2011, here we go!

We have an exciting year planned! Here's what's coming up in the Cavan Fiddle Studio...

Details for all of these events can be found on the Beggarmen Events Calendar

January

22- The Beggarmen will be performing at one of our favorite local venues, Uptown Bill's.

23- open Irish session at the Center hosted by Tara

29- we will rock out at Jameson's Irish Pub in Downers Grove, IL

February

11- Tara and Keith are performing Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger with the University of Northern Iowa Symphonic Band under the direction of Dr. S. Daniel Galyen

27- open Irish session at the Center

March

5- a performance sponsored by the Waukee Arts Council

12- Post-Parade Bash at the Col Ballroom

12- Ceili in Moline, IL (busy day!!!)

15- performing for Family night at the Coralville Public Library

17- celebrating St. Paddy's Day the right way at Celtic Knot Pub in Evanston, IL

27- open Irish session at the Center

Somehow or another, I am also squeezing a trip to Ireland (County Cavan, as a matter of fact) with my mother into the already packed March schedule.

Please join us in supporting local music and promoting Irish culture!

Irish session this Sunday, October 24th!

Join us this Sunday at the Senior Center for an Irish session.

The Dutchers will not be in attendance this coming Sunday but the room is reserved and the session will still be taking place (if you show up!)

The sessions are the fourth Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 pm. 24 South Linn Street in Iowa City. All are welcome!

Irish session this Sunday, September 26!

Join us this Sunday at the Senior Center for an Irish session.

The sessions are the fourth Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 pm. 24 South Linn Street in Iowa City. All are welcome!

Hootenanny 2010

Once a year, we have a hootenanny potluck where all my students, friends, and fellow musicians come together to play music, dance, share food, watch the kids scramble around on the rocks near the pond, and generally have a great time.

Several of my students attended and played in a traditional session. I was really proud of all of them.







I didn't get a picture of the food this year, nor did I get to eat very much of it due to all my flitting about. This is a real pity because these folks can cook.

The kids had a great time running around together and playing.







I think even the ducks enjoyed the music, don't you? Isn't the one on the left there tapping his little webbed foot?



I took a terribly shaky and low quality video of some excellent and high quality music and dancing. It's a lot of work putting the hootenanny together but these twenty four seconds will show you what made it all worthwhile.

2 September Sessions to make up for missing August

You didn't receive a session reminder last week because I had it in my head that the session was this coming Sunday, April 29, when in reality April 22 was the fourth Sunday of the month. Joe was out of town last weekend so I wouldn't have been able to come anyway because our boys only do well at the session when both of us are there.

We missed our August session! I am so sorry. I can make it up to you, though! September will have two session opportunities: the Hootenanny Potluck on Saturday, September 11 and the regular session on Sunday, September 26.

Details:

3rd Annual Hootenanny Potluck
Saturday, September 11 beginning at 5 pm
North Ridge Pavilion
2250 Holiday Rd.
Coralville, Iowa

Bring a dish to pass and your instrument/s and dancing shoes. All ages are welcome. There is a wonderful park on site for the kids and plenty of covered space in case of rain.

We're trying to be as green as possible, so please bring tableware if you have some. Compostable plates and forks will be provided also. We did purchase the temporary alcohol permit and are now accepting keg requests!

Kids' Irish session begins at 6, Open session begins at 7.

All are welcome, please feel free to bring your friends!

Link to 2009 Hootenanny Pictures
Link to 2008 Hootenanny Pictures

September Session
Sunday, September 26 from 2 to 4 pm
Iowa City Senior Center

24 South Linn Street

Hope to see you there!!!

Busy weekend!

This morning (July 24), you can catch the Beggarmen at the Iowa City Farmer's Market (Chauncy Swan parking structure on Washington Street) from 9 to 11 am.

Then tonight, please come out and help us celebrate the release of our third CD A Soft Day, made possible by a grant from the Iowa Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. This event will be tonight (July 24) at the Mill (120 E Burlington in Iowa City) beginning at 7 pm. The concert will be immediately followed by a traditional Irish session so please bring your instruments!

Finally, Join us this Sunday (July 25) at the Senior Center for an Irish session.

The sessions are the fourth Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 pm. 24 South Linn Street. All are welcome!

Irish session this Sunday, May 23!

Join us this Sunday at the Senior Center for an Irish session.

The sessions are the fourth (not always the last!) Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 pm. 24 South Linn Street. All are welcome!

St. Louis Tionól 2010

We had a fantastic time at Tionól in St. Louis! We met some wonderful friends from all over the world... (click on the links to see the larger pictures)

...connected with some friends from home...

...proudly watched our students dive right in with the adults...

...made music into the wee hours of the morning...

...learned some new things (our amazing dancing friend Tré Champagne of the Ghrá na Gaeilge Irish dancers took her first bodhrán workshop)...

...played some new tunes...

...told the stories of our lives...

...somebody played in his first Irish session at McGurk's Tavern...

...did a little sightseeing (the Arch!)...

...blended right in with the best of them...

...made time for a little nonmusical fun...

...and stopped for fireworks on the way home (what, didn't you?)

I was very lucky to take a class with one of my fiddle heroes, John McEvoy of Dublin and two of my students took a class with young Irish fiddle dynamo Oisín Mac Diarmada. I can't recommend this musical event more highly. It was a fantastic weekend.

We are already looking forward to Tionól 2011!

Irish session this Sunday, April 25

Join us this Sunday at the Senior Center for an Irish session.

The sessions have moved to the last Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 pm. 24 South Linn Street. All are welcome!

Irish session this Sunday, March 28!

Join us this Sunday at the Senior Center for an Irish session.

The sessions have moved to the last Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 pm. 24 South Linn Street. All are welcome!

Irish session this Sunday, February 28

Please join us on Sunday afternoon from 2 to 4 pm for an Irish session. Scroll down for details! Let me know if you have any questions.

Irish Sessions, new day!

We had a wonderful time at the Irish session last Sunday. We have lots of space in the Assembly Room at the Center and, in addition to fiddles, guitars, flutes, whistles, uilleann pipes, washtub bass, and bodhrán, we were very lucky to be joined by the Ghrá na Gaeilge Irish dancers for some of the tunes. We also loved having so much space and access to a beautiful grand piano for some Cape Breton-esque accompaniment by Keith.

Please note that the sessions are moving to the last Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 pm beginning on February 28.

The Center (formerly known as the Senior Center) is located at 24 South Linn Street in Iowa City. Contact Tara with any questions. Hope to see you all there!

Irish Seisiún and Beggarmen at Trinity

Please join us this Sunday, February 7, from 2 to 4 pm in the Assembly Room of the Center in Iowa City (24 South Linn Street) for an Irish session. All are welcome to play, dance, or just listen.

The Beggarmen are also performing a concert at 4:30 that afternoon at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City (320 East College Street) to celebrate the re-dedication of the chapel now that the LEED certified renovations are complete.

For more information about both events, contact Tara Dutcher.

Tionól 2010 Registration Now Open!

We are very lucky here in Iowa City to be in relatively close proximity to a Irish traditional music weekend workshop that is unmatched across the country. Every April, musicians gather from all over the world to St. Louis to learn from the masters of Irish traditional music.

Teachers this year include Oisín Mac Diarmada, John McEvoy, John Wynne, Paul Smyth, Mary Mac Namara, Mirella Murray, Leo Rickard, Tom Clarke, Michael Cooney, John Skelton, Kathleen Conneely, Darren Maloney, Patsy O'Brien, Grainne Hambly, Roger Landes, Brian Hart, Mark Stone, Chris Weddle, not to mention the Beggarmen's own Keith Reins who is widely regarded as one of the top Irish traditional guitarists in the United States.

Please visit the Tionól website and consider registering for a workshop. Older children are welcome along with adults. Tionól is always an enriching and fun weekend that inspires me as a teacher and a musician throughout the year. Let me know if you have any questions that I can answer about this wonderful musical experience.

Join us for an Irish Seisiún at the Center!

From the trusty Wikipedia definition:

Irish traditional music sessions are mostly-informal gatherings at which people play Irish traditional music. The Irish language word for "session" is seisiún...

The "Field Guide to the Irish Music Session" defines a session as:
...a gathering of Irish traditional musicians for the purpose of celebrating their common interest in the music by playing it together in a relaxed, informal setting, while in the process generally beefing up the mystical cultural mantra that hums along uninterruptedly beneath all manifestations of Irishness worldwide.

Join us the first Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 pm in the Assembly Room of the Center in Iowa City (24 South Linn Street). All are welcome to play, dance, or just listen. For more information, contact Tara Dutcher

Irish sessions at the Center begin Sunday, February 7, 2010.