Yearly Archives: 2016

Lisa Lynne’s “Hands-on-Harps” workshops are a unique interactive experience. Participants will enjoy a Celtic harp concert and those who reserve a harp will have an opportunity to learn some basic techniques. There is no experience necessary to make beautiful music on these beginner friendly instruments.

Lisa Lynne is a multi-instrumentalist and performer who has gained worldwide recognition for her original music featuring her Celtic harp. She specializes in Traditional acoustic folk and rare instruments and is widely acclaimed for composing memorable and heartwarming melodies that transcend category and genre.

Reservations for the hands-on workshops are on a first-come basis. There are 15 harps available. If you would prefer to attend and listen only, please do! Workshop listeners will have an opportunity to try the harps at the end of the workshop. Drop-ins welcome!

Concert: 2:00-2:50 pm. Short intermission followed by Beginner Workshop: 3:00–4:00 pm.

Listen and enjoy a sample of Lisa’s beautiful, acoustic Celtic Harp music.

Born in Northern Ireland, Flora Skivington‘s fiction and non-fiction films explore individual relationships to places of personal significance. She is interested in how individual imagination can shape our experience of places and how personal stories and memories can add meaning to the objects around us. Flora is inspired by real-life stories, rural landscapes, and a love of color and texture. Her films have been shown at film festivals, art galleries and other public venues in the US and Europe, including the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. She has an MFA in Film from San Francisco Art Institute and a PhD in Fine Art from University of Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art. The event will include a screening of Corvus Corax, Newt Wonders, Oscar & Isabelle, Fatto A Mano, Beautiful Malaria and Nesting Turkey Vultures, followed by Q&A with the filmmaker.

This annual favorite gives the whole family an opportunity to enjoy spectacular local Irish music and dance talents! Autumn Rhodes and Darcy Noonan will perform Irish jigs and reels as well as slower-paced airs and seannós (‘old style’) songs on fiddle, Irish flute, concertina, and tin whistle, while dancers from the Brosnan School of Irish Dance will delight audiences with jigs, reels, and other high-kicking dance steps.

OPENING NIGHT

The 13th Annual Irish-American Crossroads Festival is proud to present Grammy-award winning artist, Eileen Ivers and her band, in an electric night of music that will explore the influences of the Celtic tradition on American roots music.

A musical pioneer, Ivers is hailed as “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin” (New York Times). Amid the fire of her fierce fiddle solos, the audience dives deeply into a musical journey as Ivers and her band mine the rich roots of American music. Their performance offers what the L.A. Times describes as “music with the kind of life and spirit that come together when talented artists from different backgrounds find the linkages that connect all forms of music…no wonder the audience loved every minute.”

This March 4th concert is also the launch of Ivers’ newest album, Beyond The Bog Road (on Ivers’ Musical Bridge imprint). The music from this album illuminates how Irish and Celtic influences enliven one of the richest cross-pollinations of folk music styles in the world, with a particular focus on Bluegrass, French Canadian, Cajun, Appalachian, and New Orleans musical traditions.

Eileen Ivers is beloved by audiences around the globe. She is Bronx born, a nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion and an original musical star of Riverdance. While she is firmly rooted in traditional Irish music, Ivers is also celebrated as a musical pioneer. She has performed with Sting, Patti Smith, Hall & Oates, and symphonies, as well as for presidents and royalty, worldwide.

The Whelan-Kennelly Academy of Irish Dance will also be featured performers in this remarkable evening of music and dance.

Take a listen to the lead track called “Walk On” from Eileen’s album “Beyond The Bog Road”.  This album will be released on March 4th at our show in San Rafael!

Listen to Eileen Ivers’ description of the concert and invitation to join us on March 4th!

See Eileen Ivers perform a fiery version of the National Anthem at the Golden State Warriors “Irish Heritage Night”, January 27, 2016.  (Watch for the “surprise” at :48 seconds!)

San Francisco Giants Baseball Tickets: All attendees are invited to enter a free raffle to win a pair of tickets to the SF Giants “Irish Heritage Night” (April 25th) at A.T & T. Park, courtesy of the SF Giants.

A special thanks to our sponsors: Wheelcare Express and Ranger Pipelines, Inc.