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Our fall fundraiser was another rousing
success, thanks to all of you who always come through for us with
your pledges of financial support. Congratulations on your wise
choice! You'll enjoy another six months of eclectic commercial free
programming AND will look mighty fine in your long sleeved WWUH
logo T-shirt!
For those of you who are Celtic music fans, prepare
for another line up of excellent concerts here at the University
of Hartford. Don't forget, all proceeds of these shows support the
operation of WWUH just like your pledges to the two fundraisers
we have each year.
The Cathie Ryan Band returns to the Wilde Auditorium
11/13/04. As you remember, Cathie first appeared on the Irish traditional
music scene in 1986 as lead vocalist for the ever-popular band Cherish
the Ladies. Since leaving the band for a solo career in 1995, she's
released three acclaimed albums, the most recent being 2002's "Somewhere
Along the Road".
Cathie is blessed with a mezzo-soprano voice of shimmering
purity and almost four-octave range. Her singing career began while
growing up with Irish immigrant parents in Detroit. By age seven
she was singing at the Gaelic League and in Irish-American clubs
in the Detroit area.
In the 1970's, she moved to New York City and began
perfecting her craft with the legendary Irish sean nos singer Joe
Heaney. He taught her the importance of "courting a song". "Rather
than imposing your own style on the song you have to learn to sing
it the way it wants to be sung," she explains. In the
1980's, Joanie Madden of Cherish the Ladies discovered Cathie singing
at a party. Moved by here pure voice, she asked her to join the
band. Cathie spent seven years with the ensemble and recorded two
albums with them. Cathie is also an accomplished songwriter. She
writes from within her own life's journey with uncompromising journalistic
honesty; case in point, "The Back Door", a story of 'undocumented'
Irish immigrants living in New York City whom she befriended during
her time there. She is also fond of Irish history and folklore,
the source of some of her other songs such as "Grace O'Malley, pirate
queen of the West coast of Ireland in the 16th century and "At the
Foot of Knocknarea" about the Celtic warrior queen Maeve.
Cathie has always been well received on her visits to
the University of Hartford. She's accompanied by a collection of
very supportive and accomplished instrumentalists who allow her
to showcase her vocal talents. Please join us in the Wilde Auditorium
Saturday November 13th to enjoy a night of wonderful traditional
and contemporary Irish songs from the Cathie Ryan Band.
Julee Glaub and Friends will return to the University
of Hartford on Saturday December 11th to give us a first hand
introduction to her CD Blue Waltz, released early in this
year. The album features Daithi Sproule of Altan, Claudine Langille,
a founding member of the 1980's band Touchstone, Vermont's Pete
Sutherland, a well known piano/fiddle player and tune composer,
North Carolina banjo player/ songwriter Joe Newberry and Slovak
Jozef Luptak whose haunting cello underscores the emotion of some
of the slow ballads. For this concert, Julee will be joined by Pete
Sutherland and Joe Newberry.
Blue Waltz includes traditional Irish songs,
old-timey/Appalachian songs and some gospel songs. Growing up in
North Carolina, Julee fell in love with the music she heard in the
Blue Ridge Mountains. After college graduation she moved to Ireland
for six years. She put this time to good use, haunting the Irish
Traditional Music Archives in Dublin in a search for forgotten songs
that spoke to her. She also did "on the job training" in numerous
sessions in the greater Dublin environs. On returning to America,
she assimilated into the Irish/Irish-American community of New York/
New Jersey. She frequently performed with fiddler Brian Conway and
for a short time they formed a band Sead that appeared here in the
Celtic Airs concert series.
The similarities between Irish and Appalachian music
and their common roots intrigued Julee and she determined to explore
these similarities. Her selection of songs for Blue Waltz bears
witness to their many connections. From Ireland there is "The Time
Draws Near" and "The Wounded Hussar", from Appalachia "In the Lone
Graveyard" and "One Rose" and from Europe and America "The Gypsy
Davy" for which hundreds of variants can be found.
I sincerely hope you will turn out to welcome Canton,
CT's own Julee Glaub to the Wilde Auditorium on Saturday, December
11th. While you're enjoying the music, take the opportunity to pick
up a few autographed copies of Blue Waltz, just right for
holiday gift giving!
Tickets for the Celtic Airs/WWUH
concert series are available from the University of Hartford box
office, open 10AM- 6PM, Monday- Friday. Call 1-800-274-8587 or 768-4228
or purchase on line at hartford.edu/hartt.
Tickets go on sale two months before each concert date.
Celtic Airs is heard Tuesday
mornings 6-9AM on WWUH, 91.3 FM. I'll be playing all the latest
releases from Ireland, Scotland and the other Celtic nations as
well as a sampling of your favorites from the past. We'll showcase
the bands coming to perform in our concert series and keep you up
to date on Celtic concerts throughout New England. Thanks for letting
me be a part of you Tuesday mornings! I look forward to meeting
you in person at an upcoming concert.
WWUH: November/December Program Guide, 2004 ©
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