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Introduction to Irish Song: The Vocal Tradition

Join Dublin-born singer Melanie O’Reilly for an introduction to the rich and diverse Irish vocal tradition. Irish songs explore many subjects and themes — love and betrayal, everyday life, emigration and historical events. Songs of celebration, laments, lullabies, “lilting” (mouth music), and sean-nós (“old-style”) will all be demonstrated. Students will have the opportunity to sing examples of the Irish tradition, and will be encouraged to sing in Gaelic (to be learned phonetically), and in English. Some songs will be unaccompanied, as in the Irish tradition.

Melanie O’Reilly, a native of Dublin, is an internationally-known Celtic jazz performer/singer, songwriter and music educator from Ireland. She was a multi-award winner of Ireland’s Feis Ceol competitions (vocals) and she is accredited by both the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Goldsmiths College in London. She has recorded six albums for the label Mistletoe Music, and hosts an award-winning radio show “Jazz on the Bay” for RTE, Ireland’s National Broadcasting station. She recently received an award from Foras na Gaeilge, to develop her new celtic jazz project, soon to be released as her new album.

Melanie has extensive experience in teaching the singing of Irish music, as well as in jazz, along with vocal technique and performance. She has taught at the Oakland School of the Arts, the New College of California in San Francisco, and UC Berkeley’s CAL Extension amongst others. She is currently a faculty member of the Starland Music Center Alameda, and has taught Irish song at the Jazzshool Berkeley as part of their World Music program. She was a Visiting Scholar & Musician-in-Residence at UC Berkeley’s Celtic Studies from 2003-2009.

www.melanieoreilly.com

$50 advance purchase/$65 day of the workshop