Maeve Gilchrist String Quartet comes to Skye, Unity

REGION -- New England Celtic Arts will present Scottish born master harpist Maeve Gilchrist at Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, March 9, and at Unity College Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, March 10.

Curtain is at 7 p.m. at Skye and 7:30 p.m. in Unity. There is a pre-show jam session 45 minutes prior to curtain at all both venues. Audience members are encouraged to bring their instruments and jam with the artists for a few minutes.

Maeve Gilchrist was born in Edinburgh, Scotland to an Irish mother and a Scottish father. Surrounded by traditional music from an early age, Maeve began playing piano at seven and picked up the clarsach (Celtic harp) a couple of years later.  At ten, Maeve enrolled in the City of Edinburgh Music School where she studied classical piano while continuing to nurture her traditional roots.  Towards the end of her school years, Maeve was an in-demand member of the traditional music scene in Scotland, balancing schoolwork with rehearsals and performances around the country.  

The director of her music school had told her about the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and at seventeen, with the help of the Donald Dewar Award and the Berklee World Scholarship Tour, she enrolled at the college as a voice major. During her time at Berklee CollegeMaeve was awarded a full scholarship, the Outstanding Performer of the Year '04 Award and the Norm Nate Scholarship.  

She performed regularly in the Prestigious Performance Centre in Shows such as Singers Showcase, The International Folk Festival, The Commencement Concerts and The Stevie Wonder Tribute Show. She has played and recorded with artists such as Matt Glaser, Kathy Mattea, Meshell Ndegio, Cello, Jamey Haddad, Martyn Bennett, Esperanza Spalding, Frank Ferrell, The Unusual Suspects and Ashley Macisaac. 

Aidan O’Donnell started his musical life in Glasgow playing bass guitar in rock bands, but stepped up to the double bass at the age of  16. A year later in 1999 he was accepted into the inaugural year of the Birmingham Conservatoire jazz course. During his time in Birmingham he played around the city in various jazz and latin bands, as well as regularly traveling back to his hometown to play with jazz musicians in Scotland. He has been much in demand for recording work too, having featured on 16 albums since leaving university. Since October 2007 he has been resident in New York.

Violinist, multi-instrumentalist and composer Duncan Wickel is quickly gaining recognition for his unique sound and diverse abilities in Irish Traditional, Classical, Jazz, and World Fusion idioms. A native of Asheville, NC,

Duncan grew up in a musical family and began studying classical violin at the age of 4. By age 14, Wickel had already been recognized as one of the most versatile young violinists in the region- He had a position in the violin section in the Asheville Symphony Orchestra and played his first gig alongside renowned guitarist and singer, John Doyle. Duncan has since toured twice with John throughout the Northeastern states, featuring special guests including Liz Carroll, Mick Maloney, John Williams, Alison Brown, Gary West, and currently tours with Cathy Ryan.

 Cellist Daniel Plane draws on a conservatory training, jazz studies, and the folk-blues

tradition, to skillfully weave the voice of the cello into unexpected musical settings. After completing his formal study at Berklee and the Longy School of Music in 2007, Daniel lived in Colorado and toured for a time with the eclectic stringband Taarka. Presently he continues to compose songs and arrange folk tunes for the cello. Daniel performs a blend of folk music, songs, and fiddle tunes, both by himself and with Tatiana Berindei as the husband and wife duo, Viatsa. They are in the process of forming another folk group called BearRoots, along with Ariel Marx and Baron Collins-Hill. Currently Daniel.

Skye Theater is located three miles west of East Dixfield village at 2 Highland Dr. off Winter Hill Road and Rt. 2 in South Carthage. UCCPA is at 42 Depot St. in Unity. For reservations at the theater you wish to attend call: Skye Theatre at 562-4445, or UCCPA at 948-7469. Tickets are $15 at Skye and Unity.