Musique Royale celebrates its 25th anniversary season with a performance by Best of Boxwood 2010 set for Sunday, Aug. 1, 3 p.m., at Saint Agnes Church, Quinan
Featuring artists from Boxwood’s summer workshop and festival in Lunenburg, the 2010 Best of Boxwood tour features a quartet whose repertoire spans traditional music of Ireland, Cape Breton, Acadia, America, as well as works of the baroque and renaissance. Led by the flute playing of director Chris Norman, the musicians of Boxwood are frequently praised for their energy, originality and sheer mastery.
Here are the performers: James Kelly – Irish fiddle,
David Greenberg – Cape Breton and baroque violin,
Chris Norman – flutes, pipes, voice and
William Coulter – guitar
Kelly, a native of Ireland, is regarded in musical circles as one of the greatest Irish traditional fiddlers alive. He learned his music from his father John Kelly, the fiddle and concertina player from County Clare. James Kelly has toured Europe, the US, Canada and South America, and was a member of several influential Irish groups, including Patrick Street and the folk group Planxty. He was a presenter of the Pure Drop series for Irish TV and has appeared several times with the Grammy award winning Irish group, The Chieftains. He is the TG4 Irish traditional musician of the year, having been awarded the Gradam Ceoil TG4 2006 Irish Musician of the Year award in recognition of his musicianship and contributions to Irish music (TG4 is Ireland's Irish-language TV station). He has 18 albums to his credit and recently released his latest recording, Melodic Journeys.
David Greenberg's double career as both a baroque violinist and traditional fiddler began at an early age. He studied baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie at Indiana University's Early Music Institute, and moved to Canada in 1988 to join the Toronto-based baroque orchestra Tafelmusik. With Tafelmusik for 10 years, he performed orchestral, chamber, and solo roles in North America, Europe, and the Far East, and on more than forty recordings. He has gained the reputation in Cape Breton music circles as being one of the few people from outside the Nova Scotia island to have achieved a fluent command of the Cape Breton music idiom. With his wife, Kate Dunlay, he published Traditional Celtic Violin Music of Cape Breton, The DunGreen Collection.
Chris Norman has done much to bring the simple wooden flute to the forefront as an alternative voice to the modern orchestral instrument and redefined the flute in traditional Canadian and Scottish traditional music. His performing schedule includes solo engagements and concerts with a variety of ensembles, appearing frequently as soloist with orchestra and touring with his own Chris Norman Ensemble <http://chrisnorman.com/> . In years past he has also appeared worldwide as a member of the international folk trio, Helicon, the all-star Celtic fusion group, Skyedance, the acclaimed early music group, The Baltimore Consort and across Europe with Concerto Caledonia. His flute playing can be heard featured on the Oscar winning soundtrack of Titanic and other Hollywood films including, Soldier, and the Stone of Destiny. His solo CD releases have received praise from critics and audiences alike and appeared on Billboard's crossover charts. He is the founder and director of the Boxwood festivals and workshops.
William Coulter has been performing and recording traditional music for over 20 years. Musical collaborations have been a mainstay of his career and have included many tours and recordings. Song for Our Ancestors, with the classical guitar virtuoso Benjamin Verdery, Time to Sail and One Sweet Kiss, with Kerry-born Irish singer Eilis Kennedy, Simple Gifts - Music of the Shakers, with cellist Barry Phillips, Emma's Waltz with mountain dulcimer-guru Neal Hellman, and Celtic Requiem, with Irish singer Mary McLaughlin. Since 1997, he has acted as musical director and toured nationally with A Celtic Christmas, a holiday show featuring the native Irish story telling of Limerick-born Tomaseen Foley. As a teacher he maintains a classical guitar studio at the University of California at Santa Cruz, holds regular 'DADGAD Days,' and is busy in the summer at camps such as the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, The National Guitar Workshop and the Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp.
To get to the concert venue:
From Yarmouth, take Exit 33 off Highway 103 and turn left onto Route 308. Take the first right, to stay on Route 308 towards Springhaven and travel about 13 kms to the church in Quinan.
Tickets ($15) are available by calling 742-8765 or 648-0088.
