The first round of artist line ups has been announced detailed schedules and additional information will evolve in the coming days. Digital first is certainly a first in the festival’s history - it began in 1994 - and all’s been done in compliance with Scotland’s strict health regulations. Schedules, details, and ticketing may be found at the Boston Celtic Music festival website.Īcross the water in Glasgow, artists and presenters have been filming and organizing performances to offer online from 15 January through 2 February. The concerts are on a sliding scale of donation, while the workshops, which include renown Irish singer Karan Casey on social justice and music, top duo Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas fiddle and cello collaboration and invention, and more, have fixed ticket prices. There will be five hours of music during the day on the festival Saturday, workshops during the day on Sunday and Monday, and concerts each evening. Matt and Shannon Heaton, Joey Abarta, Hanneke Cassel and Yann Falquet, Katie McNally and Neil Pearlman, Scottish Fish, Jenna Moynihan, and the Atlantic Folk Trio are among those who will appear. As ever, there will be performances from up and coming musicians in New England as well as long time participants, internationally touring artists who call New England home as well as those better known close to home. In the winter of 2021, The Boston Celtic Music Festival will take place from the 14th through the 18th of January. Putting the fest online for its sixteenth year is of course a change, but the spirit of community and the love of sharing music are major aspects of what has supported that major transition.
Since the first BCMFest happened in 2004, there have been changes, as well as things which have remained the same. “We thought, what if we have a big party? What if we have a big weekend? What if we have - a festival?” “We began talking about ways to bring the Irish and Scottish communities together to share music,” Heaton recalls.
It was rare for paths of these communities to cross in performance or in sessions, though. Both Irish and Scottish music have strong communities of musicians and listeners in the Boston area and across New England. began in a conversation between Shannon Heaton who plays Irish music on the flute, and Laura Cortese, whose background is in the fiddle music of Scotland. Turns out, they both have a lot to offer.īCM Fest, as the Cambridge event is known for short. The artists and behind the scenes professionals of the Boston Celtic Music Festival and the Celtic Connections Festival have been working for months to find ways to share music during what would be festival times. Gathering for concerts and workshops is not a great idea just now, and in some areas it is prohibited, in order to help keep us all safe. Performers appearing at the festival include: Flynn Cohen & The Deadstring Ensemble Jenna Moynihan Laurel Martin & Mark Roberts Joey Abarta & Nathan Gourley Cat and the Moon Patrick Hutchinson and Dan Accardi Soulsha Fódhla Alba’s Edge Molly Pinto Madigan The Coyne Family Fresh Haggis Bridget Fitzgerald Ceol Corvus the Vox Hunters Oran Mor Lindsay Straw Nancy Bell Scottish Fish Elizabeth & Ben Anderson Adrianna Ciccone Laura Cortese & the Boston Urban Ceilidh Band Mad for Trad the Jackie O’Riley School of Irish Dance Highland Dance Boston Audrey Budington & Clayton Clemetson Liz & Dan Faiella Will Woodson & Eric McDonald Jigs & Saws Colleen White & Sean Smith the Rushy Mountain Oysters Scottish Fish Haley Hewitt Boston Scottish Fiddle Club Mad for Trad and the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society of Boston.The streets and businesses around Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in Glasgow’s city centre and West End in Scotlans will be rather quieter than usual this January. The family-friendly, grassroots festival features performances as well as participatory music and dance events, starting with the Friday night “Roots and Branches” concert at Club Passim and the Boston Urban Ceilidh – BCMFest’s popular Celtic dance party – around the corner at The Atrium on Church Street.īCMFest continues on the Saturday, January 10, with “Dayfest” – nearly eight hours of events at Club Passim and nearby First Church, Cambridge, including children’s and family entertainment in the morning – before concluding with Saturday evening’s “BCMFest Nightcap” finale concert in First Church. Passim’s 12th annual BCMFest will be a gathering place for local musicians, singers and dancers of all ages.