Celtic Week, July 13-19, 2025
Thanks to Jim Magill’s longstanding coordination, this program has remained the gold standard of all other Celtic music workshops. With the remarkable staff Seán Gavin has put together in his first year as Celtic Week’s new coordinator, we couldn’t be happier with him continuing that legacy and carrying it to future heights. So far, the 2025 lineup includes Mari Black (Scottish fiddle), Kevin Burke (fiddle), Anna Colliton (bodhrán), Damien Connolly (accordion and fiddle), Kevin Crawford (flute), John Doyle (session guitar), Josh Dukes (DADGAD guitar and session class), Gráinne Hambly (Irish harp and concertina), Liz Hanley (Irish song and fiddle), Brian Holleran (flute), Billy Jackson (tin whistle and Scottish harp), Cathy Jordan (Irish song), Andrew Finn Magill (fiddle), Rebecca McGowan (dance), Tony McManus (fingerstyle guitar), Will MacMorran (drop D guitar and Scottish smallpipes), Jenna Moynihan (Scottish fiddle), Caoimhín Ó Fearghail (tin whistle), Eamon O’Leary (bouzouki), Patrick Ourceau (fiddle), John Skelton (flute and tin whistle), Jesse Smith (fiddle), and Cillian Vallely (uilleann pipes).
The musical traditions of Scotland and Ireland, possessing separate, distinctive personalities, nonetheless share a common heritage. Many of western North Carolina’s early white settlers were either Highlanders or ‘Ulster Scots’ – the Scots-Irish. Our Celtic Week acknowledges that varied heritage with a program that features some of the best from those traditions.
Celtic Week will feature classes, potluck sessions, concerts, ceilis and jams. For those taking any of the style classes for fiddle, it is recommended that students should play at an Intermediate level: students should have mastered beginning skills, be able to tune their instruments, keep time, play the principal scales cleanly, and know how to play a few tunes with confidence. Fiddle classes are double-length, and students may take either intermediate or advanced classes, but not both. The uilleann pipes class is also double-length. Fiddlers who plan on taking both Irish and Scottish fiddle should consider their stamina and the available practice time before registering for two daily 2 ½ hour classes. For novices, “Fiddle for Complete Beginners” will cover the basics and “Fiddle Technique” will address technical problems for all players, while “Tinwhistle for Complete Beginners” will provide new whistle players with a repertoire of simple tunes.