Irish Arts Center Announces Spring 2019 Season

Irish Arts Center (IAC), a multidisciplinary center dedicated to bringing people of all backgrounds together through the excellence and dynamism of Irish arts and culture, announces its Spring 2019 season a cross-section of the exhilarating theater, music, dance, literature, art, and genre-defying performance coming from Ireland and Irish America, alongside educational events engaging participants with an array of rich traditions. With performances as wide-ranging as Margaret McAuliffe's acclaimed one-woman play The Humours of Bandon, Declan O'Rourke's epic song cycle Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine, and Paul Muldoon's performance adaptation of a 1773 Irish poem, IAC provides an intimate home for artists' boldest visions. As construction on IAC's landmark permanent new home in Hell's Kitchen takes place just beyond the organization's original location, IAC's vast ambition and accomplishment will be on full display, outside and in, throughout Spring 2019.

IAC's Spring 2019 theatrical programming encompasses the astonishing artistry of performers, writers, and directors displayed through array of genres and forms. This Spring season, IAC teams with internationally-acclaimed, Olivier Award-winning Irish theatre company Fishamble as two of their productions promise to make an impression on New York audiences. On January 8, Fishamble's On Blueberry Hill, written by current Laureate of Irish Fiction Sebastian Barry and directed by Jim Culleton, opened at 59E59 Theatres, in performances presented in affiliation with Irish Arts Center. (The production runs through February 3). Few people can spin a world out of words in quite the way that Barry does, writes The Irish Times, which also praises performances by Niall Buggy and David Ganly (playing characters who've been cellmates for two decades) as achievements that ought to be shouted from the rooftops. From April 10-14, IAC will present the company's production of Margaret McAuliffe's The Humours of Bandon (directed by Stefanie Preissner) in the Center's own intimate theater. Performed solo by McAuliffe (embodying all of her play's characters at various points in time), this wonderful one-woman show (The Stage) centers around an ambitious teenage Irish dancer, and the grueling preparations she's undertaken, in her young life, to achieve. From April 16-18, IAC will present three touring performances of the play.

Two other performances one an unclassifiable revitalization of a 1773 poem, the other a workshop reading of play set in a 274-year-old hospital resurrect timelessly resonant elements of Ireland's past. On February 22 and 23, audiences can see Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon turning poetry into interdisciplinary performance with The Lament for Art O'Leary. The poet activates a new translation of the eponymous 1773 poem by Eileen O'Leary alongside legendary actor Lisa Dwan and performer and musician Ruth Smith, with original music composed and performed by members of Horslips. On March 4, a free workshop reading of Honor Molloy's play Round Room, directed by Kira Simring, will give voice to a variety of women characters who've passed through Dublin's Rotunda Hospital, the world's oldest continuously-running maternity hospital, founded in 1745.

From January through June, IAC will brim with eclectic, soul-stirring music encapsulating the spectacular range of styles and traditions inherent to IAC's panoramic vision of Irish and Irish American culture and the result of their intersections with cultures around the world. On February 2, multi-instrumentalist Inni-K will give two different performances: in the afternoon, a family concert celebrating the ancient Celtic festival Imbolc (with stories told visually by multimedia artist Gregory Corbino), and in the evening, a concert showcasing music from her debut album The King Has Two Horse's Ears, a vivid fusion of genre blending rhythms and sounds...born out of a rural, tactile take on the indie-folk genre (The Last Mixed Tape), as well as her upcoming sophomore release. Acclaimed Singer-Songwriter and RTE Radio One Award Winner Declan O'Rourke willreturn to IAC February 7-10 for performances of Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine an empathic portrait of the forgotten, and a vivid musical evocation of Ireland through the incomprehensible hardship of the Great Famine. Building on the success of IAC's 2017 multi-city presentation of An Evening with Cassandra Wilson and Liam Maonla , IAC will bring this engagement to five other locations throughout the U.S., further expanding its scope to bring exemplary Irish work beyond New York to communities across the country.

On February 28, IAC will give its platform to the astonishing talent of 24-year-old singer-songwriter David Keenan, who will launch his debut album, Evidence of Living, at the Center. From May 9-10, Irish singer, actor, and songwriter Lisa Lambe (of Celtic Women) will make an exhilarating return to IAC for performances of work from her second solo album, out in May. In Fall 2018, for IAC's A Spirit of Ireland Groundbreaking Gala, genre-bending ArtSoul musician Loah, internationally acclaimed raga and jazz piano prodigy Ustav Lal, and acclaimed solo artist and The Frames founding member Colm Mac Con Iomaire came together in a transcendent performance. They will continue to explore the possibilities of their collaboration in 2019 in residence at IAC (May 27-June 1), which will culminate in three performances (May 30-June 1).

The organization's Spring 2019 music programming also features beloved musical series and IAC traditions such as Christine Tobin and Phil Robson's jazz series Tobin's Run on 51 (April 18, paying homage the music of living legend Wayne Shorter); the 7th Annual Celtic Appalachian Celebration (presented in partnership with Carnegie Hall, March 15) hosted by renowned musician-folklorist Mick Moloney; and Paul Muldoon's monthly words and music variety show Muldoon's Picnic (February 11 March 11, and April 8).

Through the years, IAC has showcased choreographers who innovate and reinvent as well as those who relish and rekindle tradition not to mention many who manage to do both. This Spring, IAC joins forces with 92Y to present New Dance Ireland: Choreographers of Nowness, demonstrating the breadth of perspectives and embodied approaches to contemporaneity and tradition from Irish and Irish American choreographers, including Darrah Carr, Se n Curran, Oona Doherty, Aoife McAtamney, Mary Nunan, Liv O'Donoghue, Liam Scanl inn, Dylan Quinn, John Scott, and Mufutau Yusuf (performances April 26-27, with a talk April 25).

From a plunge into 1990s American politics and the dawn of the partisan tribalism we see today, to a study of Irish culture and identity through the lens of complex relationships between three fathers and their literarily revered sons, to the debut novel of one of Ireland's most promising fresh voices in fiction, IAC's Spring 2019 season builds on the organization's celebration of rigorous literature and nuanced discussion. On March 6, White House columnist and associate editor of The Hill Niall Stanage will moderate a conversation with journalist and MSNBC Host & Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki, one of the most perceptive political analysts on cable TV (The Guardian). His new book The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism has been hailed as a lively and fulfilling (The New York Times) as it looks to the 1990s and particularly figures like Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich to mine the origins of the polarization in American politics throughout the 2000s and 2010s. On April 2, poet Vona Groarke will talk with celebrated Brooklyn author Colm T ibin about his latest book, the nonfiction Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know, anevocative, engaging portrait not only of 'three prodigal fathers' [of Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, and James Joyce]...but of Dublin in the 19th and early 20th centuries (The New York Times). Joyce's legacy and import will further be elicited with the festive Bloomsday on Broadway xxVIII (June 6), presented with Symphony Space and, for the 38th year, bringing actors, authors, and musicians together in celebration of James Joyce's Ulysses. While IAC revels in the excellence of Ireland's literary past, its showcasing of notable new releases keeps its eye trained on the future: in addition to the discussions with To b n and Kornacki on their latest works, on June 4, Helen Cullen will read from and discuss her enchanting (The Irish Times) debut novel The Lost Letters of William Woolf.

IAC actively seeks to enrich the next generation of curious, creative minds through programming specifically for kids and families. The organization's bountiful literary options this Spring extend to kids with the fourth annual R R Children's Festival of Literature (June 2), where kids can come to discover and engage with new books and their creators. Another IAC tradition for kids and families, Saturday Morning Cartoons, will continue this season with a meeting in Dewitt Clinton Park to observe the neighborhood birds returning home after Winter, followed by creative activities, a medley of animated shorts, and plenty of pancakes (and mimosas for parents).

IAC shares literature, performance, art, and its community-nurturing spirit with the public in a number of free events for all ages throughout the season. Returning, beloved IAC St. Patrick's Day traditions include the annual Annual St. Patrick's Open Day (March 10), where families can partake in a variety of activities in IAC's intimate home, and Book Day (March 15), for which IAC gives away thousands of free books across all of New York's boroughs (IAC also hosts the 20th anniversary St. Pat's for All Benefit Concert, March 1,supporting the inclusive St. Pat's for All Parade). The IAC Book Club a free, welcoming environment fostering literary discussion for everyone, even those who haven't finished the book will meet March 26 and May 1.IAC will kick off of the 18th Annual NYC Irish Dance Festival on May 5 with a day of activities and performances, featuring Donny Golden Dancers, Niall O'Leary Dance Troupe, Darrah Carr Dance, and Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance.

A series of master classes throughout Spring 2019 will impart key elements of the vital Irish artistry and culture displayed in IAC's walls to those with the desire to learn. This season's master classes include Harmony Singing Workshop with Inni-K(February 3), C pla Focail: Irish for Public Speaking with Bl thnaid O'Donoghue (March 2), the second edition of Intercultural Connections, Dr. Mick Moloney's lecture series exploring the contributions of Irish artists in a global context (March 27), and Traditional Irish Singing with vocalist and educator Cl r N Arg in (June 15). IAC will also offer a full day of immersion in Irish language on with the F ile na Gaeilge / Irish Language Day, themed around Ireland's relationships with the waters that surround it (April 7).

Connected to Irish Language Day, IAC (in association with the Irish Film Institute) will screen The Camino Voyage: An Epic 2,500 km Modern Day Celtic Odyssey (April 7), an inspiring tale of hardship and immense work laced with the euphoria of people doing something unimaginable in today's modern world (Film Ireland). IAC will likewise team with Irish Film Institute for a screening of and conversation on Lomax in Eirinn, a documentary charting the impact of Alan Lomax's recording and preservation of Irish musical traditions (April 5).

Celebrating expression in all its varieties, IAC also delves into the world of comedy with Fiona Walsh and Ann Design's series Sundays at Seven (March 24, May 19), as well as podcasting, with another live recording of four-time Emmy Award-winner Randy Cohen's Person, Place, Thing (May 7). The host will be joined by Carl Krebs, a partner at Davis Brody Bond, the architectural firm behind the National September 11 Memorial Museum (as well as the New Irish Arts Center). Through the first half of the season (January 11-April 7), IAC will display visual artist Dannielle Tegeder's exhibit Drawing Room, Field Guide to Experimental Irish Literature responding to the words of Irish poets through abstract drawing in its gallery. From April 17-June 15, Mairead McCormack's exhibit of works on linen, Formidable Parallels (the second of three exhibitions at Irish Arts Center with a focus on textile art) will fill the gallery.

See below for a full list and descriptions of Irish Arts Center's Fall 2018 season.

Irish Arts Center FALL 2018 PROGRAMMING

[THEATRE]

On Blueberry Hill
Fishamble: The New Play Company
An Official Selection of Origin's 1st Irish Festival
In Association with Irish Arts Center

By Sebastian Barry
Directed by Jim Culleton
January 8-February 3
$35

At 59E59 Theatres
59 E 59th Street
New York, NY 10022

It's hard to find a word that captures it adequately. 'Superb' will have to do. Irish Times

Following its world premiere at Dublin Theatre Festival 2017, Olivier Award-winning Fishamble (Charolais; Little Thing, Big Thing; The Pride of Parnell Street; Pat Kinevane's Forgotten, Silent, and Underneath) brings Sebastian Barry's critically-acclaimed production of On Blueberry Hill to New York. Featuring Niall Buggy and David Ganly as best of friends and worst of enemies, Christy and PJ, this new play is bursting with humanity as it explores murder, forgiveness, survival, and ultimately, love in the prison of the human heart.

[VISUAL ART]

Dannielle Tegeder: Drawing Room, The Field Guide to Experimental Irish Literature
January 11-April 7
Monday Friday | 10 AM 6 PM
Teas on Tuesday, February 5, 6pm 7:30pm, Saturday, March 2, 4:30pm 6pm
Closing Reception Tuesday, April 2, 6pm-7:30pm

Using sheets of archival paper printed with select pieces by Irish poets, native New Yorker Dannielle Tegeder creates abstract drawings in response to their words in this cross-disciplinary exhibition. The public will have an opportunity to engage with Tegeder and her work in two interactive teas that will feature an artist-led discussion and creative exercise.

A native of Peekskill, NY, Brooklyn-based artist Dannielle Tegeder received a BFA from the State University of New York at Purchase and an MFA in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. For the past 15 years, her work paintings and drawings, plus large-scale wall drawings, sculptural objects, and animation has explored abstraction and the legacy of modernism, and has been exhibited in more than 100 national and international gallery exhibitions. She has held teaching positions at Cornell University and SUNY Purchase, and is currently an associate professor of art at the City University of New York at Lehman College.

Through a grandmother who immigrated to New York from Country Kerry, Tegeder recently became an Irish citizen.

[MUSIC]

Inni-K Family Concert: an Imbolc Celebration
Saturday, February 2, 2pm-4pm
$10 general / $8 members

The beguiling Inni-K performs a candlelit concert for audiences of all ages to celebrate Imbolc the ancient Celtic festival honoring the coming of the spring equinox with multimedia artist Gregory Corbino bringing the afternoon's suantra (lullabyes) and spirited tunes to life through captivating visual stories. Hot chocolate, candle-making, and song-inspired craft stations await the audience after the show for an all-kids-on-deck ending to IAC's turn-of-the-season f te.

[MUSIC]

Inni-K
Saturday, February 2 at 8pm
$20 general / $16 members

An impressive collection of effervescent folk pop with big slabs of smile-inducing tracks. Irish Times

More than just indie-folk: be ready to dive into her mysterious world. RTE

Dublin-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Inni-K (Eithne N Chath in) entrances Irish Arts Center audiences with the meticulous vocals, percussion, and musicianship from her exquisite debut album, The King Has Two Horse's Ears, and brand new material from her highly anticipated sophomore collection slated for release on March 1, 2019.

Recognized for her work in the band R with Liam Maonla , Cormac Begley, Maiti Casaide and Peter O'Toole, this concert marks the indie-folk artist's first major New York appearance.

[MASTER CLASS]

Harmony Singing Workshop with Inni-K
Sunday, February 3, 2pm-4pm
$40 general / $32 members

Participants will experience the simple yet immense pleasure of harmonizing with others in this fun, uplifting workshop that teaches multi-part harmony arrangements through practice on three songs: one traditional Irish, one of Inni-K's own, and a surprise pop tune. Open to all skill levels.

[MUSIC]

Declan O'Rourke
Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine
February 7-10, 7:30pm
$60 general / $48 members

O'Rourke mines the darkest corners...of the Irish famine with a sensitivity that animates a raft of highly personal stories. The Irish Times

Compassion, romance, a sense of mortality and a sense of history run through the songs of Declan O'Rourke...His calling is as a balladeer, proffering reassurance in the face of inevitable sorrow. The New York Times

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Declan O'Rourke returns to Irish Arts Center with a powerful live performance of his epic song cycle Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine, leading an eight-piece ensemble of top folk, traditional, and classical musicians, including John Sheahan of the Dubliners (fiddle), Dermot Byrne of Altan (accordion), Caitr ona Frost of Celtic Woman (drums, percussion), Cillian Vallely of L nasa (whistles, pipes), Floriane Blancke (harp, backing vocals), Rob Calder (bass guitar), Chris Herzberger (fiddle), and Jack Maher (banjo, second guitar).

Winner of a 2018 RTE Radio One Folk Award and inspired by O'Rourke's own family history, Chronicles is an empathic portrait of the forgotten and a vivid musical evocation of Ireland through the incomprehensible hardship of the Great Famine.

Irish Arts Center will also present a multi-city tour of Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine, with stops in Chicago, Kansas City, Lancaster, PA, Elkin and Asheville, NC, and Hamden, CT.

[WORDS & MUSIC]

Muldoon's Picnic
Hosted by Paul Muldoon
With House Band Rogue Oliphant
Monday, February 11 at 7:30pm; Monday, March 11 at 7:30pm, Monday April 8 at 7:30pm
$45 general / $36 members

The critically-acclaimed variety show, now in its ninth season, features a mixum-gatherum of music, prose fiction, poetry, high commentary, and low comedy. Based on the late 19th century New York show of the same name, Muldoon's Picnic includes songs written by Paul Muldoon and performed by the house band Rogue Oliphant.

The Monday, February 11 event will feature poet and literary critic Stephanie Burt; novelist, literary critic, and singer/composer Amit Chaudhuri; Naughty Clouds (Alexis Moon vocals, guitar; Ray Kubian vocals, drums); and singer-songwriter and author Wesley Stace. The Monday, March 11 event will feature journalist and author Stuart Bailie; playwright Jez Butterworth; actor Laura Donnelly; poet Sharon Olds; and singer-songwriter and member of Northern Irish band Ash Tim Wheeler. The Monday, April 8 event will feature poet, playwright, and novelist Simon Armitage; author Mary Cregan; author James Shapiro; and musician and songwriter Duke Special.

[MUSIC & THEATRE]

The Lament for Art O'Leary
Translated by Paul Muldoon
Music by Jim Lockhart
Friday, February 22 at 8pm; Saturday, February 23 at 2pm & 8pm
$32 general / $26 members

Featuring Lisa Dwan, Paul Muldoon, Ruth Smith
With Jim Lockhart, Barry Devlin, Johnny Fean, and Ray Fean of Horslips

This poem presents a picture of Irish society every bit as devilishly complex as we all know it to be. Paul Muldoon

Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Muldoon presents his new translation of the greatest love poem written in the Irish language, in an extraordinary, genre-defying performance featuring Muldoon and acclaimed actors Lisa Dwan (The Beckett Trilogy, London, BAM) and Ruth Smith (Once the musical, Dublin), with original music performed live by members of the legendary Irish rock band Horslips.

Composed in 1773 by O'Leary's widow, Eileen, Caioneadh Airt Ui Laoghaire ( The Lament for Art O'Leary ) tells the story of a young cavalryman's persecution and murder by a tyrannical landowner.

[MUSIC]

David Keenan: Evidence of Living
Album Launch
Thursday, February 28 at 8pm
$28 general / $22 members

[His voice] stopped me dead in my tracks. Hozier

Music fans all over the world [are] sitting up and taking notice of Keenan. Irish Independent

Fresh from his astonishing turn at the legendary Other Voices festival in Dingle, broadcast on RTE, and special appearances with Hothouse Flowers, Hozier, Glen Hansard, and Damien Dempsey, 24-year-old singer-songwriter and star in the making David Keenan returns to Irish Arts Center to launch his debut album, Evidence of Living.

[NEIGHBORHOOD & COMMUNITY]

St. Pat's For All Benefit Concert
Friday, March 1, at 7pm (6pm reception)

St. Pat's for All has a vibrant and joyful spirit of its own, and is enthusiastically supported by the local community. Huffington Post

Irish Arts Center hosts the 20th anniversary St. Pat's for All Benefit Concert supporting the inclusive St. Pat's for All Parade, which takes place in Sunnyside/Woodside on Sunday, March 3. Led by Ireland's 2016 Presidential Distinguished Award recipients Kathleen Walsh D'Arcy and Brendan Fay, the parade and concert celebrate the openness and diversity of the Irish and Irish American communities of New York.

[MASTER CLASS]

C pla Focail: Irish for Public Speaking
With Bl thnaid O'Donoghue
Saturday, March 2, 1pm-3pm
$26 general / $21 members

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, this introductory Irish language workshop is perfect for anyone who might want to give a toast, cheer, or short speech on Ireland's national holiday.

[THEATRE]

Round Room
Written by Honor Molly
Workshop Reading Directed by Kira Simring
March 4, 6:30pm
FREE

Playwright and author Honor Molloy (Crackskull Row, Smarty Girl) presents a reading of her latest play. With stories as timeless as Ireland's oldest sacred sites, Round Room takes place in Dublin's Rotunda Maternity Hospital, a way station for handywomen and harlots, a fishmonger, lamp tender, and airline hostess. Those eternally present, those forever-dead. All caught in the great sweep of time.

Directed by Kira Simring, artistic director of Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre, this reading is the next step in the play's developmental process. Round Room was written and developed during the cell's 2018 Residency Program.

[LITERATURE & CONVERSATION]

Movements: A Conversation with Steve Kornacki
Moderated by Niall Stanage
Wednesday, March 6, 7:30pm
$40 general / $32 members

Steve Kornacki, host and national political correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC and author of The Red and the Blue, a new book charting the political sea changes of the '90s, sits down with Niall Stanage, White House columnist and associate editor of The Hill, for an unflinching look at America's political trajectory from the Clinton era to today.

IAC's Movements series features conversations with important global voices, bringing a wider public context to the organization's cultural programming. Past guests include former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, Senator George Mitchell, and Archbishop of New York Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

[NEIGHBORHOOD & COMMUNITY]

Annual St. Patrick's Open Day
In partnership with William J. Duncan Police Athletic Center
Sunday, March 10, 12-4pm
FREE

At Irish Arts Center
And Pal William J Duncan Center
552 W 52nd St
New York, NY 10019

Irish Arts Center's annual extravaganza...an Irish favorite for kids and parents. Time Out New York

At IAC's 19th annual free open house showcasing Ireland's rich culture, visitors of all ages can join in a c il , have their faces painted, do arts and crafts, learn words as Gaeilge, try a traditional Irish instrument like the tin whistle or bodhr n or simply grab a seat and delight in the day's live music and dance performances. Activities include soda bread-making demonstrations and the U.S. premiere of Cartoon Saloon, Focus Films, and TG4's C l an T series of animated shorts celebrating the Irish song.

[NEIGHBORHOOD & COMMUNITY]

Book Day
Friday, March 15, 8am (until the books run out)
Free

Each St. Patrick's Day, IAC gives away thousands of free books by Irish and Irish American authors as well as those of other cultures, including in recent years Mexican (2016) and Caribbean (2017). This year, alongside titles by writers of Irish heritage IAC shares stories by Asian and Asian American authors in a celebration of our different and kindred voices on this special day for the global Irish community.

Free books will be given out on March 15 at a dozen Book Day pop-up stations across all five boroughs, where there will be fiction, nonfiction, children's books, poetry, and books in translation to choose from. Those interested can find their nearest location on irishartscenter.org, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@irishartscenter).

[MUSIC]

7th Annual Celtic Appalachian Celebration
In partnership with Carnegie Hall
Friday, March 15 at 8pm

Premium orchestra: $65
Rear orchestra: $50 general / $40 members
Balcony: $40 general / $32 members / $25 students and seniors

At Symphony Space
2537 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

Featuring
Mick Moloney
Athena Tergis
and the Green Fields of America
Billy McComiskey, button accordion
Liz Hanley, fiddle and vocals
Brendan Dolan, piano and flute
Niall O'Leary, dance

with special guests
The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters
Dennis Hall, band leader and guitarist
Eddie Bond, fiddle and vocals
Caroline Noel Beverley, mandolin and vocals
Bonnie Bond, bass and vocals
Josh Ellis, banjo and vocals

and Little Nora Brown, banjo
Stephanie Coleman, fiddle
Jerron Blind Boy Paxton, banjo, harmonica, and vocals

Hosted by renowned musician-folklorist Mick Moloney, IAC's 7th annual Celtic Appalachian Celebration returns to Symphony Space as part of the citywide Migrations series presented by Carnegie Hall. This rousing concert of traditional, old- time, and American folk music explores the shared lineage of Irish, West African, and Appalachian traditions, with performances by the Green Fields of America, New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters featuring 2018 NEA National Heritage fellow Eddie Bond, Jerron Blind Boy Paxton, and special guests.

[COMEDY]

Sundays at Seven
Curated by Fiona Walsh and Ann Design
March 24, May 19, 7pm

An evening with some of New York's most exciting comedians, this long-standing series hosted by Fiona Walsh and Ann Design features fresh lineups each show. Past performers include Charles McBee (NY Comedy Club), Patty Rosborough (The Daily Show), Jon Fisch (Late Show with David Letterman), Chris Monty (Orange is the New Black), Moody McCarthy (Jimmy Kimmel Live!), Rena Zager (Gotham Comedy Club), and many more.

[LITERATURE & CONVERSATION]

IAC Book Club
Tuesday, March 26; Wednesday, May 1 at 6:30pm
Free (reservations encouraged)

IAC Book Club is a casual gathering of literature enthusiasts that meets in IAC's gallery for craic, snacks, and discussions about books, with occasional appearances from the authors themselves. Everyone is welcome to the club, whether or not they've finished the book. This season, the IAC Book Club will read Anna Burns' Man Booker Prize-winning Milkman and Mary Cregan's fearless memoir, The Scar (Cregan will join the book club on May 1). IAC Book Club discussions are led by Rachael Gilkey, Director of Programming and Education.

[MASTER CLASS]

Intercultural Connections Series with Mick Moloney: If it Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews
Wednesday, March 27, 7pm-9pm
$20 general / $16 members

Taking its title and inspiration from a 1912 song composed by William Jerome (real name: William Flannery) and Jean Schwartz, If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews is an entertaining and insightful examination of cross-pollination in a bygone era of U.S. cultural history: when vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley flourished with the fertile contributions of Irish and Jewish songwriters, theatrical producers, and music publishers. The stories of former Broadway luminaries and a trove of archival film footage populate Dr. Moloney's richly illustrated talk about the nimble wit, socioeconomic observation, exuberant rhythms, melodic charm, and sentimental appeal that defined this under-appreciated chapter of our musical heritage.

This is the second edition of Intercultural Connections, Dr. Mick Moloney's lecture series exploring the contributions of Irish artists in a global context.

[LITERATURE]

Colm T ib n
In Conversation with Vona Groarke
Tuesday, April 2 at 8:00pm
$40 general / $32 members

The three-time Man Booker finalist and celebrated author of Brooklyn discusses his new non-fiction work with Cullman Center fellow Vona Groarke moderating. Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know is an illuminating study of Irish culture, history, and literature told through the lives and work of three men William Wilde, John Butler Yeats, and John Stanislaus Joyce and the complicated, influential relationships they had with their equally complicated sons.

[FILM]

Lomax in Eirinn
Film Screening Presented in Association with Irish Film Institute
Followed by Conversation with Iarla Lion ird
Friday, April 5 at 7:30pm
$15 general/$12 members

In 1951, the legendary musicologist Alan Lomax came to Ireland as the first stop on a mission to preserve the traditional music of the world. His travels up and down the west coast recording the songs of its people produced Ireland, the seminal album that helped ignite the trad revival of the 1970s and whose influence carries to this day.

Through breathtaking archival footage and interviews with contemporary artists, and featuring exclusive performances by Steve Earle, Clannad, Nell N Chr in n and Slow Moving Clouds, Lomax in Eirinn uncovers the story of how an American song-collector made an indelible mark on Irish cultural history, and forever changed the way Ireland was perceived across the globe.

A conversation with Iarla Lion ird, sean-n s singer and member of the Gloaming, and Pegi Vail, co-director of NYU's Center for Media, Culture, and History, will follow the screening.

[EDUCATION & LANGUAGE]

F ile na Gaeilge / Irish Language Day
An Fharraige/The Sea
Sunday, April 7, 12:30-6:30pm
$50 general / $40 members / $25 students

This full-day immersion for Irish speakers of all levels features music, film, writing, and storytelling workshops exploring Ireland's relationship with the waters that surround it. Attendees will hear stories of sirens and selkies in the language in which they were originally told, sing sea shanties and ballads, watch a cooking demo of a classic Irish seafood dish, and take in an award-winning film, all while practicing their conversation skills with IAC's diverse and welcoming Gaeilge community.

Admission to F ile na Gaeilge 2019 includes a ticket to the evening's showing of the documentary The Camino Voyage: An Epic 2,500 km Modern Day Celtic Odyssey.

[FILM]

The Camino Voyage: An Epic 2,500 km Modern Day Celtic Odyssey
Presented in Association with the Irish Film Institute
Sunday, April 7 at 5pm
$12 general / $10 members
Admission to The Camino Voyage is included with tickets to F ile na Gaeilge

Inspired by the great sea voyages of early Irish history and mythology, an Irish writer, two musicians, an artist, and a stonemason set out on an audacious journey of their own the 2,500 km from Ireland to Northern Spain, in a traditional Irish boat they built themselves.

Featuring Danny Sheehy (Domhnall Mac S thigh), Glen Hansard, Brendan Begley (Breannd n Beaglaoich), Liam Holden, and Breand n Moriarty (Breannd n Ph id Muircheartaigh).

[THEATRE]

The Humours of Bandon
A Fishamble Production Presented by Irish Arts Center
Written and performed by Margaret McAuliffe
Directed by Stefanie Preissner

At Irish Arts Center
April 10-14
Wednesday Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm
$40 general / $32 members

Terrific one woman show... All round, a champion turn. The Irish Times

From the confines of every parochial hall in Ireland, Irish dancing champions are churned out at a massive rate. Medals and cups build up in drawing rooms and Riverdance swells a national pride. But the public aren't privy to the blood, sweat and tears that pave the way to the first place podium.

Meet Dubliner Annie on the eve of the biggest competition of her teenage life, as she charts us through the various peaks and troughs of her Irish dancing career. Will she win the title and, if so, in what way?

The Humours of Bandon is a spirited coming-of-age story full of heart, laughter and pathos, for anyone who's had a childhood passion that threatened to consume their life.

After its one-week limited engagement at Irish Arts Center, regional touring performances will take place at New York Irish Center (Tuesday, April 16 at 2pm), Irish American Society of Nassau, Queens (Wednesday, April 17 at 7:30pm), and Whitneyville Cultural Commons in Hamden, CT (Thursday, April 18 at 8pm).

[VISUAL ART]

Mairead McCormack: Formidable Parallels
April 17-June 15
Artist Talk and Reception Thursday, April 18 at 6pm
Gallery hours by appointment
Monday Friday, 10 AM 6 PM

Artist Mairead McCormack's work on Irish linen born from a fascination with her native Northern Ireland's legacy of textile manufacturing examines the interplay between the machine-made and the handmade, and the archival and the contemporary. Using embroidery, darning, collaging, printing, drawn-threading and digital design, McCormack manipulates her linen canvases with materials like colored fibers, dyes, and found documents including paperwork from the storied Old Bleach Linen Company in Randalstown, Co. Antrim.

Mairead McCormack was a featured artist at Northern Ireland's first-ever Linen Biennale in 2018. She has been awarded a 2019 residency in India by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, where she will study the traditions of natural dying and printing.

Formidable Parallels is the second of three exhibitions at Irish Arts Center with a focus on textile art. The first, Dublin-based Bernie Leahy's Why Are We, was exhibited in fall of 2018.

[MUSIC]

Tobin's Run on 51: Night Dreamer
Jazz Series Curated by Christine Tobin and Phil Robson
Thursday, April 18 at 7:30 pm
$24 general / $20 members

IAC's next installment of the wonderful Tobin's Run on 51 pays homage to the music of living legend Wayne Shorter, one of the most influential composers and saxophonists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Shorter's seminal body of work from the Miles Davis Quintet, early recordings with Art Blakey, and Weather Report's groundbreaking fusion, to collaborations with Herbie Hancock, Joni Mitchell, and prominent Brazilian musicians like Milton Nascimento has earned him 10 Grammy Awards and a formidab