Toss the Feathers & Connie McKenna play Irish music at the Creative Cauldron
On Friday, February 21st at 7:30, guest vocalist Connie McKenna joins Toss the Feathers (Tina Chancey, renaissance fiddle and viol; and Valerie Loomer, theorbo, early guitar and cittern) in a concert of early Irish music co-sponsored by FSGW and the concert's host, Creative Cauldron, 410 S. Maple Ave, Falls Church, VA. Tickets are $20/$18, available at the door or from:http://www.creativecauldron.org/tossthefeathers_226.html
Toss the Feathers is the duo of Tina Chancey on viol da gamba and renaissance violin, and Valerie Loomer on theorbo, cittern, and renaissance guitar. They play music from a time before folk and classical diverged.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, composers invented a new sort of "chamber music". In addition to ballads and dance tunes, they wrote variations over repeating basses, sonatas, suites, "dompes" and "ports". This inspired fusion of popular and classical music offers modern audiences a repertoire that blends refined taste and sparkling energy, elegance and vibrant enthusiasm, harmonic complexity and rhythmic spontaneity.
Toss the feathers plays this music on instruments that the composers knew : harps, renaissance violin, Irish whistles, theorbo, viola da gamba and renaissance guitar. Many of these tunes are still played by traditional musicians today.
The duo wil be joined by Connie McKenna. She studied Irish Gaelic at University College of Galway in Ireland and sings in sean nos style, and was a lead singer in the group Ceoltoiri.
