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Contact: Mike Mullins
314-578-1333
April 23-26 - The best of traditional Irish music will be in St. Louis.
ST. LOUIS, March 1—Since 1998, St. Louis has hosted an annual gathering of some of the world’s best traditional Irish musicians for the Saint Louis Tionól. In our 29th year, this event has brought musicians, singers, and dancers from all over North America and Ireland to take part in a 4 day celebration that includes a ceili( dance), workshops in music, songs and ballad, as well as two concerts, at the Focal Point in Maplewood on Friday, 4/24, and the Sheldon Concert Hall on Saturday, 4/25.
Pronounced “chun-awl,” tionól is the Irish word for a gathering and it describes the coming together from all over North America and Ireland of musicians intent on sharing their interest in the traditional music of the Celtic regions—music that came to North America with the first Scots – Irish settlers and has grown into native genres such as old-time and bluegrass.
For almost 30 years Saint Louis has boasted one of the largest such gatherings in the United States and the only one in the Midwest.
“When it comes to Irish music events in North America, St Louis is definitely not flyover country,” said Andrew O’Brien, a Dublin-born fiddler and attorney who now lives in St. Louis. “It is an action-packed weekend of concerts, classes and sessions—informal Irish music jams—where the finest exponents of the art form are brought to St. Louis to play, teach and share. For one great weekend every year, St. Louis becomes a premium Irish culture hub and a place to be.”
Liz Knowles, an internationally recognized traditional Irish fiddle player described it as an “in-between: a meeting place where people and music collide, bringing their collective knowledge and love of the instrument and their experience”. She went on to describe a weekend of concerts, workshops and sessions as all being part of a shared and interactive experience that makes the music come alive.
The St. Louis Tionól was born out of a meeting between Judy Stein, of the Focal Point, and musicians Michael “Piper” Cooney and Mike Mullins in 1997. The first year was a rousing success and the weekend has grown as people have become interested in their roots and had their hearts and minds captured by productions such as Riverdance.
“By bringing together world class performers and teachers and hosting workshops, concerts and jam sessions, the St. Louis Tionól provides a much-needed link and pathway to pass along a tradition that many want to claim,” Mullins said. “With a total attendance of well over 3,500 since its inception, the St. Louis Tionól has become the event in the Midwest for lovers of traditional Irish music and is acknowledged as one of the events of the year for those interested in the music”.
The highlight of the St. Louis Tionól will be a concert at the Sheldon Concert Hall on April 25, which will showcase our teachers who hail from Ireland and across North America.
The Saturday concert begins at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available through the Sheldon or at the door. Children 12 and under are free.
The weekend actually starts on Thursday, April 23 with a ceili at Focal Point on Sutton in Maplewood and sessions at Riley’s Pub on Arsenal & Arkansas. A ceili is lively social dance with no previous experience required to enjoy. Shannon Flecke will teach the dances throughout the evening and music will be provided by our own ceili band. A session will take place that evening as well. More information is available at tionol.org
Those wanting to learn a tune or new technique can take advantage of one of the workshops on Saturday, April 25 at St. Louis University High School. Both morning and afternoon workshops with instruction by the world-renowned musicians offer a unique opportunity for anyone wanting to learn more about traditional Irish music. Newcomers are welcome; no experience is necessary to enjoy the dance or ballad workshops or learn a tune on the tin whistle or bodhrán (Irish drum).
A major feature of the weekend are the uilleann pipes. Hailed as the iconic “sound of Ireland”, the uilleann (pronounced “illin”) bagpipes, which UNESCO recently placed its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Guest pipers will include Mick O’Brien, a pre-eminent piper and the winner of the coveted Gradam Ceoil Musician of the Year award for 2023, along with pipers Kieran O’Hare, Jimmy O’Brien-Moran, Fiachra O’Regan, Sheila Friel and Joey Abarta.
The other instrument long associated with Ireland is the harp. This year, we’re delighted to welcome award winning harper Aisling Lyons. Many of the airs we associate with Ireland come from the harp tradition and Aisling’s workshop will explore some of those in detail.
We’re very excited that fiddle player Maeve Donnelly will be joining us along with Liz Knowles and Clare Friel. Liz Knowles is part of the band “Open the Door for Three” as well as “The Martin Hayes Quartet”. , Clare Friel, besides playing with her sister in a highly successful band is also now part of the world famous band, Altan.
We’re delighted that Pat Broaders, a Dublin born singer and accompanist will be back. Our own Eimear Arkins will be hosting a workshop in learning the basics of singing in Irish which will be in addition to our regular ballad workshop. And we’re excited to have Brenda Castles back with her concertina. John Skelton, a longtime Tionól favorite and raconteur supreme, will be hosting our concerts and teaching the penny whistle.
Robert Ryan will be doing a workshop on polkas and slides and Kevin Buckley will be working with those wanting to sharpen their skills doing accompaniment.
We have a number of new workshops this year exploring the nooks and cranies of the tradition.
There will be two master class workshops this year. One in pipes and one in fiddle. Participants can have 15 minutes of one on one with Liz Knowles on fiddle or Kieran O’Hare on pipes which will offer an unique opportunity to hone your playing.
More information, including a schedule of all events, online workshop registration, and concert tickets can be found at tionol.org.
For additional information, or to schedule an interview with Tionól musicians, please contact Mike Mullins at mmullins@tionol.org or 314-578-1333.