CARTHAGE — New England Celtic Arts will host popular Boston Irish fiddler George Keith and friends Sunday, Sept. 5, at Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center.

Keith’s family has owned property in Carthage for many years. Every year, family members gather with friends from the Boston music scene on Labor Day weekend to enjoy Maine and music. Keith grew up playing classical violin, but found himself drawn to Irish traditional music in the early 1990s. He learned to play traditional music between Chicago and Boston, and has since won both North American Irish fiddle titles.

More recently, Keith has performed as a member of the Grammy Award-winning Tim O’Brien’s bluegrass/Irish crossover band The Crossing, and appeared on WGBH’s “A Christimas Celtic Sojourn, Live” DVD.

These days, he regularly performs with Robbie O’Connell and Aoife Clancy, and often plays for dancing and in Irish sessions in Boston.

Tina Lech is a North American Irish fiddle champion whose playing is known on both sides of the Atlantic. Her trio with Dana Lyn and Donna Long performs regularly in the United States. She teaches fiddle at Boston College and for Boston Comhaltas Ceoltirireann.

Ted Davis grew up in Southborough, Mass., and first started playing Irish music while in college in Maine, studying guitar performance. He then spent one year in Cork, Ireland, playing music with the natives. Most recently, he has performed with Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely of Lunasa. He has also played with Aoife O’Donovan and the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Sean Clohessy, from the parish of Fedamore in Co Limerick, has been playing fiddle for the past 20 years. He has won several All-Ireland titles and currently plays regularly throughout Boston and New York.

John Coyne, a native of Limerick, Ireland, came to America more than 20 years ago and has been playing bouzouki primarily. He plays regularly in sessions throughout the Boston area and also in Providence, R.I., with his wife, Lisa, and Uilleann Piper Patrick Hutchinson. He also plays in the duo Coyne & Reeves.

Lisa Coyne began playing traditional Irish flute and whistle in her early 20s, when she lived for several years in Ireland. She performs regularly in Providence and Boston.

Kate Minogue is a singer-songwriter hailing from Baltimore. Originally a classical flute player, she studied Irish flute in Galway and began performing original music while in school in North Carolina. She now lives in Boston, frequenting local sessions on Irish flute.

Jackie O’Riley began Irish set dancing as a teenager in the Boston area and has studied with a variety of teachers in the United States and Ireland. She has performed in “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn, “A Saint Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn” and “Celebrate!” as well as at the JFK Library and Museum, and has choreographed and performed in the Boston Celtic Music Festival.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. Skye Theatre is planning to make this an annual event to close out the summer season. A pre-show jam will start at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. Skye Theater is at 2 Highland Drive off Winter Hill Road and U.S. Route 2.

Copy the Story Link