Review: CELTIC WOMAN WITH THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at Kennedy Center

The holiday season is in full swing and this past weekend the holidays got a touch of the Irish as the international singing sensations Celtic Woman graced the stage of Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall with YOUR National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) for an evening of traditional holiday tunes with a sprinkling of Irish classics as well.

Maestro Lloyd Butler and the NSO started things off with a medley of holiday favorites arranged by Brian Byrne appropriately titled “Brian’s Christmas Bottle Opener”. Byrne supplied most of the arrangements and orchestrations for this concert.

The Celtic Woman, made up of Mairead Carlin, Muirgen O’Mahony, Lisa Lambe and Tara McNeill, then took the stage. Dressed in matching flowing green dresses, their first vocal treasure of the evening was “Carol of The Bells”. The evening just went up from there.

Other group vocal highlights included “The Little Drummer Boy”, “Bleak Midwinter/Going Home”, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman”, and my personal favorite “The Christmas Song” aka “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”. The ladies harmonies were incredibly beautiful and always tight.

Tara McNeill’s violin features also added to the evening. Her performance of Lloyd Butler’s composition “December Aire” was a true highlight and was definitely enhanced by John Hunt’s performance on the bagpipes. Her “Silent Night” was also a wonderfully played rendition of a Christmas classic.

Muirgen O’Mahony and Tara McNeill’s performance of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from Meet Me In St. Louis might have been the best performance of the song I’ve ever heard. Between the vocal/violin and orchestra accompaniment, you couldn’t ask for anything better.

On the Irish end of the spectrum, Lisa Lambe’s performance of “Don Oíche Úd i mBeithil” was hauntingly sung to audible perfection.

You can’t have a Celtic Woman concert without “Danny Boy” and the ladies did not disappoint their audience with a stirring rendition of that song.

Maestro Lloyd Butler looked like he was having a ball conducting the NSO playing Leroy Anderson’s classic “Sleigh Ride”. His cueing for the whip snaps in the percussion in particular showed the joy he was having on the podium to be sure.

I also want to give special acknowledgement to uilleann piper extraordinaire Darragh Murphy for his excellent work throughout the concert. The uilleann pipes are a specialty instrument and Murphy is a true master of his craft.

All in all, Celtic Woman with the NSO provided a fun and terrific evening of music and sent the audience out in the right frame of mind to enjoy the holidays.

Running Time: Two hours and ten minutes with one intermission.

Celtic Woman with The National Symphony Orchestra was a three performance engagement on December 13th and 14th, 2024 in Concert Hall at Kennedy Center.

Photo credit: Celtic Woman. Photo courtesy of the artists.

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