Celtic Christmas Captivates with Pipes and Drums, Jigs, Beautiful Singing!
Celtic dancer Anne Robinson amazes the folks with her fancy footwork! While in the background, Nollaig provides some pretty fine accompaniment! Nollaig is, from left to right: Dave Chadwick (fiddle); Julie Horner (dulcimer); Ken Van di Kieft (guitar); Richard Ferry (flute); Steve Kenworthy (fiddle); and Nic Caciappo (bodhran).
Story and photos by Greg Kristapovich
….and a lot more! In the 7th Annual “A Celtic Christmas”, folks who helped pack the Sonora Opera Hall, December 20th, were treated to a full spectrum of beautiful Celtic instrumentals and ballads; and enough merry music to put everyone is the Christmas spirit! Headliner Nollaig, (an Irish Gaelic word meaning Christmas) with it’s six-piece ensemble enchanted the audience with Christmas songs, interspersed with Irish jigs and reels! Summerville High School’s Jazz at 8 Choir, with its 14 young men and women, (directed by Madeline Young), sang beautifully. They performed a medley of Christmas songs, which included “Danny Boy” – dedicated to the U.S. Troops. With the nice aroma of pastries from Bon Appetite, potato leek soup from Banny’s and wine and beer poured by members of the Historic Sonora Chamber of Commerce, folks enjoyed the whole evening; mingling at intermission and commenting amongst themselves on the beauty and vibrancy of all of the evening’s performances. In the exquisitely decorated concert hall,(thanks to Sonora’s year-round Christmas shop, Dorothea’s), the evening continued with tour-de-force performances by Pipe Major John Mitchell on his Scottish Highlands Bagpipes, Celtic dancer Anne Robinson (who also performs at Sonora’s Celtic Faire) with her energetic jigs, and the popular Celtic soprano Siobhan Travis, with her inspired solos!“ Thanks” goes to Nic Caciappo, organizer of the event! It was a truly fine evening of music!
Summerville High School’s Jazz at 8 Choir captivates the crowd!
Pipe Major John Mitchell performs an awesome rendition of Little Drummer Boy!
Soprano Siobhan Travis delights the audience with her beautiful vocals!
Thank you all for supporting and enjoying the evening!
All the best
Pipe Major John Mitchell
January 8th, 2009 at 4:24 am