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From The Hob
by Paul KeatingRSS 
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- In the merry month of May cuckoo calls loud and clear
- Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann host New Jersey music festival
- The Voice Squad - still so strong - VIDEOS
- Passing the baton at Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Convention
- “Masters of Tradition” Martin Hayes and other pros take Philadelphia by storm
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In the merry month of May cuckoo calls loud and clear
Kinvara, Galway -- The merry month of May when spring leaps into summer in Ireland is known as Bealtaine, leading to a month of festivals throughout the land as the daylight hours grow and with luck
improving weather allowing for more outdoor recreation.
Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann host New Jersey music festival
It is coming around to fleadh time in the greater New York metropolitan area when the Mid-Atlantic Regional Board of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann hosts one of the qualifying fleadhanna in North America to winnow down competitors for Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann (www.fleadhcheoil.ie) being held once again in Cavan Town.
Hundreds of competitors will make their way to the Parsippany Hilton in New Jersey over the weekend of May 18-20 to try and get one of those first or second slots that will allow them to challenge the best in Ireland and maybe win All-Ireland bragging rights and fame.
Masterful show created by Martin Hayes - VIDEOS
It was just 15 months ago when Ireland seemed the center of the cultural universe as Culture Ireland announced the opening of Ireland’s most significant foray of the arts called “Imagine Ireland 2011”at New York City’s center for artistic creation, Lincoln Center.
Lunasa and Crawford always delight - VIDEOS
The green season is past us now when all the world’s a Gael and turning out for the seasonal frolics. Many are oblivious to the fact that the world of Irish traditional music is a high powered and entertaining art form that doesn’t switch off as the calendar changes.
Even The New York Times noted the evergreen quality of the Irish trad session scene in New York City in its St. Patrick’s Eve edition. Fueling and inspiring traditional Irish music still is a combination of great performance bands that keep the music innovative on the technical and entertainment scales with committed artists who populate their rosters and also show their mettle as individual performers.
A selection of St. Patrick’s Day traditional Irish music shows for all tastes
Visit our special St. Patrick's Day section for more news, recipes, photos and Irish culture
Given all the action that will be taking place over the next few weeks, I’m going to leap right into suggestions for a very trad St. Patrick’s season with lots of choice music events to pencil in on your calendar.
Derry chosen for the 2013 Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann - VIDEOS
The media was also full of the impact that a modern day fleadh can have on those towns that undertake the challenge of hosting one, with Cavan drawing well over 300,000 people over 10 days and a possible yield of
From the Hob - 'The Companion to Irish Traditional Music' - not to be missed
There are some people who view traditional Irish music as a thing of the past rather than an ever-changing and living aspect of Irish life.
There is a proper balance between respecting the music and where it came from and those who passed it on, and for those zealous aficionados of the art form a natural inclination to preserve it while allowing innovation in as well. It lives and breathes with the times that are in it.
And when one undertakes the challenge of trying to chronicle and categorize important people and elements in the Irish music realm it can certainly be a daunting task.
Irish owning the road ahead
At the annual winter confab known as APAP (Association of Performing Arts Presenters) Conference held in New York City that concluded last weekend, the overarching theme was “owning the road ahead.”
It brought together almost 4,000 delegates throughout the U.S. and many from abroad, including a robust delegation of 70 Irish artists under the Culture Ireland banner to meet and mingle in hopes of providing work and new audiences for those who actually make a living through the arts.
Queens Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann honor Jack Whelan
Usually we are talking about sizable financial capital, but sometimes human capital is worth more than its weight in gold.
Christmas Cheer at the Irish Arts Center New York
They present an Irish Christmas and solstice over multiple days and weekends that will peak at 14 performances this year between December 7 and 18. The creative alliance relies on the strengths of both parties as the IAC provides a supportive and intimate atmosphere for the show to develop and thrive, and Moloney unleashes his vast rolodex and fertile imagination to produce a highly entertaining and varied seasonal show that is bound to produce the unusual each evening and never commonplace.
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Sir James Galway supports the Irish National Concert Hall - VIDEO
When the National Concert Hall (NCH) in Dublin wants to make an impression on some American donors in a fundraising effort, it is nice to be able to call on Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway to provide a musical interlude to compliment a supper soiree held last week.
Looking back at set dancing memories
Willie Week had a profound influence on my life because Muiris and company there in Miltown Malbay decided with great wisdom in its 10th year in 1982 that a summer school in West Clare should and could expand its mission by opening up set dancing classes to revive the great quadrille dance tradition that had ebbed in rural communities with the diminution of the house dance customs.
Cork dancing master Joe O’Donovan took on the challenge that first year to teach basic sets like the North Kerry and Sliabh Luachra while also recruiting some great local tutors in the Clare sets in keeping with the Banner County theme underlying in the school.
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