by Nicholas Jones
St. Patrick’s Day came early this year — at least for a couple of hours — as the Irish band Dervish returned to the Cleveland Museum of Art on March 11 with an energetic and delightful concert presenting traditional dance tunes — mainly reels and jigs — and traditional ballads in Gaelic and English. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
“Sligo music is known as one of the finest types of Irish traditional music,” singer Cathy Jordan of the band Dervish said during a telephone conversation. “The style is fast and furious with highly ornamented reels, jigs, and hornpipes. It has a jaunt to it and it’s very rhythmic.”
On Friday, March 11 at 7:30 pm, Dervish will make a stop at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium as part of the band’s three-week U.S. tour. The evening’s high-energy performance will feature Brian McDonagh on mandolin, Liam Kelly on flute and whistles, Shane Mitchell on accordion, Michael Holmes on bouzouki, Cathy Jordan on vocals, and special guest Kevin Burke on fiddle. The concert is part of the Museum’s Performing Arts Series. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
50-foot-long string instruments; traditional music from the Republic of Kyrgyz, Ireland’s “Wild West,” and the Balkans; dialogues between deep flamenco song and Iranian classical music; Egyptian classical music of the golden age; an a cappella sound track to a silent film about Joan of Arc; two prominent string quartets, an organ recital, and a multifaceted violinist — that list gives just a quick rundown on the variety of concerts the Cleveland Museum of Art has planned for its 2015-2016 Performing Arts Series, both in Gartner Auditorium at the museum and at its near-West Side gallery, Transformer Station.
In a conversation with ClevelandClassical.com, Tom Welsh, director of CMA’s Performing Arts series, described the season’s offerings as “broad” and representing “a full expanse of human activity,” adding that the audiences for the series can look forward to experiencing types of music “that might not yet have made their ways into your life.” [Read more…]