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Title: PREVIEW:Group Fuses Irish Traditions With New Age Sound Post by: Don on May 03, 2009, 07:06:50 AM On Friday, May 8, The Celtic Woman’s Isle of Hope tour will take over the Spokane Arena.
The musical group began in 2004, but the group seems to have experienced instant success in their first five years together. One of the most unique things about the group is that they are nearly always represented as a collective and are rarely identified as individually or by name. If they are, generally it is only by first name; Lisa, Máiréad, Órla, Chloë and Méav. They each have their own CDs, but when the albums combine forces they are the most popular. The group has maintained a steady spot on the Billboard World Music Charts since their debut album, staying at number one for the past 95 weeks after their release of “A New Journey.” Celtic Woman has toured the world, sharing music in Canada, Japan, China, Germany and South Africa as well as many other countries. In 2006, Celtic Woman’s PBS special “Live at Slane Castle,” in County Meathm, Ireland was a rapid success and has been re-broadcast by demand many times in the past three years. In America, the group has performed on the popular TV show Dancing with the Stars, as well as The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly and even at the White House for St. Patrick’s day. Celtic Woman infuses the traditions and core values of Irish song that has been celebrated through years of powerful music, with popular new age sounds like Enya and Sarah Brightman.The group believes, according to their Web site, that beautiful Celtic music is made more vibrant with the voice of a Celtic Woman. The music from the Celtic Woman show developed from the work of composer David Downes. Downes’ previous work as Riverdance’s music director helped to inspire some of the songs the group sings. He was also responsible for bringing the group together and infusing their talents. Celtic Women consists of five members; four singers and a fiddle player. According to their Web site, critics have sent accolades for the talent these singers possess. Their voices, separate or collective, help audiences find themselves taken to the time when the songs were written. Even with this large success, according to their Web site, they still believe that the best is yet to come. For more information, visit Celtic Woman or Tickets West online. Sophie Sestero, Staff Writer Published: Saturday, May 2, 2009 The Whitworthian Spokane, WA |