P.O. Box 92398
Rochester, NY 14692
www.goldenlink.org
Media contact (not for publication): Dave Townsend, (585) 467-8690
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2024
Golden Link presents an evening of holiday music with Rochester’s Christmas Céilidh Band
Rochester, NY – Céilidh (pronounced “KAY-ley”) is the Gaelic word for a social gathering where traditional music, dancing, and storytelling abound. Rochester’s Christmas Céilidh Band (CCB) has been delighting holiday audiences since 2001 with their varied program of traditional and contemporary Celtic music and song. They will perform a concert for the Golden Link Folk Singing Society on Friday, December 6, 2024, at 7:30 pm at Greece Baptist Church, 1320 Long Pond Road, Rochester.
The Christmas Céilidh Band – featuring Kevin Angus, Ben Ford, Pat Carey, Cathy McGrath, and Paul Gluchowski – creates an energetic, jovial, and festive atmosphere fitting for the holiday season with their combination of smallpipes, Irish flute, whistles, bagpipes, guitar, mandolin, Celtic bouzouki, cittern, cello, fiddle, percussion, and multi-voice harmonies.
Christmas, New Year’s, Hogmanay, Winter Solstice, Yule, and St. Andrew’s Day are celebrated in music and song along with winter’s journey through the Celtic nations of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany, Galicia, Isle of Man, and Cornwall. Audience participation is an integral factor of CCB’s performance and attendees are invited to join in the singing.
Online ticket sales end at midnight on December 5.
General Admission: $20 ($22 at the door)
Golden Link Members: $15 ($17 at the door)
Students: $10
Children under 12: $5
See below for a calendar listing of this and other upcoming concerts.
Phone or email interviews with the performer(s) can be arranged.
Photos of the performers are available at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_wnU3-4eJhUJ3pkjFscIKC4JpKX2ykUN?usp=sharing
Founded in 1971, the Golden Link Folk Singing Society is dedicated to presenting, promoting, and preserving folk music in the Rochester area. Golden Link is a volunteer-operated and member-supported 501(c)3 not-for-profit arts, cultural, and educational organization.
CALENDAR LISTINGS
Christmas Céilidh Band
Friday, December 6, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester, NY 14626
Céilidh (pronounced “KAY-ley”) is the Gaelic word for a social gathering where traditional music, dancing, and storytelling abound. Featuring Kevin Angus, Pat Carey, Paul Gluchowski, Cathy McGrath, and Ben Ford, Rochester’s Christmas Céilidh Band has been delighting audiences for more than 20 years with their take on the holiday seasons. Christmas, New Year’s, Hogmanay, Winter Solstice, Yule, and St. Andrew’s Day are celebrated in music and song along with winter’s journey through the Celtic nations of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany, Galicia, Isle of Man, and Cornwall.
Tickets: General Admission: $20 ($22 at the door), Golden Link Members: $15 ($17 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
New Voices Showcase: Levi Gangi / Kelly Izzo Shapiro
Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester, NY 14626
For this year’s "New Voices" Showcase, we will be featuring two local musicians who are new to our monthly concert series.
Levi Gangi plays a vast catalog of original folk and Americana music, as well as covers in the vein of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, and Ryan Adams. He grew up playing piano and guitar and has an enduring love for the magic and the sweat of songwriting. His songs engage listeners with boot-stomping rhythms and lilting, faraway melodies.
A dedicated songwriter who studied at the music conservatory at SUNY Purchase, Kelly Izzo Shapiro has a sound that has been compared to Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, and Sarah McLachlan. She is a Woody Guthrie Songwriting Contest winner and has written more than 4,000 songs and two musicals. She is one of the producers of the annual showcase of songwriting talent called "If All of Rochester Wrote the Same Song." For this concert, she will be accompanied by her husband, guitarist Mike Shapiro.
Tickets: General Admission: $20 ($22 at the door), Golden Link Members: $15 ($17 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
Home Remedy (Rosie Newton & Lydia Garrison)
Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester, NY 14626
Home Remedy features original songs by Lydia Garrison written on fiddle, banjo, and guitar, paired with Rosie Newton’s emotive and powerful singing and playing on fiddle, accordion, and guitar. They both come from the old-time music tradition, which means they know how to put their heads down and get in the groove with fast and rocking fiddle and banjo tunes. You may know Rosie from Ritchie & Rosie (with Richie Stearns) or Rose and the Bros and Lydia from The Darling Clementines or The TurtleDuhks – with two members of the Juno Award-winning Canadian band The Duhks.
Tickets: General Admission: $20 ($22 at the door), Golden Link Members: $15 ($17 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
Joe Newberry & April Verch
Friday, March 21, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester, NY 14626
Joe Newberry and April Verch showcase tunes, ballads, step dancing, and original songs by way of the Ozarks and Canada’s Ottawa Valley, respectively. With beautiful harmony singing, breathtaking instrumentals, and exquisite dancing, these two singular musicians hit the stage in perfect rhythm, making audiences remember why this music existed in the first place.
Verch (fiddle, vocals, step dance) is best known for two decades of international touring with The April Verch Band and a 2020 JUNO Award Nominee. Newberry (guitar, banjo, vocals) is an award-winning songwriter known for his work with mandolin icon Mike Compton, as well as The Transatlantic Sessions and A Prairie Home Companion.
Tickets: General Admission: $25 ($27 at the door), Golden Link Members: $20 ($22 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.