Passim Launches Brian O'Donovan Legacy Fund

Passim and the O'Donovan family have established a new artist grant fund to honor Brian O'Donovan, the longtime host of GBH's radio show “A Celtic Sojourn,” for his many contributions to Passim and to the New England Celtic Music community. The Brian O'Donovan Legacy Fund will award six grants of $2,500 annually to Celtic acts planning upcoming tours in New England.

Applications are being accepted now to August 11th at passim.org. 

“Live music was what simply filled Brian's soul! His favorite saying at every concert that he introduced was “Live music is where it's at”! ,” says Lindsay O'Donovan, Brian O'Donovan's wife. “It was his life-blood, along with lifting up,encouraging, and mentoring artists just getting started or touring the US for the first time. It gave him great joy to be able to take any part in propelling a musician's career, and in that sense, his legacy surely lives on in this grant.”

Brian was born and raised in Clonakilty, West Cork, in a family of 9. He received his BA degree from University College Cork in 1978 before heading to England. He then journeyed to Boston and earned his MA from Emerson College where he got his initial start in radio as the host of Music of the British Isles and Ireland. In 1986 he joined GBH 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. In 2005, he launched the “St. Patrick's Day Celtic Sojourn,” which introduced a wide range of new and familiar musicians, and explored the impact of Irish traditional music, song, and dance around the world.

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.”

Requirements for the grant:

• Grants are $2500 each, with 6 grants given each year. One grant each year is earmarked for bringing an act to Passim's Boston Celtic Music Festival.

• Acts must be within the broader Celtic traditions, including but not limited to Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, Quebecois, and Galician. Trad, contemporary, and fusion styles of Celtic genres are all welcome.

• Proposed projects should be for funding live shows and tours. This is in honor of Brian's love of building community through gathering to experience live music together.

• Shows and tours should be based in (or include dates in) New England.

• This must be for a future tour, not reimbursing costs from a past tour.

More information on the grant can be found on passim.org.