Laura MacKenzie to give Rare Performance of Unaccompanied Singing
Saint Paul, MN (March 27, 2007) - The Traditional Singers Club, in conjunction with The Center for Irish Music, will present an afternoon of traditional Irish and Scottish song featuring Laura MacKenzie on Sunday, April 15th in the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music recital hall. Laura is highly regarded for her mastery of the instrumental music of Scotland, Ireland and other Celtic lands. Her Singers Club performance will feature her equally enchanting vocal abilities. Also performing will be Singers Club resident singers Ross Sutter, Shawn McBurnie, and others. Admission is $10 at the door and the performance begins at 3 PM.
Of Scottish heritage (through Rankins and MacKenzies), Laura's people came to the United States by way of Nova Scotia and Northern Ireland. In St. Paul, Minnesota, Laura learned to play traditional music at ceilis (dances or social gatherings) within the local Irish-American community and soon became immersed in both the music and dance. Along the way there was a good measure of formal study in anthropology and music, but her best education has been with her comrades and favorite 'teachers' -- the players and singers of traditional music -- in kitchens, pubs, folk schools and dance halls across Ireland, Scotland and the United States.
Laura has been a featured performer for public radio, including appearances on 'A Prairie Home Companion'. She has performed on stage in theatrical productions at the Guthrie Theater and with Pulitzer Prize winning Irish author Frank McCourt (of 'Angela's Ashes'). Solo and with bands, Laura has performed at folk festivals across the United States. She was selected to perform in the original 'Cherish the Ladies' concert series in New York, featuring noted women in Irish music in America. She placed in traditional singing at the Chicago Fleadh Cheoil, which meant the privilege of singing at the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann (in Ireland). Laura has won Minnesota Music Academy Awards in both Celtic vocal and Celtic instrumental music and has been recognized as a Master Folk Artist by the Minnesota State Arts Board. Through a program supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, she was selected for the culturally diverse 'American Traditions' roster in 2000. As a solo artist, Laura was awarded a McKnight Foundation Performing Arts Fellowship and a Jerome Foundation grant.
Traditional Singers Club concerts follow a format designed to showcase featured artists while also promoting local participation in traditional singing. Thus, April's event will include performances by "resident" club singers as well as an impromptu song or two from selected "floor" singers.
The St. Paul Conservatory of Music is located at the corner of Cedar and Exchange Street in downtown St. Paul.
http://www.singclub.org/index.shtml
Of Scottish heritage (through Rankins and MacKenzies), Laura's people came to the United States by way of Nova Scotia and Northern Ireland. In St. Paul, Minnesota, Laura learned to play traditional music at ceilis (dances or social gatherings) within the local Irish-American community and soon became immersed in both the music and dance. Along the way there was a good measure of formal study in anthropology and music, but her best education has been with her comrades and favorite 'teachers' -- the players and singers of traditional music -- in kitchens, pubs, folk schools and dance halls across Ireland, Scotland and the United States.
Laura has been a featured performer for public radio, including appearances on 'A Prairie Home Companion'. She has performed on stage in theatrical productions at the Guthrie Theater and with Pulitzer Prize winning Irish author Frank McCourt (of 'Angela's Ashes'). Solo and with bands, Laura has performed at folk festivals across the United States. She was selected to perform in the original 'Cherish the Ladies' concert series in New York, featuring noted women in Irish music in America. She placed in traditional singing at the Chicago Fleadh Cheoil, which meant the privilege of singing at the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann (in Ireland). Laura has won Minnesota Music Academy Awards in both Celtic vocal and Celtic instrumental music and has been recognized as a Master Folk Artist by the Minnesota State Arts Board. Through a program supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, she was selected for the culturally diverse 'American Traditions' roster in 2000. As a solo artist, Laura was awarded a McKnight Foundation Performing Arts Fellowship and a Jerome Foundation grant.
Traditional Singers Club concerts follow a format designed to showcase featured artists while also promoting local participation in traditional singing. Thus, April's event will include performances by "resident" club singers as well as an impromptu song or two from selected "floor" singers.
The St. Paul Conservatory of Music is located at the corner of Cedar and Exchange Street in downtown St. Paul.
http://www.singclub.org/index.shtml