YOUNG IRELANDERS BRING TRADITIONAL IRISH SONG AND DANCE TO BRENHAM
Blinn College will bring the luck of the Irish to its opening performance of the 2015-16 Performing Arts Series.
The Young Irelanders will perform at the Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21. The eight-member ensemble delivers traditional Irish music, song and dance, and has performed for U.S. presidents, presidents of Ireland, the queen of England, the president of China, Prince Albert of Monaco and Empress Mchiko of Japan.
The artists have toured as lead performers with Riverdance and Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, been soloists on PBS specials, shared the stage with Bono and have collaborated with Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones and Sting of The Police.
The ensemble consists of Damien Mullane on accordion and melodeon; Colin Farrell on fiddle, whistles and vocals; Kieran Munnelly on flute, whistles, bodhran, snare and vocals; Stephen Markham on keyboard, piano, percussion and vocals; Sean O’Meara on guitar and vocals; Lisa Canny on lead vocals, harp and banjo; and features dancers Siobhan Manson and Cathal Keaney.
“It sometimes disheartens me when audiences outside of Ireland don’t get a chance to see and hear what our Irish culture is really about but are instead fed a derivative of the real thing,” said Eric Cunningham, producer. “When I put this group together I had a very clear objective – to find young performers who were evidently among the best exponents of Irish traditional music, song and dance in the world today.”
The performance is the first of a series that includes “Jim Witter’s Christmas Memories” on Dec. 11, “Nelson Illusions Smoke and Mystery Tour” on March 30 and a performance of “Pirates of Penzance” by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players on April 10. All shows will take place at the O’Donnell Center on the Blinn-Brenham campus (map).
Individual show tickets are $30 for general admission and $20 for Blinn employees. Season tickets, which include a reception prior to each event, are $100 for all four shows and are available now through Wednesday, Oct. 21. Student rush tickets are $10 at the box office the day of the event. All seats are reserved.
The box office is located in the lobby of the O’Donnell Center at 600 Blinn Boulevard and accepts both cash and credit. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.blinn.edu/performingartsseries or by calling 979-830-4024.