Frankie Gavin & Catherine McHugh in concert at the GDICC

Join us on Saturday, June 10th, for an evening of fantastic music with Galway fiddler & De Dannan founder Frankie Gavin, with keyboard accompanist Catherine McHugh, at the Greater Danbury Irish Cultural Center, 6 Lake Avenue in Danbury, CT! Doors open at 6:30 pm, and dinner will be available in the GDICC pub starting at 5:30 pm. The concert begins at 7 pm. The concert is sponsored by the Andy McGann branch of CCE.

A limited amount of tickets will also be available at the door for $25.00, and will be available for purchase by cash or check only! No credit cards will be taken at the door.

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.

From Annaghdown, County Galway, Catherine McHugh 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.