Passim Reveals Brian O’Donovan Legacy Fund 2025 Recipients
Each of the six recipients will receive a $2,500 grant to support upcoming tours in New England.
Passim has announced the inaugural recipients of the Brian O’Donovan Legacy Fund. The new artist grant fund, established by Brian O’Donovan’s family, honors the longtime host of GBH’s radio show A Celtic Sojourn for his significant contributions to Passim and the New England Celtic Music community. Each of the six recipients will receive a $2,500 grant to support upcoming tours in New England. Grant recipients include Rakish, Eight Feet Tall, Reverie Road, San Miguel Fraser, Brenda Castles, and Kavaz. More information is available at passim.org.
The recipients were announced Saturday evening at the Boston Celtic Music Festival (BCMFest) Nightcap Finale. Headlined by the Celtic group Dervish, the evening included a special tribute to Brian from his wife Lindsay O’Donovan, and other members of the Celtic community including Rakish, Hanneke Cassel, and more.
“We’re thrilled to continue Brian O’Donovan’s legacy of uplifting artists and celebrating the rich traditions of Celtic music through these grants,” said Abby Altman, Passim Club Manager. “Through this fund, we support artists who continue to share and evolve the music he loved so dearly. We are happy to fund their work and foster opportunities like BCMFest.”
One of the six grants each year will be earmarked to bring an act to perform at BCMFest. This year, North Carolina band Rakish, featuring award-winning fiddle player Maura Shawn Scanlin and acclaimed guitarist Conor Hearn, received the BCMFest grant.
Massachusetts band Eight Feet Tall is made up of instrumentalists Dan Accardi and Armand Aromin and dancers Rebecca McGowan and Jackie O’Riley, who use instruments, shoes, voices, and whole bodies to create complex sonic textures amid vibrant visual interplay.
Reverie Road from Illinois is a Celtic powerhouse ensemble, uniting founding Solas members Winifred Horan (fiddle) and John Williams (accordion) with former Gaelic Storm fiddler Katie Grennan and pianist Utsav Lal. Together, these musicians are celebrated as some of today’s most accomplished traditional and virtuosic folk artists.
San Miguel Fraser from California is redefining folk music with their dynamic fusion of Castilian and Celtic traditions. The duo is made up of fiddlers María San Miguel and Galen Fraser.
Brenda Castles, from Co. Meath has two solo albums,and is a seasoned performer, often appearing with Mick Moloney's Green Fields of America. Beyond music, Brenda has delved into film, producing 'Plight of the Bumble Bee' with her own compositions as a soundtrack.
Canadian band Kavaz is a traditional music trio composed of Isaac Beaudet Lefebvre on violin, Everest Witman on guitar and François-Xavier Dueymes on flutes. The three musicians share a love of Irish music, but each brings with them elements of their native Quebec, Vermont and Brittany.
Brian joined GBH in 1986 to host a weekly radio show: A Celtic Sojourn” — where he explored traditional and contemporary music from around the Celtic world. In the 90’s Brian started “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn,”an annual mix of live music, dancing, and storytelling, where he transported the audience to the Christmases of his childhood in Ireland. The show became a holiday tradition for New Englanders for over 20 years.
Brian’s work in celebrating and raising awareness of Irish music earned him special appreciation from the city of Boston. In 2017, Mayor Marty Walsh declared December 14 Brian O’Donovan Day “in recognition of his contributions to immigrant communities in Greater Boston.”
More information on the Brian O’Donovan Legacy Fund can be found on passim.org.
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