Irish Arts Center Announces Spring 2018 Season

Irish Arts Center (IAC), the arts and cultural center dedicated to projecting a dynamic image of Ireland and Irish America for the 21st century, announces its Spring 2018 lineup, featuring a characteristically wide range of theatrical, musical, dance, literary, podcast, interdisciplinary and educational events. The vibrant eclecticism of the season demonstrates Irish Arts Center's approach to Irish culture-one that encompasses a panoply of ideas, approaches and perspectives; encourages innovation; and fosters collaborations between luminaries from diverse backgrounds and artistic practices.

Today IAC also announces a $250,000 grant from the Howard Gilman Foundation-one of New York City's foremost funders of impactful performing arts organizations, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Theater, Brooklyn Academy Of Music, and Park Avenue Armory. The grant supports IAC with financing costs for the New Irish Arts Center, the state-of-the-art permanent home on which the organization plans to break ground in 2018.

Among the IAC Spring 2018 season highlights is the U.S. premiere of RIOT, a theatrical event that is also an evening of spoken word, circus, drag and delectable trash culture, co-presented with NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, February 15-17. Created by THISISPOPBABY, a group that celebrates "glorious outsiders" and forges new contexts and audiences for theatre, RIOTaccesses radical politics within dizzying, dauntlessly queer festivity. It comes Stateside as part of a world tour, after having won Best Production at last year's Dublin Fringe Festival.

IAC celebrates the past, lives in the present, and welcomes the future with their musical programming. IAC's renowned concert series, Masters in Collaboration, which brings together two artists to fuse their musical proclivities, influences and repertoires, welcomes collaborators Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell (February 9-11). The two already have a rich history of working together, and are set to reunite at IAC for a week to develop new music, continuing to pair their knowledge of a variety of musical traditions, from Appalachian to Creole/Cajun to Celtic to gospel sounds. Another example of this history-transcending musicality is "atmos-folk" duo Saint Sister, the group formed in 2014 by Morgan MacIntyre and Gemma Doherty that brings together Celtic harp traditions, 1960s folk and electronic pop. Saint Sister performs at Williamsburg's National Sawdust, in a concert co-presented by IAC, on March 7. An IAC 2017 co-commission, Olagón, a Cantata in Doublespeak, a musical work that looks at contemporary, post-Recession Ireland through a retelling of the myth of Olagóna,bringing together Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon,fiddler Dan Trueman, vocalist Iarla Ó Lionáird and Grammy-winning contemporary music ensemble Eighth Blackbird, will receive its premiere (February 22-24). Fiddler Dana Lyn and guitarist Kyle Sanna celebrate the launch of their third album, The Coral Suite, sharing their "through the looking glass" approach to traditional Irish music in concert on April 13.

From visual art to podcasts, IAC looks in every direction of the arts for work that will expand their fluid vision of Irishness and the robust output of Irish/Irish American artists in the 21st Century. IAC presents two live recordings of Randy Cohen's interview podcast, Person, Place, Thing, which takes as its central idea the notion that people are particularly engaging when they speak not directly about themselves but about something they care about; the schedule for these recordings will be announced on irishartscenter.org. From April 3-June 29, Eoin Francis McCormack's triptych art, exploring painting as a work ethic, fills IAC's gallery.

Literary events abound this season. Kirkus Reviews described Kathleen Hill's recent memoir, She Read to Us in the Late Afternoons: A Life in Novels, as an "eloquent and searching" book exploring "the strange and wondrous resonances between the read and lived while celebrating reading itself as among the most profoundly transformative of human acts"; IAC brings her together with Irish novelist Belinda McKeon (Solace, Tender) to continue, in conversation, to mine the endless impacts of literature on the ways we think and live our lives (May 1). Celebrated poet Greg Delanty reads from his acclaimed new collection Selected Delanty, and is joined in conversation by novelist Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin, TransAtlantic), onApril 11. The Spring 2018 season sees the ecstatic return of Muldoon's Picnic, the cultural extravaganza led by Paul Muldoon, which brings together music, storytelling, poetry and more, and this season features the talents of The Deuce star Maggie Gyllenhaal, A Super Sad True Love Story author Gary Shteyngart, poet Monica Youn, American Irish punk group The Prodigals and many more (February 12, March 12 and April 9).

IAC continues to act as a unique and educational center and community hub through workshops, screenings and events that unite people of all backgrounds in engaging with Irish culture. Key among these events are IAC's St. Patrick's Day festivities, with the St. Pat's for All Benefit Concert, supporting the inclusive St. Pat's for All Parade,on March 2; IAC's annual St. Patrick's Open Day on March 11,welcoming the public to sample a number of classes IAC offers, and celebrating the holiday with authentic music and dance performances, as well as various demonstrations of St. Pat's traditions; and the 8th Annual Irish Arts Center Book Day, on St. Patrick's day (March 17), honoring storytelling as one of the most vital elements of human history, by handing out thousands of books by Irish authors alongside those from the Caribbean. IAC's Irish Language Day (April 8) this year showcases bilingual performances of poetry and song, with Irish language teachers educating participants on the richness of the language and its expression through various art forms. IAC presents screenings Sidney Olcott's 1923 silent film Little Old New York, with live musical accompaniment by pianist Morgan Cooke, presented with IFI Irish Film Archive on April 17, and Autism and Me, a documentary sharing the lives of 6 people living with autism in Ireland, with a talkback with AsIAm founder Adam Harris on Tuesday, June 5. IAC will also offer an array of Master Classes, as well as two terms of 40+ educational offerings in Irish language, music, dance, literature and more for adults and children. Winter term begins January 22, and Spring term begins April 16.

Irish Arts Center SPRING 2018 PROGRAMMING

[THEATER]
Ballyturk
At St. Ann's Warehouse
Written and Directed by Enda Walsh
Presented by St. Ann's Warehouse in Association with Irish Arts Center and piece by piece productions
January 9-28
Tickets from $35

Two men unravel quickly over the course of 90 minutes. Who are they? What room is this, and what might be beyond the walls? Gut-wrenchingly funny and achingly poignant, Ballyturk, which is reminiscent of Walsh's plays The Walworth Farce and Misterman, scratches beneath the surface of rural Ireland. This production from Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival, in association with The Abbey Theatre, is presented by St. Ann's Warehouse, in association with piece by piece productions and Irish Arts Center.

IAC's involvement in the U.S. Premiere of Ballyturk follows its co-presentation of Enda Walsh in NYC, a festival of works by Walsh (Arlington and Rooms), co-presented by IAC and St. Ann's Warehouse, a longtime IAC partner.

[FAMILY / LIVE MUSIC]
Anna and Elizabeth Family Concert: An Imbolc Celebration
February 3 at 2pm
Tickets: $10 General/$8 Members

Old-time duo Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle will join IAC for an intimate candle-lit concert. Anna and Elizabeth bring to life the vibrant world of Appalachia with a variety show featuring their signature crankies-scrolling storyboards inspired by ballads and oral histories, each drawn and crafted to be hand-cranked and unfurled at the pace of a song.

Just in time to celebrate Imbolc, a Celtic traditional festival in February commemorating the turning of the season and the days lengthening, young audiences will set the mood for the show by making their own candles, and take a piece of the evening home with hand-made crankies.

[MASTER CLASSES]
Writing Young Adult Fiction
Tips for Writing and Publishing with Denise Deegan
Sunday, February 4, 2pm-4pm
Tickets: $50 general/$40 members, students, and seniors

Every so often a Young Adult novel comes along that has teenagers (and adults) rushing to bookstores. Think The Fault in Our Stars, or more recently, The Hate U Give. This hands-on workshop will address the particular demands of writing Young Adult fiction. It will cover: finding "The Idea," creating characters that teens will relate to, writing with an authentic teen voice, dialogue, keeping it real, touching the emotions, and understanding the market.

[LIVE MUSIC /TALKS]
Masters in Collaboration XII
Rhiannon Giddens Meets Dirk Powell
February 5-11
Performances: Friday February 9 - Saturday, February 11 at 8pm
Tickets $65 General / $52 Members
Conversation: Wednesday, February 7 at 7pm
FREE; Reservations Encouraged

Rhiannon Giddens is one of the most astonishing talents of the modern era. A co-founder of the Grammy-winning traditional string band Carolina Chocolate Drops and an accomplished solo artist-including the acclaimed recordings Tomorrow is My Turn and most recent Freedom Highway, her immense gifts as a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, dancer, and actor are brilliantly matched by the powerful artistic and social narrative she brings to her work. She is the recipient of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, the only woman and person of color to win the prize in its history, and was recently awarded a 2017 MacArthur Genius Fellowship.

Giddens joins us for our 12th Masters in Collaboration Series with Dirk Powell, one of the most preeminent American traditional musicians of his generation. In addition to his own solo recordings, Powell has recorded and performed with artists such as Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm, Steve Earle, Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, Linda Ronstandt and Jackson Browne. His ability to unite the essence of traditional culture with modern sensibilities has led to film projects with Ang Lee, Anthony Minghella, Spike Lee, Victor Nunez, and Steve James. He was a founding member of the Cajun group Balfa Toujours, has been regularly featured in the BBC's Transatlantic Sessions. Rooted in his Appalachian heritage, with deep bonds to Louisiana and the mountains of Kentucky, he has become a recognized force on the international music scene.

Between them, Giddens and Powell have brought audiences on journeys of intertwining cultures and genres, including African American folk, Scots-Gaelic and Celtic, Creole, and Cajun traditions-in the evolution of American music, bringing people together though the virtuosity and emotion in their playing, and the unifying essence of traditional music. Together, over a weeklong residency, they will explore ideas for a new work in development, culminating in three exclusive showcase performances at week's end for Irish Arts Center audiences.

[LITERATURE / MUSIC]
Muldoon's Picnic
Monday, February 12 at 7:30pm; Monday, March 12 at 7:30pm; Monday, April 9 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $40 ($32 members

The critically acclaimed feast of music, storytelling, poetry, and more-now in its eighth season-has become a staple of New York's cultural diet. Led by Pulitzer Prize-winning Irish poet Paul Muldoon, this words-and-music jamboree features an evolving lineup of world-class special guests from across the spectrum of arts and letters.

The Monday, February 12, iteration features Nollaig Casey (fiddle)and Arty McGlynn (guitar), Ivan Goff (uilleann pipes), actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, Irish Times columnist, literary editor, and drama critic Fintan O'Toole and author John Vanderslice.

The Monday, March 12, event features The Lost Brothers (Mark McCausland and Oisin Leech), scholar and writer Lucy McDiarmid, singer-songwriter Pierce Turner and poet Monica Youn.

The Monday, April 9, event features poet Sophie Cabot Black, singer-songwriter Andy Fitzpatrick, journalist and cultural critic Virginia Heffernan, The Prodigals (Gregory Grene, Eamon Ellams, Eamon O'Tuama, and Ed Kollar) and author Gary Shteyngart.

[THEATER]
RIOT
at NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts
Created and Directed by Jennifer Jennings and Phillip McMahon
February 15-17
Tickets: $50 / $15 for NYU students

RIOT is the award-winning Irish theatrical extravaganza that mixes high art and trash culture in a blend of dance, drag, circus, comedy and powerful spoken word. RIOT, featuring Panti Bliss, Ireland's Queen of Drag, Up & Over It (former Riverdance leads); and Megan Riordan, (Once - The Musical) is both party and politic, a love letter of hope to the future, a divine celebration-and a blunt criticism-of the world today. At last year's Dublin Fringe Festival, The Irish Times deemed it "easily the most exhilarating spectacle on the Fringe, [folding] social consciousness into entertainments both flashy and trashy."

The production hails from THISISPOPBABY, a company of self-described "theatre makers, club creatives and good time gurls" that lands somewhere between pop culture, counter culture, queer culture and high art. Founded in 2007, the Dublin-based company has played to sell-out crowds and critical acclaim throughout Ireland and around the world, and created Ireland's Queer Notions Arts Festival. Its productions have played to over 100,000 people around Ireland, the UK, Australia and beyond, winning five major theater awards, including Best Production at the 2016 Dublin Fringe Festival, and nominations for 14 more.

[LIVE MUSIC]
Olagón, a Cantata in Doublespeak
Text by Paul Muldoon
Music by Dan Trueman, in collaboration with Iarla Ó Lionáird
February 22-24 at 8pm
Tickets: $15 general/$5 students

The four-time Grammy award-winning contemporary music ensemble Eighth Blackbird (Nathalie Joachim, flutes; Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinets; Yvonne Lam, violin and viola; Nicholas Photinos, cello; Matthew Duvall, percussion; Lisa Kaplan, piano and bitKlavier)collaborates with composer and fiddler Dan Trueman, vocalist Iarla Ó Lionáird of the contemporary Irish supergroup The Gloaming, and Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon for three special performances of new work co-commissioned by lead commissioner Poetry Foundation with Irish Arts Center, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts: ArtWorks, and the University of Richmond.

A modern retelling of an ancient Irish epic, Olago?n depicts the legendary Irish tale Táin Bó Cúailnge as a story of hardship in contemporary, post-recession Ireland while honoring traditional music of Ireland, Norway, and America. Muldoon's text, written in both English and Irish, is sung in the sean-nós style by Ó Lionáird.

[LIVE MUSIC]
St. Pat's for All Benefit Concert
Friday, March 2, 6pm-10pm
Tickets: through StPatsForAll.org

Irish Arts Center hosts the 19th 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 4. 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.

[LIVE MUSIC]
Saint Sister
Presented by Irish Art Center and National Sawdust
At National Sawdust (80 North 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249)
Wednesday, March 7 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: Prices TBA

Named "Best Irish Band" by The Irish Times, Saint Sister is the collective moniker of atmos-folk duo Gemma Doherty and Morgan McIntyre. Fusing a unique blend of electronica, Celtic harp and soulful vocal harmonies, the duo have been touring extensively since their first EP was released in 2015-turning heads at SXSW, on tour with Lisa Hannigan, in concert at Dublin's National Concert Hall, and more. Revealing Saint Sisters' "strong, resonant, magnetic sound" (The Irish Times), this concert is the group's New York debut.

[LITERATURE]
Families, Histories, Novels: A Talk by Peter Behrens
Presented Glucksman Ireland House NYU in association with Irish Arts Center
Thursday, March 8 at 7:30pm
at Glucksman Ireland House NYU
Tickets: Suggested donation at the door $15

Peter Behrens' first novel, The Law of Dreams, won the Governor General's Literary Award, Canada's oldest and most prestigious book prize, and is published in nine languages. The New York Times Book Review called his second novel, The O'Briens, "a major achievement," and Megan O'Grady, writing in Vogue, called Carry Me, his latest novel, "another meditation on history and destiny...that make[s] the past feel stunningly close at hand." Carry Me recently won The Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literature.

[LIVE MUSIC/DANCE]
Annual St. Patrick's Open Day
Sunday, March 11, 12pm-4pm
FREE
at Irish Arts Center and PAL William J. Duncan Center

Spring forward and engage in a free day of Irish arts and culture for all. The whole family can enjoy authentic music and dance performances while sampling some of the 40+ adult and children's classes on offer throughout the season. Visitors of all ages can learn the basics of Irish language or a new dance step, get their face painted, create art with children's crafts, or simply relax with a cup of tea and experience a taste of Ireland's rich culture.

[COMEDY]
Sundays at Seven
March 11, April 8 at 7pm
Tickets: $12 general / $10 members
Free for Friend / Young Patron ($125) members and higher
at Irish Arts Center

Sundays at Seven, an ever-changing comedy show, features New York City's funniest comic minds from Comedy Central, Gotham Comedy Club, The Late Show, Conan and more. Set in IAC's Donaghy Theatre, this is a comedy show like no other. The lineups for these two events, curated by Fiona Walsh and Ann Design, will be announced at irishartscenter.org.

[LITERATURE]
8th Annual Irish Arts Center Book Day
Saturday, March 17
7am, until books run out
FREE

For the past seven years, Irish Arts Center staff and volunteers have taken to the streets in all five boroughs of NYC to distribute more than 50,000 books to New Yorkers of all backgrounds. This St. Patrick's Day, the organization again celebrates the global power of storytelling by handing out free books by Irish and Irish American authors, alongside writers from the Caribbean Islands, at over 15 locations. Come be a part of an inspiring day celebrating one of Ireland's greatest traditions: its stories! IAC will announce where free books are being distributed on Twitter and Facebook (#IACBookDay).

[LITERATURE & CONVERSATION]
Person, Place, Thing
Two dates this spring, to be announced at irishartscenter.org
Hosted by Randy Cohen

Humorist and five-time Emmy Award-winner Randy Cohen joins IAC to host his live podcast, an interview show based on this idea: people are particularly engaging when they speak not directly about themselves, but about something they care about. Guests talk about one person, one place, and one thing that are important to them. The result? Surprising stories from great talkers.

Guests are drawn from a range of New York life including politicians, artists, thinkers, and academics. Past guests have included Paul Shaffer, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Maya Lin, Laurie Anderson, Andy Borowitz, A.O. Scott, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Julianne Moore. Line-up to be announced at irishartscenter.org.

[MASTER CLASSES]
Introduction to Hard Shoe Dance Technique
with Betty Sheehan
Saturday, March 31, 2pm-5pm
Tickets: $60 general/$50 members, students, and seniors

This three-hour workshop will cover all the basics of Irish solo dancing in hard shoes from the ground up. Students will learn how to make percussive sounds with proper form in both jig and hornpipe timing. The focus of the class will be connecting movement and rhythm, and understanding how the dancer becomes musician. This class is most suitable for those who have taken a beginner level step dance class and is meant as a bridge into more intermediate level dancing. By the end of the class, students will put the pieces together into traditional choreography and learn several steps.

[MUSIC]
Martin Hayes - In Residence

One of the world's greatest exponents of musical virtuosity and aesthetic emotion, Martin Hayes returns to Irish Arts Center for a weeklong residency with a range of special guests. Dates and details to be announced.

[VISUAL ART]
Eoin Francis McCormack
April 3-June 29, Monday-Friday, 10 AM-6 PM
Gallery hours by appointment
Please call 212-757-3318
Artist Talk & Reception
Tuesday, April 3 | 6 PM
FREE | Reservations Encouraged
at Irish Arts Center

Acclaimed artist Eoin Francis McCormack is one of the most exciting contemporary artists in Dublin right now. Working with large scale canvases, limited color palettes, and often bringing in found objects to create multimedia paintings, his defining pieces are vibrant and eye-catching. With the viewer in mind, McCormack explores painting as a work ethic-mixing his own paint, fabricating his own tools, and stressing the routine and physical labor aspects of working as an artist. Sure to make an impression, this exhibition will feature McCormack's triptych art and highlight his unmistakable and individual style.

[LIVE MUSIC]
Mick Moloney and Athena Tergis: In Residence
Thursday, April 5, Friday, April 6 and Saturday April 7 at 8pm
Tickets: $40 general / $32 members

Longtime collaborators and pillars of the Irish Arts Center artistic family Mick Moloney and Athena Tergis return to IAC's intimate theatre for a special weekend of performances as a duo, with guests, culminating in a special performance to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Green Fields of America.

For over fifteen years, Moloney and Tergis have stood together at the forefront of traditional Irish music. Moloney has been awarded the National Heritage Award, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, and the TG4 Outstanding Contribution Award, and combines the careers of professional musician, folklorist, musicologist, teacher, and arts presenter. Acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic, Tergis is a frequent soloist with the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra and has written and performed with Riverdance-composer Bill Whelan. As a duo, these masters embody a unique chemistry-a collaboration transcending tradition and uplifting audiences in Ireland, Scotland, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cuba, and throughout the USA.

[EDUCATION]
Féile na Gaeilge / Irish Language Day
Sunday, April 8, 12:30pm-5:30pm
Tickets: $35 general / $28 members

A full day of activities for language enthusiasts, including immersive workshops in music, film, writing, drama, and storytelling led by IAC's Irish language teachers and special guests. The day will center on this year's theme, Poetry and Song, featuring bilingual performances and sean-nós songs.

[LITERATURE]
Greg Delanty with Column McCann
Wednesday, April 11 at 7:30 PM
Tickets: $12 general / $10 members
Free for Friend / Young Patron ($125) members and higher
at Irish Arts Center

The widely published and internationally celebrated poet Greg Delanty joins IAC audiences for a reading from his newest collection, Selected Delanty. Delanty's words evoke his transatlantic experiences living in the U.S. and in Ireland and speak with vitality of the "simultaneous going and comings of life" (Selected Delanty). Often described as a poet who is re-making language, Delanty's vast collections of poems and wide regard establish him as one of the leading poets writing today. After the reading, Delanty will be joined in conversation with Colum McCann.

[LIVE MUSIC]
Dana Lyn and Kyle Sanna: The Coral Suite
Friday, April 13 at 8pm
Tickets: $30 general / $24 members

Bringing to life the fragile ecosystem of a coral reef, fiddler Dana Lyn and guitarist Kyle Sanna use light boxes, projections, and the vocabulary of Irish melody in inventive arrangements to create an audiovisual poem in a vivid, impressionistic, and riveting performance. "Deep musical work full of lavish, evocative textures."-The Irish Echo

[FILM]
Little Old New York
Presented by Irish Arts Center and IFI Irish Film Archive
Tuesday, April 17 at 7:30 PM
Tickets: $15 general / $12 members
Free for Friend / Young Patron ($125) members and higher

IFI Irish Film Archive brings a cine-concert of Sidney Olcott's 1923 silent film, Little Old New York, to IAC with live musical accompaniment by pianist Morgan Cooke, one of Ireland's foremost live-soundtrack improvisers.

An invaluable addition to the catalogue of films made for and about the Irish emigrant population, Little Old New York is a delightful comedy about a young Irish girl (Marion Davies) who comes to America disguised as a boy in order to claim a fortune left to her late brother. Directed by Sidney Olcott (formerly of Kalem Films, 1910-1915) and lavishly produced by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst (with whom Davies was romantically involved), the film was a huge box office success.

[LITERATURE & CONVERSATION]
Pen, Paper, and Palate
at the Half King
Presented in Association with Ruda Beresford Dauphin
Wednesday, April 18 at 7pm
Tickets: $10 general / $8 members
Free for Friend / Young Patron ($125) members and higher

The second chapter of this engrossing literary salon features a panel of writers who have spent their careers researching and documenting the lives of some of the most important people of our time. Panelists include Patrick Hunt (Hannibal) and Gareth Russell (Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII).

[LIVE MUSIC]
Tobin's Run on 51
A Jazz Series Curated by Christine Tobin and Phil Robson

The award-winning Irish vocalist, songwriter, and composer Christine Tobin and acclaimed jazz guitarist Phil Robson return with Tobin's Run on 51 for a third season, bringing together some of New York's best Irish and international musicians to play sets and share stories about jazz music's greatest artists and treasures.

Presented with the support of the Howard Gilman Foundation.

Fine and Mellow
Billie and Ella, Side by Side
Thursday, April 19 at 8 PM
Tickets: $24 general / $20 members

Christine Tobin, a devotee of Billie Holiday, and charismatic jazz vocalist Roseanna Vitro, a longtime fan of Ella Fitzgerald, will pay tribute to these mothers of jazz by singing a special selection from their repertoire. Vitro will be accompanied by pianist and longtime musical partner, Mark Soskin along with other fine guest musicians, including Peter Brendler on double bass and David Mason on drums. The concert will include rare film footage and interviews.

Lullaby of Birdland
Bird, Bebop, and 52nd Street
Thursday, May 31 at 8pm
Tickets: $24 general / $20 members

Tobin, Robson, and special guests bring to life the jazz scene around 52nd Street during the 1940s and 50s-focusing on the influence of jazz saxophonist, composer, and the father of bebop, Charlie Parker.

IAC is honored to welcome the legendary jazz singer Sheila Jordan, who Charlie Parker called the "singer with the million dollar ears," with bassist Mark Lewandowski, and drummer Charles Goold.

[KIDS & FAMILY]
Saturday Morning Cartoons
Bold Girls and Rebel Women
Saturday, April 21, 11am-1pm
Tickets: $5 per person / $15 per group of 4 / FREE for Junior Joyce & Family Circle Members

There will be free pancakes for kids and mimosas for parents and caregivers in the Donaghy Theatre, where IAC will present some of the most popular and entertaining feature films, cartoons and shorts Ireland has to offer. To honor the centennial of women's suffrage in Ireland, this edition of Saturday Morning Cartoons will feature selections with strong female characters and crafts inspired by suffragettes. Before the screening, attendees can check out new books including Bold Girls from Children's Books Ireland and Rebel Girls' new edition of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

[LITERATURE]
The Read Life, The Lived Life: On Reading and A Writer's Inspiration
Author Kathleen Hill in Conversation with Belinda McKeon
Tuesday, May 1 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $12 general / $10 members
Free for Friend / Young Patron ($125) members and higher

Into the life of the author, a novel appears, as if by chance, and changes everything. Inspired by Kathleen Hill's new memoir She Read to Us in the Late Afternoons: A Life in Novels, this event will find Hill and others TBA in discussion with Belinda McKeon about their relationship with the written word, how reading permeates ideas, and the books they wrote about their own inspirations. From a writer whose novel Still Waters in Niger was named a New York Times Notable Book and a best book of the year by The Los Angeles Times, She Read to Us in the Late Afternoons is both a wide-ranging autobiographical journey and a deeply felt appreciation of literature and its power to reflect our immediate reality and open windows onto vast new worlds. Exploring these defining moments, Hill's memoir will be a jumping off point for a thought-provoking evening celebrating these notable authors and how their lives have been illuminated by novels.

[LIVE MUSIC]
Open the Door for Three
May 3 & 4 at 8pm
Tickets: $24 general/$20 members

Fiddler Liz Knowles, uilleann piper Kieran O'Hare, and singer/bouzouki player Pat Broaders return to Irish Arts Center to celebrate their newly released album, The Joyful Hour.

Veterans and mainstays of the Irish music scene around the world, these artists have played with Riverdance, Cherish the Ladies, the New York Pops, Bonnie Raitt, Josh Groban, and at venues including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Their sound is the culmination of years on the road and their music is comprised of unearthed tunes from the archives, new arrangements of acclaimed songs, homages to the musicians and bands they grew up listening to, and an unmatched energy that comes from a trio of good friends playing great music together.

[DANCE]
17th Annual Irish Arts Center NYC Irish Dance Festival
Curated by Niall O'Leary
Sunday, May 6, 1pm-6pm
at Riverside Park South, Pier I
FREE

IAC returns to Riverside Park South to kick off the Summer-on-the-Hudson series and celebrate all aspects of Irish dance and culture. Audiences will enjoy a day filled with free performances from top Irish dance companies, and can learn the differences between sean-nós, céilí, and step dance with opportunities for all to join in. Performers will include festival favorites Donny Golden Dancers, Niall O'Leary Dance Troupe, Darrah Carr Dance, Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance, plus special guests. With music and Irish language lessons, children's crafts, face-painting and more, this is an event for the whole family to enjoy.

[LIVE MUSIC/DANCE]
Maeve Gilchrist and Nic Gariess
Friday, May 11 at 8pm
Tickets: $24 general/$20 members

Percussive dancer Nic Gareiss (This is How we Fly) and harpist Maeve Gilchrist bring their original infusion of music and dance to the stage for an enthralling performance. Both sharing a deep respect for traditional music and culture while drawing on contemporary elements of music, movement, rhythm and improvisation, Gareiss and Gilchrist have emerged from the vibrant new acoustic scene as innovators in their fields. The percussion and drive of Gareiss' footwork, combined with Gilchrist's melodic and improvisational sensibilities, make for an explosive duet that delights both the ears and the eyes.

[LITERATURE]
Between the Lines: Introduction to Tramp Press
Meet Ireland's indie publishers and the important voices they're bringing to the world
Sunday, May 20 at 3pm and 5pm
Tickets: $12 general / $10 members
Recovered Voices: Maeve Kelly and Dorothy Macardle

The award-winning Dublin independent publisher Tramp Press, founded by Sarah Davis-Goff and Lisa Coen in 2014, is publishing some of Ireland's best and brightest new voices, like acclaimed authors Mike McCormack and Sarah Baume, while reintroducing some of Ireland's marginalized writers through their Recovered Voices series. New contexts can revive old plays; why can't we do the same with books?

Once a year, Tramp Press reprint an Irish work that has been lost to the ages, in an effort to champion neglected, forgotten, and muted voices. This event focuses on two Recovered Voices authors: Maeve Kelly, whose Orange Horses is a ferocious and witty collection of stories detailing the multilayered lives of Irish women rarely brought to the surface, and Dorothy Macardle, whose The Uninvited and The Unforeseen are masterful, bone chilling novels of the supernatural.

Maeve Higgins-author, comedian, and columnist-and Sam Underwood (Fear the Walking Dead, Fundamental Theatre Company) will read. Caroline Heafey will join Davis-Goff and Coen to discuss why these brilliant voices belong back in the canon, and how Tramp Press recovers them.

"Tramp Press has dared to think outside the box...a new voice, and indeed a new breed of Irish novel has been launched aloft." -The Guardian

[LIVE MUSIC]
SongLives
A Series Curated by Grammy Award-winner Susan McKeown

SongLives showcases Ireland and North America's most exciting contemporary singer-songwriters, bringing the rich tradition of busking on Dublin's Grafton Street to the comforts of IAC's Donaghy Theatre.

The Murphy Beds and Abby Ahmad
Wednesday, May 23 at 8pm
Tickets: Price TBA

The acclaimed folk duo Jefferson Hamer (guitar, vocals) and Eamon O'Leary (bouzouki, vocals) of The Murphy Beds return to the IAC stage with traditional and original ballads showcasing their tight harmonies and deft instrumental arrangements. Opening for The Murphy Beds is New York-based folk rock/blues/alternative singer-songwriter Abby Ahmad.

Heather Maloney and David Keenan
Friday, June 8 at 8pm
Tickets: Price TBA

Massachusetts-based folk and indie rock singer-songwriter Heather Maloney has been likened to Joni Mitchell and Lucinda Williams. She performs at SongLives with Irish singer-songwriter David Keenan, fast becoming one of Ireland's most talked about young artists.

[CONVERSATION + FILM]
Autism and Me: An Evening with AsIAm's Adam Harris
Conversation and Film Screening
Tuesday, June 5 at 7:30pm
Tickets: Price TBA

The young Irish social entrepreneur Adam Harris was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at five years old. Drawing on his experiences, he founded AsIAm, an organization that supports people with autism and educates institutions and the general public to become more sensitive about the condition. Through media appearances, awareness-building events, and the recent RTÉ documentary Autism and Me, Adam has launched a national conversation in Ireland.

Now, Adam brings that conversation to New York, with a special screening of the 2017 film (52 min, directed by Liam McGrath) and a moving and inspiring discussion of autism, stigma, and the important work AsIAm is doing with the support of organizations like the Ireland Funds and Social Entrepreneurs Ireland.

[LIVE MUSIC]
Bloomsday on Broadway xxVII
Presented by Symphony Space in Collaboration with Irish Arts Center
Saturday, June 16 at 7pm
At Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
Tickets: $27 and up, $22 and up for Symphony Space members, $16 and up for people 30 & under with Valid I.D.

IAC continues its 40th anniversary celebration of Symphony Space with a return to the essential source of Bloomsday in an evening dedicated to the brilliance of Ulysses. From the stately plump entrance of Buck Mulligan to the "yes I said yes I will Yes" of Molly Bloom, IAC and Symphony Space present a whirlwind tour through the first 17 episodes and wrap up with a chorus of Mollys led by Kirsten Vangsness (Criminal Minds). The evening features music inspired by one of the most important works of modernist history, and an after-party in Bar O'Thalia!

ABOUT Irish Arts Center

Irish Arts Center, founded in 1972 and based in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, is a national and international home for artists and audiences of all backgrounds who share a passion for the evolving arts and culture of contemporary Ireland and Irish America. We present, develop, promote, tour, and distribute work from established and emerging artists and cultural practitioners, providing audiences with emotionally and intellectually transporting experiences-the results of innovation, collaboration, and the authentic celebration of our common humanity.

Steeped in grassroots traditions, with a commitment to inclusion that dates back to our founding, we provide education programs and access to the arts for people of all ages and ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, and an international home for the Irish community to come together and engage with a dynamic global diaspora.

In Spring 2018, we will break ground on a landmark new permanent home, including a state of the art contemporary, flexible performance and arts space for the presentation and development of work across a range of disciplines; a second, intimate performance space-the renovated historic Irish Arts Center theatre-optimized for the most intimate live music and conversation, recordings, master classes and special events; classrooms and studio spaces for community education programs in Irish music, dance, language, history, and the humanities; technology to stream and distribute the Irish Arts Center experience on the digital platform; a spacious and vibrant avenue-facing café lobby that will be a hospitable hub for conversation and interaction between artists and audiences; and a beautiful new courtyard entrance on 51st Street where the historic Irish Arts Center building and the new facility meet.

ABOUT THE HOWARD GILMAN FOUNDATION

Howard Gilman was the third generation of his family to run the Gilman Paper Company, the largest privately-owned paper and building products company in the country. Howard's interests, however, went well beyond those of paper. In 1981, he created the Howard Gilman Foundation to support the medical, social, educational, environmental, and artistic causes that he held most dear.

Howard's impact on the arts, in particular, was stunning. From helping to fund the very first Next Wave Festival at BAM, to turning part of his Florida estate into studio space Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris, to supporting museums like MoMA and the Met, Howard embodied his belief that artists must be nurtured and their work must be made available and accessible to all.

Upon Howard's passing in 1998, his legacy was entrusted to the Foundation, and his work was given a future. In 2014, under the guidance of new executive leadership and a dedicated Board of Trustees, the Foundation renewed its pledge to Mr. Gilman's legendary vision. Today, the Foundation honors Mr. Gilman's memory by supporting three of his most beloved disciplines-dance, music, and theatre-and dedicates its efforts to organizations that are based in his birthplace and hometown: New York City.

For more information, please contact Blake Zidell, Ron Gaskill or Rachael Shearer atBlake Zidell & Associates, 718.643.9052, blake@blakezidell.com, ron@blakezidell.com or rachael@blakezidell.com.

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