Ireland - Comhaltas Archive

TREOIR" Letting Loose the Majo r", an originalpoem mode led after the verse ofRobert Service, once dubbed the"Canadian Kipling" for such works as"The Shooting of Dan McGrew".Toronto 200 I Committee: Back Row: Dennis Lyons, Johathon Lynn, Maureen Mulvey, Pat Q'Gorman,Eamon Q'Loghlin,Anne Marie Leonard, Phyllis Gorman. Front (sitting): Mary Carr, Ena Q'Brien,Stan Q'Donohue, Ei/een Dwyer,Ange/a Bontje.swing, the blissful payoff for thoseearlier set-dance lessons. Dancersmoved to music played by U.S. andCanadian performers, includingmembers of Inishowen, a Torontoband formed in 1977, who provedthat their "Southern" cousins have noexclusive claim to great Irishtraditional music on the continent.Those who can, teachSaturday morning and afternoon werefilled with workshops, reflecting CCE'smission of passing along as well aspreserving Ireland's traditional culture.It was fascinating to witness thedifferent approaches taken by differentteachers, and it was refreshing to seethat musical instruction need not bedull or daunting.In Mike Rafferty's flute workshop, hemeticulously played passages of a tune,then had his 15 pupils play thosepassages together until he felt theyhad them down cold. The exercisebuilt carefully toward learning thewhole tune. He encouraged questions,answering them thoughtfully, nomatter how rudimentary or complex,and using his own flute todemonstrate each point.A dozen students, including wellknownOntarian pianist Julie Schryer(Sister of fiddler Pierre Schryer),gathered around the electrickeyboard Felix Dolan had set up forhis accompaniment class. He hadcopies of handwritten tune notationto reinforce his tutelage and also useda portable boom box for a tape ofsolo flute playing. He'd then ask hisstudents to suggest the keyappropriate for backing certain tunesheard on the tape, running his fingerslowly down the keyboard until theright key was recognized.Frank Edgley, a Canadian concertinaplayer and maker, also used copies ofhandwritten notation for the 10students in his workshop, while DenisLiddy took a teaching approachsimilar to Mike Rafferty's, performingsections of tunes, like "Mick Carroll'sBarndance", and asking his 21 fiddlestudents (New York buttonaccordionist Patty Furlong amongthem) to play the tunes back, in partor whole.Joe Molloy, who performed withLunasa flutist Kevin Crawford inBirmingham, England, led the banjoclass. Kevin Finnegan, a formermember of the Liverpool Ceilf Bandwho came to Canada in 1968, helmedthe piano accordion workshop. AndJonathan Lynn, a member of theToronto Irish Players theatricaltroupe, taught storytelling to 25students. Lynn regaled them withIn a suite on the seventh floor duringmid-afternoon, Kieran Hanrahan andPeter Browne, host and producer of"Ceilf House" on RTE, taped for laterbroadcast the playing of Ena O 'Brien,Larry Reynolds, Mike Rafferty, andFelix Dolan. " Luckpenny/SixpennyMoney" and "George White's/GreenGates" were among the traditionaltunes they performed in a joyouscelebration of Galway's musicaldiaspora in America.Also that afternoon, Mick O 'Connor,former flutist with the Dublin-basedCastle Ceilf Band that won the seniorAll-Ireland title in 1965, presented"Comhaltas Ceolteirf Eireann:TheFirst 50 Years", a documentary heproduced and narrated. The archivalfootage included pricelessperformances by the Clare duo offlutist Peadar O'Loughlin andconcertinist Paddy Murphy, and bytwo New York-based fiddlers, VincentHarrison and the late Martin Wynne.The Saturday night banquet wasdistinguished by the presence of MaryCoughlan,T.D., Minister of State forArts, Heritage. Gaeltacht and theIslands, who flew over to voice theIrish government's appreciation ofCCE's work. Others who spoke fromthe podium about the history andachievements of Comhaltas includedSen. Labhnis 6 Murchu, CCE'sdirector general; Padraig Mac Suibhne,CCE's president; Frank Kennedy,CCE's North American chair for thepast two years;Anne McConnell, chairof CCE's Regional Board of Canada,and Stan O 'Donohue, chair of theNorth American Convention.Dancing feet, musical featsAfter banquet tables and chairs wereremoved from the main ballroom'swooden floor. a ceili mer began inearnest, lasting from about I I pm19