With a Celtic spirit culled from the musical traditions of their native County Donegal, Altan will perform on Nov. 20 at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts with supporting act Clare Friel. …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
Concert
Altan band to bring Ireland to Scottsdale
Posted
With a Celtic spirit culled from the musical traditions of their native County Donegal, Altan will perform on Nov. 20 at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts with supporting act Clare Friel.
Formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her husband, the late Frankie Kennedy, Altan has had a commitment to bringing the beauty of traditional music, particularly that of Donegal fiddlers and singers, to contemporary audiences, a press release stated.
The members of Altan have traveled with Irish presidents on state visits to Japan, North Korea and Italy. In 2006, the Irish government honored Altan with an official postal stamp to celebrate the group’s contribution to the Irish culture.
“If Dolly Parton calls them ‘the best traditional Irish band,’ then you know they are exceptional,” Abbey Messmer, programming director for Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, said in the release. “We are thrilled to finally have Altan in our space with special guest fiddler Clare Friel, and we hope folks are also able to attend the pre-show encounter with Altan members as they talk about Donegal fiddle styles.”
The band’s latest album, “The Gap of Dreams,” celebrates the roots of its music in Donegal folklore. The title refers to the “gap” between this world and the “other,” which older fiddlers noted as the source for their music and inspiration, describing encounters with the fairy folk or listening to tunes on the wind.
Before the show, Altan will be hosting a pre-show lecture about the history of Donegal music and Donegal fiddle style. The lecture begins at 6 p.m. and is free to the public. RSVP is requested.
Opening for Altan is Glasgow native Clare Friel, who is one of the members of The Friel Sisters, an Irish music group consisting of Friel and her two sisters. In 2018, the Irish television station TG4 named Friel the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Ceoiltóir Óg/Young Musician of the Year and described her as “one of the most exciting young traditional musicians on the scene today.”
The show will be held on Sunday, Nov. 20 starting at 7:30 p.m. at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. 2nd St. Tickets for each performance start at $40. For information, visit ScottsdalePerformingArts.org/events or call 480-499-TKTS (8587).
