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Blackstone River Theatre • 549 Broad Street, Cumberland, R.I. 02864

Archive for February, 2021

Atwater~Donnelly and The Vox Hunters

Posted on: February 28th, 2021 by Russell Gusetti
Masks are required for all patrons and staff until further notice. Patrons will also be asked to show their vaccination card or a photo of their vaccination card when they enter the club. Patrons will be asked to show proof each time they attend BRT. If a patron is not able to show proof of vaccination they will not be allowed to attend the performance. Call in reservations for our Sept. 18 show with Atwater~Donnelly and The Vox Hunters to 401-725-9272.
 
Multi-instrumentalists Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly will join forces and trade songs with The Vox Hunters as Blackstone River Theatre kicks off our Fall season! Atwater~Donnelly offers an engaging concert of traditional American and Celtic American folk songs, a cappella pieces, hymns, poetry, dance tunes, and original works. Long-time friends of Blackstone River Theatre, Elwood and Aubrey blend unusual vocal harmonies and play guitar, Appalachian mountain dulcimer, Irish tin whistle, harmonica, old-time banjo, bones, limberjacks and other musical surprises. Their performance is appealing to all ages, and with humor, audience participation and a highly relaxed stage presence, Aubrey and Elwood also explain song origins to give more relevance to the material. They have performed and researched folk music extensively in New England, Ireland, England, Prince Edward Island, the Ozarks, and Appalachia. 
 
Armand Aromin and Benedict Gagliardi – The Vox Hunters – are musically bound by a shared love of traditional Irish music, which originally brought them together, as well as an eclectic and ever-growing amalgam of songs both inside and far outside the realm of folk music. Combining Aromin's multifaceted fiddle playing, Gagliardi's self-developed concertina style, and a pair of complementary voices, The Vox Hunters will present their exciting repertoire of driving dance tunes blended with an unorthodox collection of interesting songs. They are touted as strong tradition-bearers in their generation, and their genuine affinity for the music is evident in the emotion they draw from it. Last year they released their second album, "Fresh From The Board: Music From The Ocean State Songster, Vol. 1.” 
 
 *All ticket prices include a $1.00 per ticket restoration charge
 

Torrin Ryan / Ryefield Cove – Celebrating St. Patrick's Day!

Posted on: February 23rd, 2021 by Russell Gusetti

This concert airs March 20, at 7 p.m. EST, but with ticket purchase, you can watch again, any time, during an included 72-hour rebroadcast! Tickets can now be purchased at: https://noonchorus.com/torrin-ryan-ryefield-cove/

Blackstone River Theatre is excited to host a special concert of Irish traditional music featuring amazing uilleann piper Torrin Ryan and the wonderful flute/guitar duo, Ryefield Cove. Torrin Ryan, of Attleboro, Mass., has grown up at Blackstone River Theatre having performed solo and with many groups over the past ten years and also serving as a volunteer. Ryan specializes in the uilleann pipes and has gone on to win five All-Ireland medals in Ireland competition including being named the 2013 All-Ireland champion for slow airs on uilleann pipes. Irish bagpipes, with air pumped from a bag squeezed by the elbow rather than blowing into it like Scottish bagpipes, is recognized as one of the most difficult traditional instruments to master. Torrin also performs on tin whistle and flute. In 2018, Torrin was the recipient of a grant from the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in order for him to teach Irish music and history to several apprentices and further the art of the session in New England. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M-ZcNB1H3U

Leslie Anne Harrison and Frédéric Pouille met in Ireland over a decade ago and have been playing together ever since. Blue has called them "beautiful guitar artistry and major league fluting." Balancing tradition with new ideas, Ryefield Cove draws from a shared love of Irish traditional music, Frédéric's connection to French Bretagne music, and Leslie's experience in the classical music world to create a distinctive sound within the flute and guitar duo. At Ryefield Cove concerts, you will hear new music written by Leslie, a French song or two sung by Frédéric, and many Irish and French Bretagne tunes. The duo released "Folk Ragoût" in 2011 and has performed at festivals and venues around the U.S. including Ceili at the Roundhouse Celtic Festival, Edgewater Celtic Festival, and the Maine Celtic Celebration. Leslie has recently released "Volume I of Playing Outside the Lines, the first of a comprehensive four-part method book series offering beginning to advanced Irish traditional flute instruction on Mel Bay Publications. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACc0R1_LB18

NOTE: The ticket price is $15 but there will be an additional $3.66 charge added on by the streaming platform that goes to them. Once purchased, you will have access to the Torrin Ryan / Ryefield Cove concert for 72 hours in case you want to watch it again or even at a time different from its initial live showing!
 

Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas – Highlander's Farewell

Posted on: February 10th, 2021 by Russell Gusetti
Don’t miss this spectacular livestream concert called "Highlander’s Farewell" that celebrates a 20-year musical retrospective of one of the most acclaimed duos in traditional music. Blackstone River Theatre is proud to be the sponsor for the 3rd concert in a series of 6 completely different shows with our dear friends, Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas! You can watch it in the comfort of your own home with the added flexibility of a 48-hour window to suit your own schedule. Remember: buying a ticket will be supporting both the artists and Blackstone River Theatre! Purchase your tickets at: https://boxoffice.mandolin.com/products/alasdair-fraser-natalie-haas-highlanders-farewell-3-12?oid=49&affid=99
 
 
TECH INFO: Once you make a purchase, you'll get an electronic “ticket” from Mandolin. Once you get this ticket, you will need to go back into the Mandolin website to create a Mandolin account – this is simple and just involves putting in your name and email address. Having that Mandolin account allows you to log in before the show  – all you’ll have to do at that point is click on the show and it will start at the appointed time. Following the performance, the audience will be invited to jump onto a Zoom call with Alasdair & Natalie so everyone can have a post-concert social gathering! Check your spam and junk folders if you don't see the email! Mandolin’s help section if needed: https://help.mandolin.com  

The musical partnership between Alasdair Fraser, long regarded as Scotland's premier fiddle ambassador, and the sizzlingly-talented young California cellist Natalie Haas may not seem an obvious one. Fraser has a concert and recording career spanning 33 years, with a long list of awards, accolades, television credits, and feature performances on top movie soundtracks (Last of the Mohicans, Titanic and more). He has been sponsored by the British Council to represent Scotland's music internationally, and he received the Scottish Heritage Center Service Award for outstanding contributions to Scottish culture and traditions. 

Haas, a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, wasn't even born when Alasdair was winning national fiddle competitions on the other side of the Atlantic. But this seemingly unlikely pairing is the fulfillment of a long-standing musical dream for Fraser, whose cutting-edge musical explorations took him full circle to find a cellist who could help him return the cello to its historical role at the rhythmic heart of Scottish dance music. "Going back to the 1700s, and as late as the early 20th century," Fraser says, "fiddle and cello made up the dance band of choice in Scotland, with the cellist bowing bass lines and driving the rhythm. Pianos and accordions elbowed out the cello, relegating it to an orchestral setting." When Natalie was just 15, Fraser and Haas played their first gig together. Natalie is in the vanguard of young cellists who are redefining the role of the cello in traditional music. Their CD "Fire & Grace" won not only critical acclaim, but also the coveted the Scots Trad Music "Album of the Year" award, the Scottish equivalent of a Grammy. "In the Moment" and "Highlander's Farewell" and their latest CD, "Abundance" continues their incredible musical journey together.