Irish Arts and Entertainment for December, 2022 - Sample pages

AN IRISH CHRISTM AS 2022 Tour Set For 18 Cit ies

Kerry Irish Product ions' 2022 Tour of An Irish Christ m as is now underw ay!

The acclaim ed Yulet ide product t ion w hich visit s 18 cit ies t his year opened in Rohnert Park, CA on Novem ber 25t h. Millions of Am ericans have now experience t his enchant ing and vibrant Irish Holiday show in person or on PBS! The last show for t his season w ill be in Sant a Barbara on Decem ber 23rd.

An Irish Christ m as feat ures an aw ard w inning cast of dancers along w it h an incredible group of m usicians and singers t o celebrat e t he holidays as only t he Irish can Audiences w ill enjoy all t he holiday carols t hey know

and love including Silent Night , Carol of t he Bells, and The Tw elve Days of Christ m as plus a spect acular high-energy display of Irish dancing at it s very best . An Irish Christ m as is a celebrat ion of fam ily and com m unit y t hat show cases som e of t he great Irish holiday t radit ions including, chasing t he w ren, but t er m aking, and dancing on t he half door. The show feat ures dancers from Riverdance, Lord of t he Dance, and Celt ic Wings and is produced by Margaret O?Carroll w it h m usical direct ion by Jesse Langen.

In 2017 Kerry Irish Product ions part nered w it h PBS and Tourism Ireland in a t elevised present at ion of An Irish Christ m as t hat has aired for several years during t he holidays season.

Now everyone can experience Ireland and Irish t radit ions for t he Christ m as holidays t oo!

See related feature MEET THECAST on page 5

Dear FriendsandReaders

Reflect ions on Christ m as 2022

This year w e are celebrat ing Christ m as at a t im e of great division and st rife in Am erica and t he rest of t he w orld There is a lit any of all t hat is w rong now and a lot of fear and w orry about alm ost everyt hing.

Let 's face it t here is alw ays evil and m ayhem about . We acknow ledge t hat , but w e also need t o rem ind ourselves t hat good and opport unit y for progress exit s t oo It sounds t rit e as first glance but rat her t han focusing on all t he negat ive aspect s of everyt hing, w e m ust dig deep for all t hat is good Like m ost hum an endeavors, seeking t he posit ive and pract icing grat it ude is not nat ural for m ost of us. The easiest course is t o just get int o t he habit of looking for t he good st uff! It act ually w orks

I'm w rit ing t his on Thanksgiving Day and despit e som e challenges and sadness t his past year, I am st ill t hankful and grat eful for quit e a lot My sim ple suggest ion t o you, Dear Reader is t o creat e t he habit of doing your best and in doing so you also habit uly look at t he bright side.

Reach out t o fam ily, friends, neighbors and even st rangers There are a lot of lonesom e people out t here, so m aybe go out t o com m unit y event s (check our calendar) and share your grat it ude There are t w o list ing t his issue for Irish groups w it h open invit at ions!

Thank you for being one of readers! We are alw ays happy t o hear from you, so please reach out as your com m ent s and quest ions are appreciat ed Merry Christ m as and Happy 2023!

Our Very Irish Perks program is growing. We just signed on with a few more Irish businesses to offer deals and discounts to our subscribers. Wewill send a comprehensive listing of thebusinesses involved to your inbox the middle of each month starting in November, We arealso working on our Mighty Irish Network and wewill have details for you on that very soon too

Jim McDonough, Publisher irishmissive@gmail.com

Kerry Irish Productions MEET THE CAST

Every show present ed by Kerry Irish Product ions feat ures an am azing highly t alent ed and professional group of individuals as dancers, m usicians and singers. We present here t he gift ed Singers and Kerry Band m em bers w ho

An Irish Christ m as Band

m ake up t he ensem ble for 2022's show s. In our Novem ber issue w e profiled t he m em bers of t he 2022 An Irish Christmas Dance Troupe. Click t he link here in case you m issed it .

Mark from Carrickm across, Co.Monaghan began playing drum s at t he age of four. He st udied at t he Royal Irish Academ y of Music and Perform ing Art s College in Dublin. He is m ost recognized as being t he Musical Direct or, drum m er, and percussionist in t he Gram m y aw ard w inning show Riverdance. He has recorded and perform ed w it h som e of t he biggest art ist s and show s in t he w orld. His abilit y t o cross so m any genres coupled w it h a unique and energet ic st yle has m ade him Europe's m ost sought aft er, and highly regarded drum m ers and percussionist s of t oday. Mark has w orked w it h Lionel Richie, Sim ply Red, Kat ie Melua, Josh Groban, The Corrs, Im elda May, Paddy Maloney (The Chieft ains), The Divine Com edy, Mary Coughlan, Ronan Keat ing, West life, Girls Aloud, Donnie Osm ond and t he lat e

Christ y Hennessy. Most recent ly he recorded drum s and percussion on Bill Whelan's new Riverdance 25t h Anniversary Album . He m ade his debut on London's West End w it h t he hit show Com e from Aw ay at London?s Phoenix Theat re. Mark w as honored t o have been part of t he t eam of Com posers, Musical Direct ors, and band t o receive an Olivier Aw ard for Out st anding Achievem ent in Music Mark w as also Musical Direct or w it h t he Int ernat ional show Heart beat of Hom e He is delight ed t o join An Irish Christ m as Tour 2022!

Cont inued on page 6 Em ail:

info@kerryrecords com

Mark Alfred (Percussion/ Bodhrán)

An Irish Christ m as

Jesse Langen (Guit ar)

w it h singer/ songw rit er Kat ie Jim oh and percussionist Tim Mulvenna He t eaches guit ar and com posit ion at Chicago Academ y for t he Art s

Evelyn Thom (Fiddle)

An Irish Christ m as Vocal Ensem ble

The Kerry Voice Squad.

Five years ago, a search began for t hree classically t rained voices t hat w ould be equally at hom e singing t he classics and t radit ional Irish songs. The search brought t oget her a t eam of ext raordinary art ist s and The Kerry Voice Squad w as born! Since t hen, t he ensem ble has perform ed in over 50 US cit ies t o dat e w it h Kerry Irish Product ions Inc.

Evelyn from Chicago is a

Jesse is a guit arist w ho plays a variet y of st yles of m usic. He has been feat ured w it h The Chicago Sym phony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Sinfoniet t a, t he Joffrey Ballet and recent ly in ?I am Ireland? on PBS Jesse and his brot her Tim grew up learning fiddle t unes from t heir grandfat her Clarence, and t hat grounding laid t he foundat ion for Jesse?s approach t o t radit ional m usic In Irish m usic, he can be heard regularly in sessions around Chicago, as w ell as in t he band Com pas w it h his brot her Tim and bodhran player Am y Richt er. In ot her st yles of m usic, he can be heard in Chicago, t hroughout t he count ry and elsew here in t he w orld w it h Ensem ble Dal Nient e, in Hasco Duo w it h Soprano Am anda DeBoer Bart let t , in Soundboard w it h harpist Ben Melsky, and in Kat et

19 year old m ult i inst rum ent alist w it h a focus on fiddle and guit ar. Evelyn has enjoyed t aking t he st age across t he Unit ed St at es as w ell as in Ireland and Canada She st udies w it h Jesse Langen on guit ar, and has learned from fiddle great s such as Liz Carroll, Oisín Mac Diarm ada, Sean Cleland, Devin Shepherd, and Dylan Foley As a soloist , Evelyn has com pet ed at t he All Ireland Fleadh m any t im es and holds several regional m edals from t he Midw est Fleadh, w inning t he gold st andard in 2020. She w as also a yout h scholarship recipient for t he Sw annanoa Gat hering, Scoil Éigse, and t he Francis O?Neill Irish Art s w eek Evelyn is t he 2019 w inner of t he Ireland Agency Aw ard in recognit ion of her passionat e w ork w it h t he Chicago m usic com m unit y as t eacher, perform er, and art ist . Evelyn is delight ed t o say t hat t his is her second Christ m as t our w it h Kerry Irish Product ions, and she hopes you enjoy t he show !

Koral Aakre

Koral com es from a fam ily of singers and began voice lessons w it h her fat her at age seven She earned a degree in vocal perform ance from Sout hern Oregon Universit y w here she st udied opera.She perform ed w it h t he Rogue Opera, Opera in t he St reet s, Brava Opera Workshop, SOU Cham ber and Concert Choir and t he Sout hern Oregon Reparat ory Singers

ily Est ep

Universit y Most recent ly, Em ily w as seen onst age at Busch Gardens William sburg as a vocalist in t he 13t h season of Celtic Fyre. This is Em ily?s first t our w it h An Irish Christ m as

Rosa Evangelina

John Haukoos and singing t he role of Xochiquet zal in El Circo Anahuac, a new opera in Spanish, English and Nahuat l by David Reyes. This is Rosa?s t hird season w it h An Irish Christ m as.

Em ily is an act or and singer local t o Fresno, California She has been perform ing in t he Cent ral Valley for 15 years and gradued in 2021 w it h a BFA in Musical Theat re from Ohio Nort hern

Aubrey StagnaroReturns As

Rosais a versat ile vocalist based in Los Angeles She has perform ed w it h Pacific Opera Project , Brow n Fist Product ions, Cent er St age Opera, Sant a Monica College Opera Theat er, Guild Opera, t he Vent ura Count y Gilbert & Sullivan Repert oire Com pany, and t he West Valley Playhouse Her opera and operet t a credit s includeLe nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica, Carmen,Roméo et Juliette,L?elisir d?amore,Il Campanello,The Pirates of Penzance, andUtopia, Limited.Recent highlight s in her perform ing life include prem iering t he role of Lot a in t he sci fi operaThe Dream Makerby

Aubrey began Irish Dance

\at the age of four and has been competing and performing for over ten years Dancing under thedirection of Maeve Coughlan and theCeltic Irish Dance Academy in Los Angeles, sheis a two timeWorld Qualifier, has placed in theWestern Region U.S. Top 10, and placed in the t the North American Irish Dance Nationals Aubrey first performed with Kerry Irish Productions as part of the pre show entertainment at theScherr Forum in Thousand Oaks in December 2015 Aubrey is a freshman in High School When she?s not doing Irish dance, shecan be found (performing) on the sidelines or in thegym as part of her High School Cheer Squad She is also a Senior Girl Scout and is currently working on her Girl Scout Gold Award