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June 29, 2006
Celtic Colours
welcomes Bela Fleck
Banjo whiz joins global lineup for 10th anniversary of
Celtic Music Fest
By STEPHEN
COOKE, Halifax Herald
Global
stars of traditional and progressive folk music, as well as
a host of local legends and up-and-coming performers, are on
tap for the 10th anniversary of Cape Breton’s Celtic Colours
International Festival, taking place Oct. 6 to 14.
Multi-Grammy Award-winning modern banjo whiz Bela Fleck,
Scottish guitar prodigy Anna Massie, Spanish bagpipe
virtuoso Carlos Nunez, stirring singer-songwriter Karine
Polwart, balladeer Archie Fisher and the Danish duos
Haugaard & Hoirup and Karen + Helene are just a few of the
headlining acts that will draw listeners from across the
country and around the world to the rainbow-hued splendour
of Cape Breton in the fall.
The
festival kicks off on Friday, Oct. 6 with the gala concert
Natalie MacMaster: Bringing the World Home at the Port
Hawkesbury Civic Centre. Featuring the famed Troy fiddler,
the show will also include Fleck, Nunez and New Zealand
talent Hayley Westenra. Across the island over the next nine
days there will be 40 concerts and over 100 workshops,
including a collaboration between artists in residence
Glendale’s Mary Jane Lamond and Scottish Gaelic singer Mairi
MacInnes, tributes to Cape Breton fiddlers Carl MacKenzie
and Dr. Winnie Chafe, and the musical blend of the all-star
The Unusual Suspects project.
Other
international visitors include British quartet Flook,
Scottish trio Bachué, U.S. string trio Ferintosh, the unique
Welsh ensemble Crasdant, the Irish-American duo Liz Carroll
and John Doyle, the Irish team of Brian OhEadhra and Nuala
Kennedy and the irrepressible Scottish duo of longtime
festival friend accordionist Phil Cunningham and fiddler Aly
Bain.
As always,
Celtic Colours serves as a prime showcase for Cape Breton
talent, with a lineup of artists that ranges from familiar
faces like Jerry Holland, J.P. Cormier and Hilda Chiasson
Cormier, Gordie Sampson, Howie MacDonald, Beolach, Buddy
MacMaster and the Barra MacNeils to young acts like Dawn and
Margie Beaton, multi-instrumentalist Krysta MacKinnon and
fiddler Meagan Burke.
From off
the island come performers like P.E.I. singer-songwriter
Lennie Gallant, Antigonish pianist/fiddler Troy
MacGillivray, Newfoundland’s A Crowd of Bold Sharemen,
Vancouver stringmaster Daniel Lapp, and Nova Scotian
guitarist extraordinaire Dave MacIsaac.
Tickets
for Celtic Colours’ 10th Anniversary season go on sale on
July 10. They can be purchased by phone locally at 567-3000
or toll-free at 1-888-355-7744.
For more
information, call 562-6700 or toll-free at 1-877-285-321 or
visit
www.celtic-colours.com for details about artists and events.
For accommodation information, phone 1-800-565-0000.
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