. For the next three years, the band took them all over the world to promote the release of the album 'The Diamond Mountain Sessions'.
Saturday, June 26
LAURENCE NUGENT(flute and whistles) and JOHN BRENNAN (guitar and fiddle)
Concert at 9:00 pm
Flute workshops at 6.30pm (Contact Marianne Ferrin, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 215-849-8899)
Tickets $15 adults, $13 members.
Laurence Nugent is now a resident of Chicago, where he has lived since 1992. He comes from the little village of Lack in County Fermanagh, an area steeped in the traditional arts of music, singing and storytelling. Not surprisingly, Laurence's first musical influences came from within his own family. His father Sean Nugent has been the leader of the Pride of Erin Ceili Band, one of the top dance bands in Irish music. Band practices would be held regularly in the Nugent house and Larry grew up listening to some of the finest musicians in the land. Like many young musicians of his generation, Laurence entered many of the regional and national competitions held under the auspices of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann and took a first prize in the junior competitions three times in the late 80's and the senior All Ireland Championships in 1994 and 1995. Since arriving in the United States, Nugent has become a familiar figure at Irish festivals and concerts in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. Laurence's style of playing is very traditional and also very versatile. To his dance music he brings a lot of exuberant ornamentation and rhythmic and melodic variation, which adorn elegant melodic lines, particularly in reels. By contrast his interpretations of slow airs are soulful and moving
“Laurence Nugent: a rare find among the new generation of Irish-born traditional musicians in the U.S.” -- Don Meade, The Irish Voice
“The Fermanagh man plays whistle and flute with the exuberance of a young player and the mature skill of an older pair of hands.” -- Michael Ryan, Irish Music Magazine
Laurence has performed and made guest appearances with scores of musicians including The Chieftains, The Green Fields of America, The Drovers, Carnloch, Seamus Connolly and Billy McComiskey, Eugene O'Donnell, Aoife Clancy and many more. Laurence is currently doing some solo work. Laurence recorded a new CD released late in 2002 on Shanachie. He recently returned from Ireland where he participated in the Fermanagh Traditional Music Society's launch of it's second CD, "Hidden Fermanagh", Volume 2 on Saturday 22nd May in Mahon's Hotel, Irvinestown, Co.Fermanagh.Cathal McConnell, founder of the famed Boys of the Lough produced the CD which included tracts by Laurence, Cathal and a host of musicians from the Derrylin and Derrygonnelly regions of Co. Fermanagh.
---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
