A show for the Christmas Season w/MAGGIE SANSONE, DOMINICK MURRAY, LAURA BYRNE EGAN, JIM EAGAN, & MATTHEW BEll December 21, 2007

Tickets $20.00. Doors open at 7:00 pm
Info: 410-521-9099
"Maggie's Music has been a driving force behind the popularity of chamber folk, which combines the intricate harmonies of classical music with the energy and spirit of traditional Celtic music." ~ Washington Post. An Independent record label and music company and eight-time Record Label WAMMIE winner (Washington Area Music Association) it now celebrates over one million recordings sold. It features twelve recording artists and fifty-five recordings, and is distributed worldwide; with an extensive on-line catalog of recordings, music books, gift items and special collections for schools and libraries. (www.maggiesmusic.com)
Maggie Sansone (hammered dulcimer): America’s premier hammered dulcimer player, the percussive melodious sounds of her wooden mallets dancing across seventy five wire strings bring a special beauty to her music. Maggie has been featured on CBS-TV Sunday Morning, and NPR’s All Things Considered, Performance Today, The Thistle & Shamrock. Recent awards include the ANNIE award for Performing Arts (Anne Arundel Country Cultural Arts Foundation) and the WAMMIE award Celtic Instrumentalist (Washington Area Music Association). Well known for her productions of Celtic and Christmas shows, Maggie has authored eight music books for Mel Bay Publications and included in their 2000 Hammered Dulcimer Anthology of the top hammered dulcimer players in the USA. Maggie is founder and CEO of Maggie’s Music record label based in Shady Side, Maryland, which distributes over fifty recordings worldwide. The label has received eight "Record Label of the Year" WAMMIE awards and praised by Fiona Ritchie, host of NPR's The Thistle & Shamrock who said, “Maggie's Music is a gathering place of much inspired and Celtic rooted music in the USA.” (www.maggiesansone.com)
Dominick Murray (vocals, guitar): Irish-American musician and singer Dominick has been one of the most influential figures on the Irish music scene in the Baltimore/Washington. Born in Detroit into a large Irish family Dominick grew up with a strong connection to Irish music, nurtured by parents from Ireland--his father, an immigrant from County Sligo and his mother, whose parents hailed from the North. The rich musical traditions of Gurteen, his father’s hometown in Sligo---and, incredibly, the place that gave the world such legends of Irish music as Michael Coleman, Martin Wynne, Fred Finn, Peter Horan, and Seamus Tansey---continue to shape and influence his own music. For ten years, Dominick was both lead singer and rhythm guitarist with the traditional band Celtic Thunder, on whose INDIE-Award-winning album, “The Light of Other Days,” (Green Linnet) he is prominently featured. His driving rhythm guitar and harmony vocals can also be heard on the recordings of Chris Norman and Ken Kolodner (Helicon) and Grace Griffith. He performs often with Grace Griffith and Dave Abe in their band Irish Fire. As solid as the affection for the rhythm of the dance music is his love for the stories in the songs. Dominick's vast repertoire extends from songs of emigration he learned as a child from his father's recordings, to others learned during visits to his family's home in Ireland, and, finally, to the highly acclaimed songs he has composed. (www.irishfire.com)
Laura Byrne Egan (Irish flute and pennywhistle): Laura is one of a handful of musicians to successfully cross over to Irish music from another discipline. A native of Vermont, Laura began studying the flute at age nine. She received a Bachelor of Music in flute performance from Peabody Conservatory of Music in 1995 and it was there that she first played a wooden flute as a member of the Peabody Baroque Ensemble. Soon after, she started playing Irish music and in 1999, was the winner of the U.S. Eastern Fleadh Championship. Laura has taught at the Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, NY. She has performed at festivals across the United States and Ireland. She performs frequently with legendary accordion player, Billy McComiskey, Irish singer/ guitarist Pat Egan, pianist Donna Long, member of Cherish the Ladies, fiddler Jim Eagan and with Maggie Sansone for her Celtic Christmas concerts. Laura founded and directs the Baltimore Irish Arts Center. (www.laurabyrne.com)
Jim Eagan (fiddle): “His fingers dance across the neck while his right hand gently holds the bow, allowing it to go where it needs, always creating the right effects. The maturity in his playing belies his age.” ~ Jamie O’Brien, The Irish Edition. Born in Northeast Baltimore in 1979, studied with many of the great Irish fiddlers of our time. Jim has traveled and played in Ireland where he took third place in the “All Ireland” music competition in 1996. Jim toured with the “John Whelan Band” for four years, traveling throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe and Ireland and recorded with John Whelan on two CD’s, “Come to Dance” and “Celtic Fire.” Jim released his first solo recording, titled “At Reavy's House” and is honored to be one of the members of the Irish Band O’Malley’s March. (www.jimeagan.com)
Matthew Bell (percussion): Matthew is a percussionist known for his versatility and sensitive accompaniment style. He has performed and/or recorded with many luminaries in the Celtic Music Scene and played at the Kennedy Center and the White House and appeared on Good Morning America and the Kennedy Center Honors. In 1988, Matt was the youngest member of the Rockville High School Pipe Band, and was Drummer for the City of Washington Pipe for 11 years. He won Champion Supreme in every individual solo grade within the Eastern U.S. Pipe Band Association and was upgraded to the Professional Snare category in 1997. The Band and the Drum Corps were North American Champions 2002. He joined Scottish Fiddler Bonnie Rideout on her trio and Scottish Christmas tours and appears on the live concert DVD “A Scottish Christmas,” featuring Bonnie Rideout. He is now Snare Drum Instrumentalist with the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps of the United States Army.
(www.Matthewbellmusic.com)

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