The
musical traditions of Scotland and Ireland, possessing separate,
distinctive personalities, nonetheless share a common heritage.
Many of western North Carolina’s early white settlers
were either Highlanders or ‘Ulster Scots’ –
the Scots-Irish. Our Celtic Week acknowledges
that varied heritage with a program that features some of
the best from those traditions.
This year’s incredible staff lineup features present or former members of the supergroups Lúnasa, Solas, Danú, Patrick Street, Ossian, Old Blind Dogs, Cherish the Ladies, and Green Fields of America, as well as several other exciting new faces, the return of Cape Breton fiddle, more classes in Celtic guitar and mandolin, and a new class in annual Scottish folk traditions. For those
taking any of the style classes for fiddle, it is recommended
that students should play at an Intermediate level: students
should have mastered beginning skills, be able to tune their
instruments, keep time, play the principal scales cleanly,
and know how to play a few tunes with confidence. Fiddle
classes are double-length, and students may take either
intermediate or advanced classes, but not both. The uilleann pipes class is also double-length. Fiddlers
who plan on taking both Irish and Scottish fiddle should
consider their stamina and the available practice time before
registering for two 2 1⁄2 hour classes. For novices, Fiddle for Complete
Beginners will cover the basics, Fiddle
Technique will address technical problems for players
of all levels, and Intro
to Celtic Fiddling will provide beginnners with a repertoire
of simple tunes, while Tinwhistle
for Complete Beginners will provide whistle players
with a similar repertoire. For those students bringing their
families, we also offer a program for kids, but space is
limited. Our Children’s
Program for ages 6-12 features kids’ activities
scheduled during all the daytime class sessions, and we
will provide evening childcare at no additional cost. You
can view classes here as
well as staff bios. Or go
directly to an individual instructor’s bio by clicking
one of the names to the right.
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