Join the Andy McGann CCE branch as they present fantastic Irish fiddler Frankie Gavin, founder of the powerhouse Irish band De Dannan, in concert with keyboardist & fiddler Catherine McHugh, on Thursday, May 16th at 7 pm, at the Greater Danbury Irish Cultural Center, 6 Lake Avenue, Danbury, CT! Tickets are $20 (plus Eventbrite fees) in advance, and $25 at the door, payable by cash or checks payable to Andy McGann CCE.
We are pleased to announce that partial support for this wonderful concert is provided by a grant from the Government of Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs "Emigrant Support Program" via the North America Comhaltas Meitheal Fund - we are so grateful to the DFA and the NA Meitheal Fund for this grant!
Frankie Gavin was born in 1956 in Corrandulla, County Galway, from a musical family; his parents and siblings being players of the fiddle and accordion. As a child he played the tin whistle from the age of four and, later, the flute. He received some formal training in music, but his musical ability on the fiddle is mainly self-taught. When 17 years old, he gained first place in both the All Ireland Under-18 Fiddle and Flute competitions. In the early 1970s Gavin played musical sessions at Galway's Cellar Bar, with Alec Finn (bouzouki, guitar), Mickey Finn (fiddle), Charlie Piggott (banjo), and Johnnie (Ringo) McDonagh (bodhrán). In 1974, from these and further sessions, he founded the group De Dannan with Alec Finn.
Gavin has played and recorded with Andy Irvine, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Stéphane Grappelli, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and in 2010 became reputedly the fastest fiddle player in the world, with an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
Catherine McHugh is from Annaghdown, County Galway, and is one of the most outstanding young accompanists and fiddlers in Irish traditional music today. Growing up in an area steeped in legends of Irish traditional music, Catherine grew up listening to and playing with many of the outstanding East Galway musicians of her locality including Joe Burke, Paddy Fahey, Conor Tully, John Joe Forde, and the legendary Keane Family of Caherlistrane. Her approach to piano accompaniment, heavily influenced by legends of the piano Charlie Lennon, Carl Hession, Fr Seamus Quinn, and Brian McGrath, is far beyond her years with a unique understanding of the music she performs. A multiple All Ireland Champion, Catherine is in high demand as an accompanist and has performed at many festivals and concerts nationally and internationally in recent years including the Birmingham Trad Fest, Ennis Trad Fest, Return to Camden Town Festival and Féile Strokestown to name but a few. A regular performer on Irish radio and television, she has appeared on many commercial recordings of Irish traditional music over the past numbers of years and is frequently found accompanying outstanding musicians of the tradition such as Frankie Gavin, Daithí Gormley,Tony Linnane, Orlaith McAuliffe to name a few.
