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PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:17 am    Post subject: A Great Celtic Woman Article From The Journal News Reply with quote

Celtic Woman to serenade Radio City Music Hall for St. Patrick's Day

By Sarah Tomlinson
For The Journal News
(Original Publication: March 16, 2007)

Super groups come in all shapes and sizes. There are the celebrity collaborations like The Traveling Wilburys, that featured big guns like Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. And there are the bands that become so incredibly popular they achieve superstar status in their own right, like ABBA or The Rolling Stones. The success story of the Irish vocal sextet Celtic Woman draws a little bit from both of these two scenarios.

The group was conceived in 2004 as a union of talented female singers and musicians from Ireland, and the collective has become a major hit worldwide. At press time, the group was celebrating more than 100 weeks at the top of the World Music Billboard charts. And their triumph shows no signs of abating, either. They have plans to tour almost nonstop through June with their ambitious stage show, which made them a household name thanks to the popularity of their "Celtic Woman" concert film on PBS. As the ladies prepare to bring their live show to town for two nights at Radio City Music Hall, fittingly booked to celebrate St. Patrick's Day weekend, they couldn't be happier with their success, or the fact that they're achieving it together. "We've just had such an amazing reaction everywhere we've gone," says singer Chloe Agnew by phone from a Philadelphia tour stop. "The new show has kind of taken everyone by surprise, I think. And the audiences have been so welcoming and fantastic in their response to the new show. So we're loving it, absolutely. Every day has just flown by. It really has."

Those who became Celtic Woman fans after watching their first concert DVD and its follow up, "A New Journey: Live at Slane Castle, Ireland" will find some surprises in store for them during this tour. They will still have the opportunity to hear live renditions of songs from the group's two CDs, their 2004 self-titled debut and it's follow up "A New Journey." These include a wide range of influences, from traditional Irish songs like "Dulaman" and pop classics like Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair," to new compositions like "Mo Ghile Mear," written by their musical director David Downes. But, as the group's popularity has grown, so has the show. "We have an amazing new set and fantastic lighting and new costumes and everything," says Agnew. "So that will be all new. And some new pieces of music have been added to the show, taken from our live DVD at Slane Castle in Ireland. And a lot of the pieces that have been written for the fliers and stuff have kind of [talked about] the fact that this is a new journey for us. And we think the show showcases that in itself."

The changes aren't just aesthetic, or related to their program, though. The group's individual members have all become stronger performers, thanks to the many months they've spent on tour over the past two years. And the individual members - fiddle player Mairead Nesbitt, vocalists Orla Fallon, Meav Ni Mhaolchatha, Lisa Kelly, Chloe Agnew, and newest sometime member Hayley Westenra - have also become much closer to each other, personally. And that connection is visible onstage. "People can see there's a huge change in Celtic Woman as a group," says Agnew. "We only met each other two days before we filmed the original Celtic woman DVD. We didn't know each other at all, and I think none of us had any idea of what was in store. And now, looking at our new DVD, and our new live show, people can really see that we've grown together, and we've grown with this show. Our performances, I think, have come up a notch because we're a lot more comfortable with one another now. And there's a great camaraderie, not just the five of us, between the cast and the band onstage with us."

The group was initially conceived by music director David Downes, who brought together its members for what was initially expected to be a onetime performance. Downes was deeply immersed in the Irish community as the musical director of Riverdance for the U.S. and European touring companies, and when it was performed on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre. A successful composer, he also orchestrated Riverdance when it was produced on Broadway. His immersion in the Irish musical community had made him familiar with the group's individual performers, who all had established solo careers at the time. "He brought the five of us together to produce this show," says Agnew. "And it's really thanks to him, that he had the vision and had the idea to bring five solo artists together, which I don't believe had been done before, and to produce that show. And, as I said, we are, within the show, still solo artists. And when we come together in the group numbers, it's fantastic. It's really a wonderful thing."

The individual members have also continued to build their own solo careers since joining Celtic Woman. All have released solo CDs, which have also done well on the World Music charts. And all expect to continue working on their own projects. For Agnew, and her musical compatriots, it has been incredibly gratifying to further popularize Irish music thanks to the success of their albums. "For such a small little country as Ireland, it really has made its mark all over the world," says Agnew. "And it's thanks to fantastic bands like U2 and wonderful shows like Riverdance. But I think, to have five Irish women making their mark, is really fantastic for us. And to be able to say, we've spent like 101 consecutive weeks at number one on billboard, it's just an absolute honor. And that makes you very proud."

This is of course, a particularly fitting time of the year to celebrate all things Irish, especially the music and culture. And Agnew and the ladies of Celtic Woman are looking forward to being a part of the festivities. While she must remind American fans that St. Patrick's Day is just a bit different in Ireland, where it's a religious holiday, Agnew says it's impossible not to get into the swing of things when they're stateside. "It's a really special time to be in Ireland, obviously, around that time, because there's no better way to celebrate it than with Irish people," says Agnew. "But we've been in New York the last two years on St. Patrick's Day, and they've just been fantastic. And the reaction, when you are 100 percent Irish, people are so fantastic and very open to talking to you about your country and your culture and everything. And I think that's very special to us. That such a small island can be so celebrated all over the world is something fantastic."
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