Irish Arts Center Spring 2020 Brochure | Our Spring Season, Reimagined

SPRING 2020

Our Spring Season, Reimagined

Our Spring Season, Reimagined Dear Friends, We hope you and your loved ones are safe and well, and that you’re able to find moments of grace and joy amid the uncertainty and sadness. Our hearts ache with those of you who have lost loved ones, or are suffering from illness, or fear, or hardship.

With our “reimagined” spring program, we want to lift you up, and inspire and connect you. Our team has done a fabulous job putting together the offerings you’ll see in the pages that follow — providing work to more than 85 artists and freelancers, including those displaced from gigs

by COVID-19, and others we felt had something special to offer at this moment.

Enjoy.

Of course, with just a few months to go in our construction, work on site was halted in mid-March. As of this writing, we don’t yet know when it will resume, or when it will be possible, or wise, to gather in person again.

What we do know is that a glorious new Irish Arts Center beckons us on the far side of this crisis. What a moment that will be.

In the meantime, we invite you to enjoy this reimagined spring program. If you can, we would be so grateful for your support at this challenging time, as we suffer lost revenues from ticketed programming and traditional fundraising events, and continue to prepare to open and operate our wonderful new facility. Donations in any amount are gratefully appreciated. We also invite you to join our Claddagh Circle, which includes some really special events and experiences over the next few weeks.

Thank you for your friendship.

Aidan Connolly Executive Director

Pauline Turley Vice Chair

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER A series of new, commissioned work by our local and international artistic community, including a special performance by the virtuosic Indian-born, Irish-influenced pianist Utsav Lal, a serialized presentation of Marie Jones’s iconic 1990s Belfast play A Night in November, and more.

LIVE FROM IRISH ARTS CENTER A curated selection of performances from our intimate theatre, captured through the years and introduced by the artists.

ONLINE CLASSES WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER Our wonderful teaching artists, and full rosters of students, have moved our classes online. Stay tuned for news about our firstever summer term!

IRISH ARTS CENTER POEM OF THE WEEK Select footage from eleven years of PoetryFest, plus commissioned readings, presented with newly recorded reflections from poets and readers.

IRISH WORD OF THE WEEK A series of twelve words in Irish that sound teasingly similar to words in other languages, courtesy of Darach Ó Séaghdha of @theirishfor and Motherfoclóir.

Cover photo credit: Mac Smith

IRISH ARTS CENTER SPRING 2020 REIMAGINED

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CELEBRATING THE WOMEN OF IRISH ARTS

Tea and Conversation with Elizabeth McGovern and Gabriel Byrne THURSDAY, MAY 28 AT 1PM An intimate virtual conversation with Academy Awardnominated actor Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey, Ordinary People, Once Upon a Time in America), hosted by Irish Arts Center Honorary Chair Gabriel Byrne.

Conversations on Creativity with Martin Hayes

Irish Arts Center

Claddagh Circle Celebrating & Supporting Artistic Excellence

JUNE 2 & JUNE 25 AT 5PM The world-renowned musician Martin Hayes leads an invigorating virtual conversation on creativity, including a special performance tailored for Irish Arts Center supporters.

CELEBRATING THE WOMEN OF IRISH ARTS

Book Club with Alice McDermott The Ninth Hour Moderated by Belinda McKeon

“Great artists are not just born.

They grow with the nurturing and support of institutions and patrons, like Irish Arts Center and the members of our Claddagh Circle, who give them the opportunity to tell their stories, and take us, the audience, on a journey that connects us ever deeper to our artistic heartbeat.”

— LIAM NEESON, Honorary Co-Chair

The Claddagh Circle is an exclusive group of Irish Arts Center supporters who help us sustain the standard of excellence in our programming. This support allows us to provide a welcoming and wellresourced environment for artists to do their best work, and build the tools we need to be successful in our wonderful new facility.

We are delighted to offer these special Claddagh Circle virtual gatherings this spring, as a thanks to our dedicated Claddagh Circle members.

THURSDAY, JUNE 18 AT 6PM National Book Award-winner Alice McDermott headlines a thoughtprovoking virtual book club discussion of her latest novel, The Ninth Hour.

Gifts and pledges at all levels are welcome and encouraged. Please consider making a donation in any amount that is meaningful for you, your family, your company or organization—your support has never been more important. To donate or to learn more about joining the Claddagh Circle, visit the “Support” page on irishartscenter.org, or contact Amanda Talarico at amanda@irishartscenter.org.

IRISH ARTS CENTER SPRING 2020 REIMAGINED

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APR 19–25 SUNDAY 4/19

TUESDAY 4/21

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

LIVE FROM IRISH ARTS CENTER

Jenna Nicholls and Brendan O’Shea

Maria Doyle Kennedy: “Silence”

A set by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jenna Nicholls and singer-songwriter Brendan O’Shea of the Scratcher Sessions, to tide us over until we can all gather around the Scratcher’s East Village stage again.

Actor, singer, and all-around artistic powerhouse Maria Doyle Kennedy shares a special message with the Irish Arts Center audience to introduce her lush 2015 performance of “Silence” with husband Kieran Kennedy.

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APR 26–MAY 2 SUNDAY 4/26

TUESDAY 4/28

WEDNESDAY 4/29

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

LIVE FROM IRISH ARTS CENTER

Stephen McGinn: Unapproved Roads A virtual tour of Stephen McGinn’s photographic exhibition of the Armagh borderland. The artist discusses the project and his influences, and the actor Kathy Rose O’Brien narrates with text adapted from the article “Unapproved Roads, County Armagh” by journalist Kate McCusker.

Photo credit: Bríd O'Donovan

Debut Voices: Sinéad Gleeson in Conversation with Rachel Syme A live-streamed conversation with author Sinéad Gleeson, moderated by the New Yorker’s Rachel Syme, about Gleeson’s #1 Irish bestseller Constellations.

David Keenan: “Subliminal Dublinia” A crowd-favorite song by the rising star from Dundalk, performed in residence with Graham Hopkins, Claire Kinsella and Laura Quirke of Lemoncello, Harry Hoban and Gar Kane of Brothers Kane, and Gareth Quinn Redmond in 2019.

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MAY 3–9 SUNDAY 5/3

TUESDAY 5/5

FRIDAY 5/8

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

LIVE FROM IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

Lisa Lambe with Hothouse Flowers: “Glide”

Dana Lyn: flowering

The sublime Lisa Lambe performed with Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Peter O’Toole of seminal Irish band Hothouse Flowers in September 2017.

The premiere of an original animated short with musical accompaniment illustrated, composed, and performed by the multi-instrumentalist and visual artist Dana Lyn, commissioned by Irish Arts Center.

Junior Brother RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award double-nominee and the Irish Times’s Best Irish Act of 2019 Junior Brother performs live, following an introduction by Donal Dineen of This Ain’t No Disco.

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MAY 10–16 SUNDAY 5/10

MONDAY 5/11

TUESDAY 5/12

WEDNESDAY 5/13

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

LIVE FROM IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

Lorkin O’Reilly

Muldoon’s Picnic

A Scottish native of Irish ancestry now living in New York, the up-and-coming singer-songwriter Lorkin O’Reilly explores themes of home and identity in songs that draw as deeply from the personal and intuitive as from Gaelic folk traditions.

hosts a virtual episode of his perennially sold-out variety show, with new special guests—the writer Roger Rosenblatt and poet Jana Prikryl—recording readings to be presented alongside highlights from house band Rogue Oliphant’s sets across the seasons.

Máirtín O’Connor Trio: Assorted Reels and “Rockin’ the Boat”

Interview with Ailbhe Smyth

Paul Muldoon

Photo credit: Nir Arieli

Legendary accordionist Máirtín O’Connor, accompanied by All-Ireland champions Cathal Hayden (fiddle) and Patrick Doocey (guitar), brought his bluegrass- and swing-inflected, genre-redefining brand of trad music to Irish Arts Center during his 2017 American tour.

A published interview with Ailbhe Smyth, the social activist who helped steward Ireland’s 2015 and 2018 referendum campaigns for marriage equality and reproductive rights, conducted by Belinda McKeon.

Photo credit: Mattia Pelizzari

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AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

A Night in November: From the Actor’s Home

By Marie Jones Directed by Matthew McElhinney Featuring Matthew Forsythe Adapted from the 2019 Soda Bread Theatre production Presented in association with Georganne Aldrich Heller and Anita Waxman

We are thrilled to present the award-winning playwright Marie Jones’s (Stones in His Pockets) iconic story about nation and identity as a three-part, at-home event. Performed by the actor Matthew Forsythe, with live conversations between Jones and director Matthew McElhinney before and following each show, this serialized presentation of A Night in November comes more than two decades after its original stage debut to examine anew one man’s imperfect but exuberant awakening in 1990s Belfast.

PART 1 | SUNDAY 5/17

Marie Jones

Matthew McElhinney

PART 2 | SUNDAY 5/24 PART 3 | SUNDAY 5/31 Photo credit: Christopher Barr

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MAY 17–23 SUNDAY 5/17

TUESDAY 5/19

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

LIVE FROM IRISH ARTS CENTER

A Night in November: From the Actor’s Home (Part 1)

WEDNESDAY 5/20 AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

Puppetry Workshop with Branar Téatar do Pháistí of Branar Téatar do Pháistí will lead a puppetry workshop using items you can find at home, giving children aged 6+ the chance to build and bring their own puppet to life.

By Marie Jones

Marc Mac Lochlainn

Directed by Matthew McElhinney Featuring Matthew Forsythe Adapted from the 2019 Soda Bread Theatre production Presented in association with Georganne Aldrich Heller and Anita Waxman

Workaday welfare clerk Kenneth’s life in 1990s Belfast chugs along on the easy pleasures and prejudices of the era, until an incident at a local football match shatters his beliefs and sends him hurtling down a path of resistance and reckoning.

We present part one of A Night in November.

Dana Lyn & Kyle Sanna: The Coral Suite Dana Lyn (fiddle)

and Kyle Sanna (guitar) used light boxes, projections, and the vocabulary of Irish melody to create a vivid, audiovisual paean to the fragile ecosystem of a coral reef in their 2018 IAC performance.

Photo credit: Christopher Barr

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MAY 24–30 SUNDAY 5/24

WEDNESDAY 5/27

SATURDAY 5/30

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

A Night in November: From the Actor’s Home (Part 2)

Rockin’ Rhymes with Branar Téatar do Pháistí

NYC Irish Dance Festival

Did little Miss Muffet jive around her tuffet? Were Jack and Jill bopping up that hill? Branar Téatar do Pháistí ’s Rockin’ Rhymes is a show for music lovers aged two to 102, a rock-n-roll adventure featuring nursery rhymes as you’ve never heard them before performed by a five-piece band, accompanied by animated illustrations by artist Maeve Clancy and directed by Marc Mac Lochlainn.

For the first time ever, an indoor—and virtual—Irish Arts Center NYC Irish Dance Festival. We will be beaming live dance performances, workshops, and music sets throughout the afternoon.

By Marie Jones Directed by Matthew McElhinney Featuring Matthew Forsythe Adapted from the 2019 Soda Bread Theatre production Presented in association with Georganne Aldrich Heller and Anita Waxman

“Is it even possible to change?” Part two of Marie Jones’s raucous and poignant one-man show.

Curated by Niall O’Leary TCRG, ADCRG

Photo credit: Christopher Barr

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MAY 31–JUN 6 SUNDAY 5/31

WEDNESDAY 6/3

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

A Night in November: From the Actor’s Home (Part 3)

By Marie Jones Directed by Matthew McElhinney Featuring Matthew Forsythe Adapted from the 2019 Soda Bread Theatre production Presented in association with Georganne Aldrich Heller and Anita Waxman

The conclusion of Marie Jones’s 1994 play, directed

by Matthew McElhinney and performed by the actor Matthew Forsythe as part of A Night in November’s 25th anniversary production tour.

Photo credit: Liz Maney

Utsav Lal: In Concert

Ragas to Reels for Kids

The virtuosic Indian-born, Irish-influenced pianist, who headlined Dublin’s National Concert Hall aged just 16, performs a live, 45-minute concert of Irish compositions followed by the premiere of a recorded track from Ragas to Reels, Lal’s cross-cultural collaboration with Sam Comerford (flute) and Nitin Mitta (tabla), commissioned by Irish Arts Center.

Utsav Lal

and Sam Comerford perform songs, discuss their long-distance friendship across borders, and teach kids how to build their own percussion kits and play along! For audiences four and up.

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JUN 7–13 TUESDAY 6/9

WEDNESDAY 6/10

LIVE FROM IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

Ye Vagabonds: “Half Blind”

Tobin’s Run on 51

Brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn of Ye Vagabonds performed three sold-out shows at Irish Arts Center in February 2020, shortly after sweeping the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards. Diarmuid introduces their performance of “Half Blind,” a song written in isolation a few years prior.

A virtual jazz night with award-winning Irish vocalist, songwriter, and composer Christine Tobin and acclaimed jazz guitarist Phil Robson.

Photo credit: Myles O’Reilly

Photo credit: MSU Photography

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JUN 14–20 TUESDAY 6/16

WEDNESDAY 6/17

FRIDAY 6/19

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

Big Mouth Puppet Sing-A-Long

Mufutau Yusuf Dance Film

Visual artist and musician Gregory Corbino teaches children four and up how to make a big mouth puppet out of materials you can find at home, and then leads an interactive sing-a-long for the kids and puppets alike.

A commissioned short dance film by one of Ireland’s most exciting young contemporary dance makers, Mufutau Yusuf, a featured artist in the 2019 Irish Arts Center-92Y spring showcase New Dance Ireland: Choreographers of Nowness.

Bloomsday on Broadway XXXIX Co-presented by Symphony Space and Irish Arts Center Symphony Space and Irish Arts Center celebrate our 39th annual tribute to James Joyce’s brilliant masterpiece Ulysses with a full day of virtual music and readings by actors, authors, and musicians, including Juliana Canfield, Donna Lynne Champlin, Brian Cox, Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Mia Dillon, Keir Dullea, Zach Grenier, Peter Francis James, Colum McCann, Malachy McCourt,

Kate Mulgrew, Ruth Negga, Denis O’Hare,

Fiona Shaw, Dan Stevens, and Kirsten Vangsness.

Musical direction by Caitlin Warbelow.

Photo credit: Leonardo March

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AND MORE AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

AT HOME WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER

Colm Mac Con Iomaire

Hat Fitz & Cara

The acclaimed composer, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of The Frames performs work from his three solo albums, including the “innately sublime” (Irish Times) The River Holds Its Breath.

Hat Fitz & Cara’s musical style is a rollicking combination of folk, roots, and gospel blues with a dash of old-time flavoring. The duo—he a veteran “wild man” of the Australian blues scene and she a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who has toured with Jamiroquai and Corinne Bailey-Rae—play a boisterous live set.

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ONLINE CLASSES WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER We are delighted to provide online learning and engagement experiences this spring for everyone — from anywhere! — with 26 eight-week courses in music (including singing, fiddle, mandolin, harp, tin whistle, and bodhrán), step dance, Irish language, playwriting and storytelling, all led by our wonderful faculty of Irish Arts Center teaching artists.

“We can play and practice on our own, but we do need to come together. And even though now classes are going to be virtual, it’ll be a coming together.”

—JAMES CLEVELAND, FIDDLE INSTRUCTOR

Building friendships and community through shared learning experiences has been core to our mission since 1972, so we are thrilled to be able to sustain our education program online.

Stay tuned for details on our new summer term.

Read stories from our teachers and working artists on the impact of self-isolation, and how they prepared to channel their art to forge connection within our community, at irishartscenter.org.

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IRISH ARTS CENTER POEM OF THE WEEK Select footage from eleven years of PoetryFest and new commissioned readings—Alice Lyons, Rachel Weisz (reading Louis MacNeice), Elaine Feeney (reading Patrick Kavanagh), Loah (reading Eavan Boland), Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Natalie Diaz, Vona Groarke, Marie Howe, Nick Laird, Derek Mahon, Belinda McKeon—presented with the readers’ reflections on the featured work.

Photo credit: Sue Kwon

Photo credit: Zadie Smith

Photo credit: Alen MacWeeney

IRISH ARTS CENTER SPRING 2020 REIMAGINED Photo credit: Cybele Knowles

Photo credit: Hazel Walker

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IRISH WORD OF THE WEEK Inspired by this era of connectivity, this commissioned series features words in Irish that sometimes sound teasingly like fairly similar words in another language, courtesy of Darach Ó Séaghdha of the popular @theirishfor Twitter account and Motherfoclóir Irish language podcast.

PEOPLE DAOINE

DINÉ

(IRISH)

(NAVAJO)

FOX

PUPPY

Щ

SIONNACH

(IRISH)

The thesis is not that these words share an etymological or historical root—only that they bumped into each other and smiled, which is far more interesting.

DRINK ÓL

(IRISH)

Starting June 1, visual artist Dannielle Tegeder responds to six of the words with a new work featuring found images and illustration.

EHOK

(RUSSIAN)

BEER ÖL

(SWEDISH)

COW

BEEF

BÓ

BO

(IRISH)

(VIETNAMESE)

EILE OTHER

YESTERDAY

(IRISH)

(SLOVAKIAN)

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All spring 2020 digital programs will be shared via email and on irishartscenter.org, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The Charina Endowment Fund

Irish Arts Center programming is made possible through the support of these government, foundation and corporate funders, and the generosity of hundreds of wonderful people like you.

See page 2 or visit irishartscenter.org/donate for more information.