ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN IRELAND Returns For 2023 Concert Series

Kerry Irish Productions announces the 2023 West Coast tour of Kerry Irish Productions has announced a limited tour for the Saint Patrick's Day holiday.

St. Patrick's Day in Ireland carries on the Irish traditions of celebrating with music and family. Be prepared to be transported back to the Emerald Isle for a truly Irish night of fiddles, bodhrán, pipes, song and dance.

The program features the talented multi-instrumentalists from the Kerry Traditional Band: Ryan McKasson, fiddle; Colin Cotter, guitar; Christa Burch, vocalist; Ann Colliton, bodhrán, and Tim Hill, uilleann pipes all under the direction of producer, Margaret O'Carroll of Kerry Irish Productions.

St. Patrick's Day in Ireland showcases some great Irish songs including: The Wild Rover (often referred to as Ireland's 2nd national anthem), Red is the Rose, Leaving of Limerick and Black Velvet Band, as well as dancers from the Celtic Irish Dance Academy. Download Photos The 2023 Tour schedule: March 10 at 7pm
Elks Theatre, Prescott, AZ

March 11 at 7pm
Clark Center for the Performing Arts, Arroyo Grande, CA

March 12 2pm
Scherr Forum, Thousand Oaks, CA

March 15-16 at 7pm
Harris Center, Folsom, CA

March 17 at 6pm
Historic Yuma Theatre, Yuma, AZ

March 18 at 7pm
Queen Creek Performing Arts Center, Queen Creek, AZ

About the Artists:

Christa Burch (singer and bodhrán player).

Christa first fell in love with Celtic music in the spring of 1988, when a friend handed her a home-made tape which featured Scottish band Silly Wizard down one side and Irish band Skylark down the other. As they say in fiction: "there was no looking back." This love led her to extensive travel through Scotland and Ireland in the late '90s. In pubs and homes, festivals and folk clubs, Christa found a community of like-minded singers and musos, and discovered that Celtic music truly defines the "small world" ethos: nearly everyone she met knew someone she knew back home! In her travels, Christa collected a wide repertoire of songs, and gradually developed her own sound. After the turn of the millennium, hungry for challenge, she began performing. Her debut CD Love of the Land has gathered glowing reviews! "This is a full-voiced, confident woman at the heights of her powers." - Irish American News.

Anna Colliton (bodhrán).

Anna Colliton's distinctively buoyant and imaginative playing has made her one of the leading exponents of the bodhrán, the traditional Irish frame drum. Anna has appeared with Cherish the Ladies, Eileen Ivers, Comas, the Paul McKenna Band, and many others, was a dedicated sub for the Broadway hit musical "Come From Away," and completed a three year residency at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, performing daily at the International Showcase at Epcot Theme Park. Based in New York City, Anna has performed and taught at dozens of festivals across the country, including Catskills Irish Arts Week, The Swannanoa Gathering Celtic Week, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, The Gulf Coast Cruinniú, Augusta Celtic Week, The O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, The St. Louis Tionol, Tune Junkie Weekend, and CCE MAD Week.

Colin Cotter (guitar, vocals).

Colin is a multi-instrumentalist who began fiddling at the age of four as a continuation of his family's tradition in Finnish fiddle music. A few years into his life as a fiddler, he dove into the world of Scottish and Irish fiddle music, never looking back. In addition to being a fine fiddler, he is a self-taught guitarist, mixing influences from around the world to craft a unique rhythmic style that he brings to collaborations with artists from across the musical spectrum.

Colin has toured internationally as a bandleader, guitarist, fiddler, and singer-songwriter in groups such as MAC (featuring Ryan McKasson on fiddle) and A Thousand Years at Sea, and in collaboration with Adrianna Ciccone (2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards Solo Instrumentalist of the Year), Zach Brock (Snarky Puppy), Sumaia Jackson, Mari Black, Neil Pearlman, Galen Fraser, and more. In addition to touring, Colin is a regular faculty member at Alasdair Fraser's Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School and the Mike Block String Camp.

Tim Hill (uilleann pipes, flute, pennywhistle).

One of the up-and-coming uilleann pipers in the US, Tim has been immersed in traditional Irish music since he was a small child. Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, he started playing the uilleann pipes at the age of 11 after receiving a practice set from local flute and piper John Donnelly, who taught him the rudiments of basic piping technique. After learning from John and other local players, Tim began studying with legendary American pipers Jerry O'Sullivan and Tim Britton. Other major influences are Seamus Ennis, Willie Clancy, Patsy Tuohey, Leo Rowsome, Brian McNamara, Gay McKeon, Robbie Hannan, Michael Cooney, and Benedict Koehler. Tim also cites the late Tyrone button accordionist Kevin McGillian and Derry flute player/singer Paddy O'Neill, now living in Philadelphia, as particularly strong influences on his musical upbringing and repertoire. In the summer of 2022, Tim was asked by Na Piobairi Uilleann, the global society of uilleann pipers based in Dublin, to teach and perform in their headquarters as well as at Dublin's legendary music hub The Cobblestone. Additionally, he was a featured performer in the uilleann piping recital at the famed Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare, one of a small number of Americans over the years to have done so. After serving as president of the San Francisco Piper's Club for a number of years, Tim has relocated to Portland, Maine, where he continues to perform regularly on flute and uilleann pipes.

Ryan McKasson (Fiddle). "The bow drives across the strings, thick and throaty, creating a pulsing sound that feels more of muscle than tendon...a compositional sophistication that is cinematic, transporting, and tantalizingly modern", wrote The Boston Globe. Ryan McKasson has gained a reputation as a performer, composer, collaborator, and teacher. In 1996 he was the youngest to win the National Scottish Fiddle Championship. In 1997 he was awarded a Merit Scholarship for Viola Performance from the University of Southern California. During his studies at USC he co-founded the Southern California based contra dance band, Syncopaths with Jeff Spero and Christa Burch, and later joined by Ashley Broder. They have released two albums together, Rough Around The Edges (2005) and Five Gears (2010). After his studies at USC, Ryan co-founded The McKassons, with his sister, Cali McKasson and wife, Brooke McKasson, and her brother, Matt Jerrell. The McKassons released two albums: Tall Tales (2004) and Tripping Maggie (2006). Ryan has also been a member of a baroque/celtic/fusion combo, Ensemble Galilei. He helped co-write First Person: Seeing America, a muli-media stage production that was a collaboration between Ensemble Galilei and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also recorded with Ensemble Galilei on A Change of Worlds (2012) and Surrounded by Angels: A Christmas Celebration With Ensemble Galilei (2013), From Whence We Came (2015), and Flowers Of The Forest (2018). In 2016 Ryan began playing with guitarist and singer Eric McDonald. They recorded Harbour in 2017 and were joined by Jeremiah McLane for that album. In 2019 Ryan, Eric and Jeremiah founded a trio together. They are currently working on a new album together that will be coming out in summer 2020. Ryan has also recorded with Hanneke Cassel on her albums Silver (2006), For Reasons Unseen (2009), and Dot The Dragon's Eye (2013), and also with Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas on their album Highlander's Farewell (2011). He collaborated with Isaac Alderson, Jackie Moran, and Jesse Langon on an album of Irish music called Hole In The Hedge (2017). Ryan has taught at fiddle camps around the US and New Zealand, most notably: Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddling School, Southern Hemisphere International School of Scottish Fiddle, Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Swannanoa Gathering, and Lark In The Morning.

To post a comment, you must register and login.