Ireland’s Premier Musical Ambassadors The Chieftains Return to the Kimmel Center to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 11
February 26, 2007
Known for catapulting Irish traditional music to the world’s attention, six-time Grammy® Award winners The Chieftains return to the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall on Sunday, March 11 at 3pm for a St. Patty’s Day celebration. Band members will share with audiences their annual brew of jokes, surprises, and step dancing with Irish folk music classics performed on stage including “O’Sullivan’s March,” “Boil the Breakfast Early,” and “Santiago de Cuba.” Their music, a texture of Irish instruments including the bodhrán, uillean pipes, fiddle, tin whistle, and flute, has entertained audiences for over forty years; their musical prowess recognized by being named Ireland’s Musical Ambassadors and ranked as their top folk musicians. The recent 2006 release of Live from Dublin: A Tribute To Derek Bell was Grammy®-nominated for Best Traditional Folk Album.
This is the thirteenth performance in the Verizon World Pop Mix. The next performances include Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald concert in Verizon Hall Sunday, March 18, 2007 at 7:30pm, and Leahy in Verizon Hall on Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 1pm.
Tickets for The Chieftains on Sunday, March 11, 2007 are priced at $79, $59, $49, $39 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6am and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-893-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
The Chieftains are the creative force that helped to establish the international appeal of Celtic music. The Chieftains were formed in 1962 by founder and front man Paddy Moloney, who brought together a group of local musicians in Dublin and fashioned an authentic instrumental sound that stood in sharp contrast to the slick commercial output of most Irish music at the time. Although their early following was purely a folk audience, the range and variation of their music quickly captured a much broader public, making them today the best known Irish band in the world. After forty-three years together and forty-three recorded albums, they continue to uncover the wealth of traditional Irish music that has accumulated over the centuries with their own unique style.
The group has pushed beyond musical boundaries by collaborating with some of the biggest names in rock, pop and traditional music in Ireland and around the world. In 1988, they joined forces with fellow countryman Van Morrison on Irish Heartbeat which began an historic series of collaborations including recordings with James Galway, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Sting, Tom Jones, Sinead O’Connor, Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, Ry Cooder and many others. They also continued their acclaimed work in soundtracks on such films as Treasure Island, Tristan and Isolde, The Grey Fox and Far and Away. The group has been involved in such historic events as a tour of China (the first Western group to perform on the Great Wall), Roger Waters' "The Wall" performance in Berlin in 1990, became the first group to give a concert in the Capitol Building of Washington D.C., (at the invitation of former Speaker, Thomas "Tip" O' Neill), and more recently, Moloney performed a memorial service in October in New York for the victims of September 11th 2001.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
Sunday, March 11, 2007 | 3pm
Verizon Hall
Verizon World Pop Mix
The Chieftains
Kevin Conneff, bodhrán, vocals
Seán Keane, fiddle
Matt Molloy, flute
Paddy Moloney, uillean pipes
with special guests Liadan
Síle Denvir, harpist
Deirdre Chawke, piano accordion
Valerie Casey and Claire Dolan, fiddles
Sarah-Jane Woods, flute
Elaine Cormican, whistles
also featuring
Triona Marshall, harp
Jon Pilatzke, fiddle and step dancing
Jeff White, guitar/vocals
Nathan Pilatzke, step dancing
Cara Butler, traditional Irish dancing/step dancing
FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENT
Sunday March 11, 2007 | 1:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza
The Brennans
Philly’s favorite Irishman, John Brennan and his sister sing and play traditional Irish favorites on piano and guitar.
UPCOMING FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENTS:
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 | 7:15pm
Verizon Hall
Artist Chat with Michael Barone
Pre-concert Artist Chat on the stage of Verizon Hall with organist Wayne Marshall and Michael Barone, host of American Public Media's “Pipedreams.” Prior to Wayne Marshall’s organ ticketed performance in Verizon Hall.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 | 6:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza
Leonardo Locatelli
Pianist Leonardo Locatelli from Bergamo, Italy returns to the Commonwealth Plaza to perform classical selections. Prior to Wayne Marshall’s organ ticketed performance in Verizon Hall.
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