Renowned Irish Musicians Dáithí Sproule and Laura MacKenzie to Give Performance and Workshop at Carleton

Irish guitarist Dáithí Sproule and wind musician Laura MacKenzie will present a guest artist workshop and concert at Carleton College on Friday, April 10. The workshop will be held at 3:30 p.m. and the concert at 7 p.m., both in the Carleton College Concert Hall. Both events are free and open to the pubic, and will be family-friendly.  

The concert will feature a rich combination of traditional Irish and Scottish tunes and a number of Sproule’s original musical compositions. MacKenzie’s flute, bagpipe, whistle and concertina stylings will be highlighted during the performance, backed by Sproule’s innovative guitar accompaniment. Both artists are esteemed vocalists as well, and the event will include traditional singing and lore.

Before the concert, Sproule and MacKenzie will offer a 3:30 p.m. workshop, in which they will perform and discuss a range of their repertoire.  They will share stories, provide practical advice and answer audience questions, drawing on their decades of experience performing and recording traditional Scottish and Irish music.

Guitarist Dáithí Sproule was named “a seminal figure in Irish music” by the Rough Guide to Irish music, a title that should come as no surprise given his deep connections to the genre. His first group was the legendary Skara Brae, a collaboration between Derry-born Sproule and the Dhomhnaill siblings of Kells. He went on to perform with two influential musical trios, Bowhand and Trian, and toured internationally with the Irish super-group Altan. He has provided guitar accompaniment for talents such as Paddy O’Brien, Liz Carroll and Tommy Peoples. Today, in addition to performing and recording, Sproule is a sought-after lecturer on topics ranging from guitar accompaniment to Irish language and literature.

Laura MacKenzie received formal training in Irish music and anthropology, but credits the hundreds of wind musicians in pubs, kitchens and dance halls with whom she has studied or played as her most important “teachers.”  During her long career, MacKenzie has performed with Paddy O'Brien, Laurie Line, Liz Carroll, Martin Hayes and Katie McMahon (of “Riverdance”).  When she was not performing, MacKenzie served as the production assistant for “A Prarie Home Companion” with Garrison Keiler, taught ethnomusicology and worked for a folk-instrument fabrication business. MacKenzie and several of her midwestern colleagues are credited with helping to spur the revival of Irish music and dance in the region, and MacKenzie was recently named a “Master Folk Artist” by the Minnesota State Arts Board.

Sproule and MacKenzie are currently finalists for a 2009 Bush Foundation Performing Arts Fellowship. They are also in the final stages of production on a duo CD with their label, New Folk Records, to be released in the summer of 2009.

The Carleton Concert Hall is located near First and Winona Streets in Northfield. For more information or disability accommodations, contact the music department at (507) 222-4475.