Irish music will fill the House

On Monday, November 12th, the three outstanding musicians will be giving a house concert on Maury Island.

Paddy O’Brien, Button Accordion
A product of County Offaly in the midlands of Ireland, Paddy O’Brien is regarded by serious players and collectors of Irish traditional music as one of the tradition’s most important repositories; in a musical career that spans nearly forty years, he has collected more than 3,000 compositions—jigs, reels, hornpipes, airs, and marches, including many rare and unusual tunes. His mastery of the two-row button accordion was also acknowledged through prestigious awards: he was named Oireachtas champion four times, and All-Ireland senior accordion champion in 1975.

In Ireland, he played and recorded with the famed Castle Ceili Band and Ceoltoiri Laighean. In 1978, Paddy began playing regularly in the United States, in Washington DC, Saint Louis, Saint Paul, San Francisco, Boston, New York, and many places between.

Paddy has taught at the prestigious Willie Clancy Summer School held in Milltown Malbay, County Clare, Goderich Celtic College, The Swannanoa Gathering, and the Catskills Irish Arts Week, and has served several times as a master artist in the Minnesota State Arts Board Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program. Since 1994, he has received a number of grants and fellowships to undertake an unprecedented project, recording and cataloging 1,000 tunes from his vast repertoire of traditional music; the result of that effort, The Paddy O’Brien Tune Collection: A Personal Treasury of Irish Traditional Music, has received accolades from players of Irish music around the world.

In 2012, Paddy was selected as Ireland’s TG4 Gradam Ceoil Cumadóir, or Traditional Composer of the Year, among the highest honors in Irish traditional music.

Dale Russ, Fiddle
Dale Russ’s fiddling is known for its balance of power and elegance. Dale started playing the fiddle in 1973 after moving to Washington State from his native Connecticut. Although self-taught—and 100% Slovak—he was invited in 1990 to perform at the first Boston College Irish Music Festival, "My Love is in America," featuring 16 of the finest Irish fiddle players living in the States. The concert was recorded and released by Green Linnet Records and won an award from the Smithsonian as "Traditional Recording of the Year."

Dale was a founding member in 1977 of the Seattle Irish band, No Comhaile. In 1985 Kevin invited Dale and Tom Creegan to join Gerry O’Beirne and himself for a one-month stint at McGurk’s, the home of traditional Irish music in Saint Louis, Missouri. A few short years later, Dale joined the then-premiere Seattle Irish band, The Suffering Gaels. As a sidelight, Dale teamed up with Jack Gilder and Junji Shirota to record two CDs as "Jody’s Heaven." Dale also joined with Finn and fellow Seattleite Hanz Araki in making two CDs as the trio Setanta, and one recording with piper Todd Denman entitled, "Reeds and Rosin." He is also featured in the 1997 issue of Fiddler Magazine.

Nancy Conescu, Guitar & Vocals
Nancy Conescu is an internationally respected guitarist and vocalist. She plays Irish music festivals and clubs in Ireland, Japan and the USA, and performs regularly in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. She has performed with Gerry Harrington, Joannie Madden, Andy McGann, Martin Hayes, Patrick Ourceau, Randal Bays, Brian Conway, John Redmond, Linda Hickman and Pat Kilbride.

The concert will be at 7:00 PM. A donation of $20 is suggested. For reservations and location information, call Will at 206-276-0842.