Irish Music School

Here is a picture of artist, musician and luthier Mark Franzke with Kansas City Irish Fest board members Dan Regan and Ed Follis at a meeting earlier this evening. I’ll use Dan’s eloquent words from an earlier email to explain why we were there:

Last year Mark Franzke was awarded a grant to build a Celtic themed mandolin. He generously offered to donate the finished instrument back to Irish Fest and requested that we auction it and use the proceeds of the sale to fund a traditional music scholarship for children.

Hang on for more details, but while you wait, check out Mark’s mandolin creation blog:
http://franzkemandolins.blogspot.com/

Doug, Dave and Turlach appeared on the Foolkiller Folk radio show today. We talked about the music school with hosts Mark and Valerie Andruss and we played some tunes. Unfortunately, the show is not podcast, but we do have some pictures.

Paddy O’Brien will appear in a house concert on Saturday July 24th. More details at Big Plain Concerts website.

The Kansas City Star featured a picture of Lucie Goodhart, Doug’s daughter, relaxing in the aftermath of last Sunday’s instructor concert.

Doug Goodhart, Turlach Boylan and Dave Agee perform at the 2010 Instructor showcase in the Irish Museum and Cultural Center.

There will be an Instructor showcase at the Irish Museum in Union Station next Sunday at 2:00 pm featuring instructors Emily Wyatt(harp), Dave Agee(fiddle and bodhran), Doug Goodhart(whistle, bodhran, fiddle) and Turlach Boylan(flute and whistle) followed by a reception.

This event will mark the opening of The Music School Library, funded by a grant from the Kansas City Irish Fest and the resumption of tinwhistle classes at Union Station.

Just two intrepid students represented the Music school at Sheehan’s Open house this past Saturday. Captured here on blurry cellphone photos are Kat Land and Michael Allen making me proud.

The members of Slide (Ireland), winners of Irish Music Magazine’s Best Newcomer award in 2001 and the Young Musicwide Award in 2006, have agreed to teach a series of workshops and private lessons in Tulsa on September 1 and 2 during their U.S. tour (which is sponsored in part by Culture Ireland). This is a don’t miss opportunity for musicians interested in learning more about playing Irish music or perfecting their technique. All the band members have significant teaching experience, have been involved in adjudicating competitions, and have arranged and directed groups of musicians.
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The music school has received a grant from the Kansas City Irish Festival to start a music library. The grant will be used to buy tune books, books about Irish Music and some recordings. We have a verbal agreement that the collection will be kept at The Irish Museum and Cultural Center for use by students and the general public.

Also, resourceful whistle student Connor Spencer received an apprentice grant from the State of Missouri to study with whistle teacher Turlach. We studied the playing and recordings of several influential whistle players, and attempted to describe the unique elements of their music and technique.

After a longer than expected break, a bunch of intrepid students started or continued on their path to whistle mastery at the weekly classes in Unions Station tonight. There are still places available in the classes, so, if you’re a last minute person like me then call or email and we’ll get you fixed up!