IRISH SPECTACULAR
The Irish Spectacular features Ireland’s leading Pops stars: Gerry O’Connor, Emer
Mayock, Zoe Conway, Cora Venus Lunny, Robert Harris and Regina Nathan. This
exciting program of traditional Irish Celtic music and song includes full symphony
orchestra and promises to be filled with the exciting upbeat rhythms and the haunting
melancholy melodies of the Emerald Isle. Since the time of Tristan, Ireland’s culture has
been infused with music, which continues to this day as a thoroughly modern art form
built on a wonderful foundation of tradition. The Celtic Empire once spread across all of
the European Continent, expanding to an area greater in conquest than even the mighty
Romans could boast. The bagpipe and flute, now associated almost exclusively with the
Celtic tradition originated in the East in Egypt and were imported across Europe finally
reaching Scotland and Ireland where they have made their home for centuries. As a
result of Roman conquest, every country in continental Europe has its own form of these
instruments, but none are so recognizable as in the unique and wonderful sounds of the
music of Ireland. The bagpipe itself having developed from a simple shepherd’s
instrument into the uniquely Irish Uilleann Pipes, which is technically the most
sophisticated bagpipe in the world, handled masterfully by Emer Mayock. The fiddle,
another keystone of Celtic tradition, developed later and was immediately infused into
the tonality of the flute and bagpipe, now it seems an inseparable component as is
displayed with great virtuosity in the hands of the great Irish Pops stars Gerry O’Connor,
Zoe Conway, Cora Venus Lunny. No celebration of Celtic music would be complete
without the exciting and haunting rhythms and tone of the Bodhran in the skilled hands of
Robert Harris. Of course, what may be most accessible and known across the globe is the
tradition of Irish song, delivered in the Irish Spectacular by the great Irish soprano,
Regina Nathan. Together, this combination of wonderful musicians supported by an
Orchestra of ninety skilled musicians bring these wonderful sounds to delighted
audiences in the United States and throughout Europe.
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IRISH SPECTACULAR
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Season 2008-2009
PLEASE DESTROY ANY PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED BIOGRAPHICAL
MATERIALS
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Producer: ANDREW S. GROSSMAN
Associates: W. Seton Ijams