To get your Irish on, and we’re talking real Irish, not just some do-si-do with a leprechaun and too many Guinness, you need to go to the core of your very Irish soul. On Friday, March 16, KCT concerts is providing just the guide.
Paddy Keenan is not exactly a regular on the Island, he doesn’t live here, but he returns often, fiddle in hand, to remind us what Irish music can be in the hands of a master.
On Saturday, March 24, beginning at 8 p.m., the Pit Stop is hosting an evening with Jemima James and friends. For those still out of tune, the Pit Stop is a new music venue that took root this winter on Dukes County avenue in Oak Bluffs. The space is not a bar, but rather a gathering place and as such all ages are welcome to enjoy the show.
Performing with Ms. James will be Dan Waters, Nina Violet, Tauras Biskis, and an untold number of surprise guests.
This weekend, the Island Community Chorus, under the direction of Peter Boak, will present two performances of its spring 2012 concert program, Beethoven and Friends, at the Performing Arts Center of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.
The chorus is made up of one hundred singers who have been rehearsing weekly since Jan. 9.
The concerts are at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 1.
Time to rosin up those bows as the elementary strings program gets ready to take the stage at the Winter Strings Concert this coming Thursday, Jan. 12, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The program takes place at the Performing Arts Center at the regional high school.
The Pit Stop continues to be the go-to place for music each weekend in Oak Bluffs. On Friday, April 6, at 7 p.m., Daniel Macke takes the stage along with Kenny Lockwood, Nancy Jephcote and Paul Thurlow.
Mr. Macke hails from Port Townsend, Wash. and likes to play a big guitar. “I love the jumbo bodied guitars and the full, rich sound that comes with looking like a dwarf when you play one,” he said.
On Valentine’s Day why settle for just one suitor when you can fall in love with a host of Island poets, without ever leaving your home, no less?
On Feb. 14 from 1 to 4 p.m. MVTV will host a live reading hosted by the Martha’s Vineyard Poetry Society. Tune into channel 13 to catch the scene or to get close-up and personal with your favorite poets, some of whom will be singing their odes, contact williamwaterway@aol.com to be part of the studio audience.
This Sunday, April 1, at 4 p.m. the students of Rebecca Barca-Tinus’ violin classes will perform in the 21st annual spring concert at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown. The students range in age from three to sixty. Think bow puppies to Bach.
The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call 508-696-1920.
Tonight, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. KCT Concerts opens its 2012 season at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven. There really is no need to say any more as all of KCT’s performers are tops in their field, often leaning to the Irish or traditional music. Fiddle players as top billers, finally.
Next Friday, April 6, you are going to Boston or be prepared to hear the stories of how you missed the night everyone had their mind blown by being the first to experience a live show of DCLA’s new CD at the Hard Rock Cafe.
There will be no excuses, no whining, no saying it’s a drag to travel off-Island if you don’t have a car.
The boys in the band have arranged for a bus to take Islanders to the show and return them the next day, more or less in one piece.
