Irish Arts Center presents THE AUCTION PROJECT

Fusing Celtic, jazz and Afro-Latin influences, super group The Auction Project-led by Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer Arturo O'Farrill, and alto saxophonist, flutist and composer David Bixler-create a surprising, richly textured and thoroughly enjoyable sound. Irish Arts Center presents The Auction Project in a special three-night engagement, April 20-22, which explores how a traditional fiddle phrase fits atop a breezy, post-bop groove as this sextet makes history and stakes out uncommon musical territory.

Irish Arts Center has a history of showcasing cutting edge musicians that redefine what it is to be an Irish artist, such as esteemed Irish rockers Joe and Steve Wall of The Stunning, Irish / Sierra Leonean singer-songwriter and theatrical songstress Camille O'Sullivan. But perhaps no other concert this season more perfectly exemplifies the Center's commitment to fostering unique collaborations fusing Irish and other cultures. In their review of the band's last album, Slink, WBGO writes, the album "stakes out uncommon musical territory, a place where Celtic reels merge with gospel and funk, as if it were the most natural thing on earth." In addition to O'Farrill and Bixler, The Auction Project features Grammy Award-winning percussionist Vince Cherico, Grammy-nominated accordionist Victor Prieto, violinist/fiddler Heather Bixler and bassist Carlo De Rosa.

Tickets for the performances start at $26 and are available by visiting www.IrishArtsCenter.org or by calling 866-811-4111. Irish Arts Center is located at 553 West 51st Street.

About Irish Arts Center

Founded in 1972, Irish Arts Center is a New York-based arts and cultural center dedicated to projecting a dynamic image of Ireland and Irish America for the 21st century, building community with artists and audiences of all backgrounds, forging and strengthening cross-cultural partnerships, and preserving the evolving stories and traditions of Irish culture for generations to come. Our multi-disciplinary programming is centered around three core areas: Performance - including live music, dance, theatre, film, literature, and the humanities; Exhibition - including visual arts presentations and cultural exhibitions that tell the evolving Irish story; and Education - with dozens of classes per week in Irish language, history, music, and dance.

Located in New York City, a global capital of arts and culture, Irish Arts Center serves as a dynamic platform for top emerging and established artists. Irish Arts Center is currently developing plans to construct a new facility to serve our multi-disciplinary program and will be the strongest possible gateway for artists to reach into our cultural community and nourish their work, to connect with our partner institutions who help them innovate, and to become visible in the New York City media market which enhances their ability to achieve U.S and further international success.

The New Irish Arts Center will contain a purpose-built, state-of-the-art contemporary performance space for music, dance and theatre seating up to 160; industry-standard back of house and support facilities to allow artists to achieve their vision; a second, intimate performance space - the renovated historic Irish Arts Center theatre - optimized for live music, literature, film, talks, large classes and special events; classrooms and studio space for community education programs in Irish music, dance, language, history, and the humanities, and for master classes and workshops by visiting and resident artists; technology capability to project the Irish Arts Center experience on the digital platform; an avenue-facing café lobby to engage with the neighborhood and provide a social setting for conversation and interaction between artists and audiences; a beautiful new courtyard entrance on 51st Street where the historic Irish Arts Center building and the new facility meet.

Irish Arts Center sponsors include WNYC, Northern Ireland Bureau, Arts Council Northern Ireland, British Arts Council, DCA, and New York Council on the Arts.