Busy Fleadh Weekend

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Irish Voice Entertainment

Busy Fleadh Weekend

April 9, 2008

from the hob

THE Comhaltas bandwagon in New York just keeps rolling along with another big undertaking coming up on the heels of the extraordinary Parsippany convention just finished last week.

The annual New York Fleadh will be on again in Pearl River which encourages students of Irish music to hone their skills through competition that for some can lead to All-Ireland glory at Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann which is slated once again for Tullamore, Co. Offaly from August 17-24 (www.fleadh2008.com).

Last weekend in Parsippany many of the area teachers gathered their students for Saturday afternoon performances in the Hilton Hotel atrium lobby that absolutely blew people away with the polish and poise they exhibited along with the talent which was plentiful.

Whether it made their preparation for the fleadh any easier for the teachers or students could be debated but if medals were available to distribute at the Hilton, a good few would have been given out.

This Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, a full schedule of competitions will get underway at the Pearl River Middle School. This is a new location this year selected by the efficient and hard-working fleadh subcommittee of the Mid-Atlantic Region CCE.

Located in the Blue Hill Section behind the Pearl River Hilton, the school at 520 Gilbert Road should prove as amenable as the previous location in the high school nearby.

The two day affair will test the mettle of competitors of all ages who wish to see how they stack up against others who play an instrument or sing a song in Irish or English, or of their own making in the traditional vein.

Saturday is devoted to solo competitions all day beginning at 10 a.m. at the middle school right up to the early evening, given the usual compliment of several hundred entries in a normal year.
Sunday starts off with Mass onsite at 10 a.m. to be followed by all the group competitions comprising duets, trios, grupa cheoils (music groups) and ceili band competitions which have 14 entered thus far.

The senior ceili band competition, dormant in recent years, even has four bands training from Boston to Baltimore, vying for a chance to go to Ireland to knock the Allow Ceili Band off its first year perch as the 2007 All-Ireland champions.

Comparisons to the Allow Ceili Band can be made first hand because they have been invited to play for the Fleadh Ceili Mor on Saturday night from 8 p.m.-midnight at the Clarkstown Reformed Church (Strawtown Road, West Nyack).

Space will be tight because the enthusiastic set dancers will most likely be there bright and early to pay the $20 admission to see the Cork-based band that has grown in reputation at recent All-Ireland competitions.

Some pretty good music will be percolating as well at the Orangeburg Holiday Inn (Route 303 at Orangeburg Road), the fleadh hotel where the Galway legends Mike Rafferty and Joe Madden are kicking off a session starting at 8 p.m. You can find full details at www.nyfleadh.com or by calling fleadh secretary Terry Rafferty at 201-288-4267.

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