Celtic Woman delights Kirby audience

The ladies of Celtic Woman celebrated their 10th anniversary with angelic voices and stellar fiddling Saturday night.

The group performed a selection of Irish songs during the anniversary tour stop at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in Wilkes-Barre.

“Thank you for being here with us on this special evening, as we celebrate Celtic Woman’s 10th anniversary,” singer Susan McFadden said.

Fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt and singers Méav, Máiréad Carlin and McFadden alternated in the spotlight throughout the evening, as well as during well-orchestrated group numbers. The foursome emerged in evening gowns and opened with the rising “The Sky, the Dawn, and the Sun.”

Carlin took the lead on the gentle “Newgrange,” a song about Stonehenge. Nesbitt got the audience clapping along as she fiddled and pranced across the stage to an instrumental number.

McFadden took over for stirring rendition of “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears,” about Irish immigrant Annie Moore, the first to pass through Ellis Island. The group reunited for “Danny Boy,” and had a few concertgoers singing the words along quietly.

Méav and Carlin paired up for the traditional “Sí Do Mhaimeo Í” in Gaelic, and Méav followed it up with the energetic “Dulaman.”

Celtic Woman finished up the first act with a showstopping presentation of “Téir Abhaile Riú,” a song about a young woman trying to flee her responsibilities.

The show was a fitting way to continue the Irish heritage celebration in Northeastern Pennsylvania in the days before St. Patrick’s Day.

By Kristen Gaydos
citizensvoice.com
March 15, 2015