Curated by A Celtic Sojourn's Brian O'Donovan & Maeve Gilchrist

For over three decades, Brian O'Donovan has been hosting A Celtic Sojourn on WGBH, a program exploring traditional and contemporary music from around the Celtic world. He's also well known for his live concert series A Christmas Celtic Sojourn, as well as many other presentations around New England. In partnership with Rockport Music and working in close collaboration with fellow Artistic Director, Edinburgh-born harpist/composer Maeve Gilchrist, Brian is proud to present the third annual Rockport Celtic Festival- Exploring Celtic Roots and Branches. Featuring a wide and quite extraordinary variety of new and familiar musicians, singers, dancers, and storytellers, the weekend will focus on the genre's broad and vibrant range with an emphasis on musical influences from Scandinavia. The Festival brings crossover and collaborative work between musicians from different genres including classical, jazz, and American Traditional.

Featuring

Maeve Gilchrist & Brian O'Donovan, co-artistic directors

Nordic Fiddler's Bloc
Alasdair Fraser, fiddle & Natalie Haas, cello
Doug Wieselman, clarinet
Neave Trio
Hanz Araki, flute, whistle, singer
Lily Henley and Duncan Wickel, fiddle/vocals
David Coffin, singer/narrator
Murphy Beds
Tony McManus, guitar

Schedule of Events

August 19, 2022

7:30 PM - Opening Night: Nordic Nights

From across the water, our Opening Night celebration brings together some of the most exciting Celtic and Scandinavian musicians performing today for a night of fiddles, Polskas, reels and the haunting sound of the Hardanger fiddle. From Scotland, Norway, Sweden and more; this celebration of the north but will be a spirited one for the books!

Cost: $50, $66, $72

August 20, 2022

11 AM - Salon Session With Brian O'donovan

An up-close look at the artistry of some of the artists involved in the weekend with discussion and a mini concert exploring various styles, instruments, and song.

Cost: $15

7:30 PM - A Global Celebration Of Strings

After two years of restricted access to our community, we are thrilled to revel in the joy of musical connection! This all comes to a head for this joyous concert where we invite some of our favorite string (plucked and bowed) musicians from all across the globe to share a stage and our respective string traditions; Ladino songs from the Sephardic Jewish tradition, a blast of Shetland fiddle tunes, Scottish fingerstyle guitar and the grooviest cello chops you'll ever hear! This is simply going to be a party that you're not going to want to miss!

Cost: $49, $62, $69

August 21, 2022

12 PM - Words & Music: The Celtic Spirit

A spiritual celebration of the spoken word. Some of the poetry and prose of our great writers complemented by music sometimes underscoring, sometimes introducing, sometimes following, the spoken piece itself. A contemplative hour in the beautiful theatre with a backdrop of the harbor. Maeve and Brian will host and be joined by a selection of participants in the Festival weekend.

Cost: $15

5 PM - A Symphony Of The Sea

Saluting the history of Cape Ann and its place in Atlantic Maritime history and building on the success of our previous 'Songs of the Sea' concert, this groundbreaking program explores traditions surrounding the ocean while also showcasing the best in both traditional and Classical music. From Sea Shanties to Sean Nos, from Ravel and Debussy to reels and jigs, this evening will be a sonic celebration of all things from the watery deep!

Cost: $50, $66, $72

Date: August 19-21, 2022

Location:
Shalin Liu Performance Center,
37 Main Street,
Rockport, MA 01966.

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