Workshops

All workshops will be conducted at the Tara Stage in the Creative Arts Building except Máirtín de Cógaín’s Irish Dance workshop. It will be at the Emerald Dance Stage in the Embarcadero Building. Workshop audiences are encouraged to participate as much as they wish, so if you have your own fiddle, bodhran, whistle etc., by all means bring them along and practice while you learn. Questions and discussions are fully encouraged.

Uillean Pipes - Tim Britton

Tim Britton is among the foremost of a generation making innovative contributions to the Irish tradition. A virtuoso on the rare Uillean pipes (a sophisticated Irish bagpipe, pronounced ILL-in), Tim has been touring, teaching and recording over the last thirty-five years. In 1989 he was designated a master artist by the Iowa Arts Council and was nominated for a Best of Philadelphia Music Award. From 1997 to 2003 he toured with Chulrua (with Paddy O'Brien and Pat Egan). Tim has toured, taught, and appeared, on over thirty-five records with the likes of Mick Moloney, Eileen Ivers, Johnny Cunningham, Robbie O'Connell, Gerald Trimble, Bela Fleck, John McCutcheon, Patrick Ball, Paddy O'Brien, and many others. When not traveling, Britton makes Uillean pipes and does audio engineering and sales in Fairfield, Iowa. Tim has been the recipient of five Iowa Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grants to teach Irish music and Uillean pipe making and playing. Tim will demonstrate the elements of Irish Uillean piping technique and style and answer questions.

Fiddle - Liz Carroll

Liz Carroll has taught at numerous fiddle camps in the U.S. and Canada, including Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle Camp, Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Swannanoa Gathering and many others. In particular, Liz teaches traditional Irish fiddle as she plays it. She helps students learn by ear, shows the mechanics of good sound, teaches ornamentation, and gives students a history of great fiddling from the past and present. Liz has been amazing audiences since she won the Senior All-Ireland Fiddle Championship at the age of 18. She has been a huge and revered presence ever since, performing at festivals and concerts worldwide. Liz has twice been named one of Irish-America’s Top 100.

Ballad Traditions from the South of Ireland - Jimmy Crowley

Jimmy Crowley has been a central figure in the Irish folk scene since the enthusiastic reception of his debut album The Boys of Fairhill in 1977. With his band Stokers Lodge their mission was to present the street ballads of Cork city complimented by the ornate folk songs of the rural hinterland of Cork and Kerry in an exciting orchestration of traditional instruments. Crowley's Foley bouzouki inlaid with his Freestate logo is as distinctive as its owner, and the sound he draws from it is magic. "Jimmy is a living legend in Irish Folk music. He comes from Cork, in the south of Ireland, a city whose musical richness mirror's the city's diversity – “a great trad music and song heritage as well as a legacy from music-hall vaudeville and high art musical traditions. Crowley draws on all of these traditions in fashioning his own unique performance style and repertoire and has collected extensively in the south of Ireland both as a ballad singer and as part of his academic degree.” -- Mick Moloney.

Irish Dance - Máirtín de Cógáin

Máirtín de Cógáin is a gifted step dancer, experienced caller of Irish dance céilís, and a teacher of Cork’s folk dances. The talents of the “Cork Kid” are boundless, having also garnered recognition as a two-time Irish National Storytelling Champion, singer/bodhran player for the Cork-based Fuchsia Band, and actor (most notably in the film “The Wind that Shakes the Barley”). He is also a fluent speaker of Irish Gaelic. Máirtín makes friends wherever he goes and is a regular at some of the most prestigious Irish festivals in the U.S.

Guitar - John Doyle

John Doyle is one of the most talented, innovative, and in demand musicians to come out of Ireland. He is widely considered the finest guitarist in Irish music and in recent years has become highly regarded as a singer, songwriter, and producer. John’s signature driving sound is likely the most emulated in Irish music. John has also taught extensively at music camps, including the Swannanoa Gathering, Goderich Celtic College, Augusta Heritage Center, and many others. He has released an instructional video, Irish Rhythm Guitar: Accompanying Celtic tunes, on Homespun Tapes.

Celtic Music in America: Adapted and Parodied - Donna Fitch

After becoming a member of Southwest Celtic Music Association, Dallas, TX in mid-eighties, Donna became aware of similarities between Celtic and folk songs and country/western music. Donna grew up in at a time when Irish-American music was popular along with folk music sung by Burl Ives, many of which were derived from Celtic areas. This led her to further explore Celtic songs in America. Donna has drawn on research done by others as well as her own to develop this workshop, presenting examples of Celtic songs during various periods, including how they may have changed in the process. The workshop focuses on songs and tunes from Celtic areas of the British Isles and the changes as they are assimilated into American life and musical experience. At the end of her workshop, attendees will be given handouts listing references and sources for further exploration. Contact: donnafitch@tx.rr.com

Piano Accordion in Celtic Music - Mark Kenneth

Mark will demonstrate the use of the piano accordion in Celtic music, including style, ornamentation, tune types and related stories of home in Scotland and travels elsewhere. Mark is an in-demand session and recording artist who has won accordion competitions at the All Scotland and All Britain Level, and most recently came 2nd in the 2008 US Finals of the Roland International Accordion Competition. Mark will be demonstrating the Roland V-Accordions during the workshop, and how they can be used with traditional music. Born and bred in Dundee, Scotland, Mark started learning the accordion at 6 years old. When Mark started playing traditional Scottish music, he developed an ear for his own style of driving, foot tapping, white hot, heartfelt playing - leading his own dance band at weddings and parties throughout Scotland, Europe, Middle East and beyond. Mark Lives now in Plano, TX and has performed with On the Dole, Jiggernaut and performances with leading Celtic bands Smithfield Fair; Ed Miller; Alex Beaton; Trinity River Whalers and others. Mark is a featured performer at this year’s NTIF in the Celtic music duo “Loescher and Kenneth.”

World Percussion in Celtic Music - Wolf Loescher

Wolf will discuss and demonstrate the use of world percussion in Celtic music. Wolf has drummed, strummed, sung, and recorded with a variety of projects including Two O'Clock Courage, Six Mile Bridge, Poor Man's Fortune, Jiggernaut, The Rogues, and EJ Jones. Wolf will demonstrate the Roland Handsonic 10 electronic hand percussion controller during the workshop, and discuss the role of electronic percussion in both live and studio settings.

Easter Rising 1916 - History & Songs - Curt Marcus, Jr.

Curt Marcus, Jr. is a long-time supporter of Celtic music, through the North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas TX as well as CelticFest Mississippi, and attendance at various other festivals and events around the U.S., Ireland and the UK. His primary interest is in Irish and Scottish history, and through his workshops he imparts a basic understanding of the historical background to many Irish and Scottish folk ballads. On occasion, his historical presentations have been combined with the ballad singing of Jim Flanagan.

Traditional Irish Flute - Justin Murphy

Justin Murphy began playing Irish traditional music in New Orleans, Louisiana at the famous O'Flaherty's Irish Channel Pub. Having immigrated to the U.S. as a boy in 1978, he finally discovered the music of his roots while attending Tulane University in 1989. Under the tutelage of Dublin native, Richie Stafford, a player of both Irish traditional flute and fiddle, Justin began a fifteen-year long stint as one of O'Flaherty's house musicians. An exceptional player of flute and tin whistle, Justin's powerful tone and swaggering rhythm have been favorably compared to Seamus Egan and Frankie Kennedy. Singing, guitar, and bodhran also are among his considerable list of talents. As a complement to his musical studies, he also attained a Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology, specializing in Irish traditional music in America and Irish-American identity.

Playing Irish Music For Dancers - Round the House

This workshop will cover the essentials of playing Irish music for dancing, including céilís, step dancing and contra dancing. The structure is flexible, and will easily adapt to the interests of the participants, but will include topics such as: How do you set and maintain a steady rhythm? What are appropriate tempos for step dancers? What makes a good dance tune? How many and what kinds of tunes are needed for a working repertoire for céilís or contras? How do you create sets and medleys for dancing? What rhythmic and dynamic "tricks" get contra dancers excited? All instruments and playing levels are welcome. With a combined total of nearly seventy-five years experience playing for dancers, the members of Round the House have a wealth of experience to share with other musicians. They have played at contra and céilí dances and dance camps throughout the southwestern U.S. and beyond. They have also played for step dancers in both performance and competitive settings. Since 1999 they have collaborated with the Bracken and Maguire schools of Irish dance in full length music and dance stage productions featuring complex choreographies. All four band members draw on extensive experience teaching workshops at camps and festivals.

Bodhran Albert Alfonso

Albert Alfonso is clearly one of the premier bodhran (Irish drum) players in the "civilized" world. Creatively blending a variety of world rhythms, Albert plays the traditional repertoire in his own innovative style. Albert also builds excellent, high-quality bodhrans with unprocessed skins and brass tuning systems.

Tin Whistle - Peggy Turner

Peggy Turner grew up in Illinois and Wisconsin and received a BA-Music Degree from Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and an Education Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She and her husband moved to Texas in 1981 and raised their family there. Peggy has been performing in various early music ensembles since 1970. In 1978 she became interested in Celtic music and studied Celtic Flute with Noel Rice in Chicago. She performed with two separate Celtic bands before she and her husband, Jim Brunke helped form the quartet they perform with now, Threadneedle Street, in 1992. Peggy and Jim created and performed educational music programs for children all over the United States until 2001, when she took a full time job as a music teacher. She has continued to perform through the years both as a member of her Celtic Band and as a free-lance musician. Peggy enjoys teaching and performing music and above all, loves to share her music with others.