I’m not sure how much I actually learned during the week at Augusta, but more than anything it motivated me to delve deeper into learning music. I kinda wish I was going back this year, or at least could be a fly on the wall at the late night sessions in the Icehouse pub on campus.
Davis and Elkins campus - site of Augusta Irish/Celtic week |
Oddly enough, at least two other Irish music themed
instructional weeks are also taking place next week: Boxwood Canada in Lunenburg,
Nova Scotia and Joe Mooney
Summer School in the tiny village of Drumshanbo in County Leitrim, Ireland.
Lunenburg, NS Canada |
Lunenburg is already at the top of my list of places to
visit, and the fact that there’s an event like Boxwood there each summer makes
it even more enticing. A cool feature of
the Boxwood festival is that all similar pitch instruments are allowed in any
class. Participants are encouraged to
take a variety of classes each day so that throughout the course of the week,
you will have met with a variety of teachers across a multiple of
disciplines.
Jumping across the Atlantic, if the number of instructors
listed on the website is any indication, the Joe Mooney Summer School must be
huge! I counted over 50 instructors,
with all the traditional Irish instruments represented. How awesome would it be to attend an Irish
week in Ireland?!
Session in Drumshanbo Ireland |
Oh well. At least I
am going to the Appalachian String Band Festival (AKA “Clifftop”) for a few
days in late July. Clifftop is more
hillbilly than blarney, but it’s still a lot of fun! And cheap!
No comments:
Post a Comment