Music Workshop: Irish Traditional Music

This day-long workshop gives students with prior experience playing an instrument the opportunity to learn traditional tunes, playing techniques, and cultural context of Irish traditional music. Space is limited.

Skills Acquired:

In this workshop, students will:

1. Learn traditional Irish tunes,

2. Build skills for playing in a traditional style, and

3. Enhance cultural literacy.

Materials:

Students should bring their own instruments (ex. Fiddle, flute, banjo, tin whistle, accordion, concertina, uilleann pipes, mandolin, harp) and should come prepared with blank paper, a pen or pencil, and a recording device. Students should bring a lunch.

Registration Cost:

Limited scholarships are available.

About the Instructor:

Dr. Eliot Grasso is a Tutor in the arts at Gutenberg College, and is known internationally as a performer on uilleann pipes, Irish flute, and tin whistle. He holds a M.A. in ethnomusicology from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Oregon. Eliot has taught and performed Irish traditional music for over twenty years at venues including Glasgow’s International Piping Festival Piping Live!, the William Kennedy International Piping Festival, the Catskills Irish Arts Week (New York), the Chicago Irish Festival, Sean-nós Northwest Festival, Augusta Irish Week, Zoukfest World Music Camp, the Minnesota Irish Music Weekend, the Baltimore Irish Festival, the Chris Langan Tionól (Toronto), the Deutsche Uilleann Pipes Gesellschaft Tionól (Germany). Eliot and his wife, Kate, have three children whom they homeschool in Springfield, Oregon.