March is Irish Month

I am still working full-time plus!  Very little time to practice, but I did manage a couple days this week.

Tomorrow evening Fiana NiChoinaill is flying in from Limerick.  She'll be staying at my place overnight and then the workshop is the next day.  She is also going to fit a private lesson in for me at some point before she flies back on Saturday night.

Fiana was a student of Janet Harbison and now has her Masters Degree in (Irish?) Music performance.

I had the most fantastic time hosting Fiana and at the workshop!  She is such a lovely and friendly young lady, not to mention very talented, of course!

She arrived after 10:30 pm and we sat around chatting for three hours!  She must have been exhausted after travelling by bus for two and a half hours from Limerick to Dublin and then the flight from Dublin to Leeds.  I was full of nervous energy wanting her short stay to be comfy and perfect and excited about the workshop in general.  It was really interesting talking to her about music, and also just about things like formal education and grading in folk and Irish music which is a funny thing in itself, plus the differences in formal education between classical and \Irish music.  I wish I could remember more specifics, but at the moment my brain is tired.

I had about 4 hours sleep in total, but wanted to be up and ready before Fiana so she could sleep a bit more (only one bathroom in our small cottage!).  I 'made' her eat something and made sure I packed snacks for the day just in case.  (I really am giving you a play-by-play description, aren't I?).

Mike got us to the venue in plenty of time for Fiana to settle in with the borrowed harp and tune up.  My friend Joan commented on how my face lit up when Fiana played the first tune for us.  I was thinking, "Now *that's* what it's all about!*  She taught us two jigs--Leitrim Fancy and The Wind on the Lake.  She managed to teach all 11 of us by ear and no-one even protested about not getting the sheet music beforehand!  She was extremely thorough and went at a slow and steady pace so as not to leave anyone behind.  We learned the bare bones of the tune first and then three completely different ways of ornamenting it.  With the second tune she gave people ideas for what they could do in the left hand.  We also learned the slow air With Her Gun and Her Dog which is from the Petrie Collection (around the same time as Bunting, a lesser known collector and collection of harp tunes--must look into it further).


Gigs booked:  I now have three summer gigs booked.  Two different farmer's markets and my usual gig at Kirkstall Abbey playing inside the Cloisters.  One of the market gigs may be as a trio (with Mike and Brian's duo Craig & Wylie, so we'd be Craigs & Wylie or Craig & Craig & Wylie).

In the meantime I had a fiddle lesson yesterday and have almost completely learned Reel of  Rio.  A bit tricky especially since I wasn't already familiar with it.

Still so so busy at work and have now resorted to practicing my fiddle either before opening the shop or after work before I go home.  The harp is another matter and I've so much to work on as always, of course.