Meet me in St. Louis

While no one would confuse St. Louis for Boston, New York or Chicago in terms of a large Irish presence, the culturally diverse town on the Mississippi River does play a very important role when it comes to fostering Irish traditional music, particularly this April thanks to two important events taking place. 

The first is the St. Louis Tionól that took place last weekend, and the second would be the CCE North American convention taking place in St. Louis over the weekend of April 16-19 hosted by the resident CCE branch, St. Louis Irish Arts.  Both are invaluable not just the talent they attract but the firm roots they put down teaching Irish music to help it thrive year round.

The St. Louis Tionól is now in its 12th year, though it started life under the more ambitious and cumbersome title of the Mississippi River Celtic Music Festival which we know is a mouthful and, perhaps, more importantly these days, a long Google search tag.  

Organized originally by Tipperary piper Michael Cooney and local piping enthusiast, Mike Mullins who has remained its primary organizer, the Tionól (pronounced CHUN-all) is one of those regional gems devoted to the propagation of the uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipes) spotted around the country. 

Mullins programs it for concerts, workshops and sessions seeking out not only the finest pipers, but also the finest tutors in other instruments so that it has a low-key festival atmosphere while gaining a reputation for attracting some very big names in the traditional music arena, especially from Ireland. 

Serving as a massive drawer for pipers were two of the leaders in the piping community who also hold distinguished places in the Irish music scene in Peter Browne, RTE Radio’s foremost traditional music producer these days, and Gay McKeon, the director of Na Piobairi Uilleann (the Piper’s Club) in Dublin.

Also visiting from Ireland were Catherine McEvoy, Mary McNamara, Ged Foley and Jimmy Crowley (actually living in Florida part-time).  Albert Alfonso, Kathleen and Pauline Conneely, Michael Cooney, Bryan Kelso Crow, Brian Ó hAirt, Skip Healy, John Skelton and Mark Stone rounded out the teaching and performing staff that serviced over 150 students for the daytime classes sandwiched between Friday and Saturday night concerts.

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Nster.com