[caption id="attachment_71248" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Julie Feeney on stage. "]
A truly brilliant artist will be in New York City for ten nights at the Irish Arts Center, beginning April 25. She's the Galway born, award-winning composer, singer, and music producer, Julie Feeney.
I've spent all week with her latest album "Pages," admiring the charming lyrics, captivated by her flawless voice, and completely amazed by the amount of talent that one person can have. Julie wrote all of the words and music, produced, sang, and conducted the orchestra for the entire album. I'd say she deserves a very warm welcome in the Big Apple.
Although Julie's musical history consists of a stint with the Irish choral group, Anuna, the sound that she has created throughout her solo career is described as chamber-pop - a genre
that fuses pop and classical music, featuring lush instrumentation and elaborate melodies.
While her albums are award winning, the buzz is really about Julie's stage presence and the magic of her live shows. After seeing her perform at Joe's Pub last year, executive director of the Irish
Arts Center, Aidan Connolly, simply described her show as "a knock-out."
And if you think that an unconventional, theatrical, costume-wearing artist accompanied by an ensemble of singers, strings, pianos and trumpets is out of place at the Irish Arts Center, then you've got the wrong idea about the center and the innovative opportunities Connolly and his crew are offering audiences.
When it comes to live music at the Irish Arts center Connolly says, "The world is our oyster, we are looking to provide audiences with special, intimate live music experiences ... contemporary music is an important part of the picture."
Although he admits that new endeavors come with their fair share of obstacles and hard work, he exudes excitement when he speaks about creating a musical residency for a contemporary artist and allowing New York City to be a "creative home" for an Irish musician. For Julie Feeney, the Irish Arts Center will be a great home. It's an intimate environment cultivated by creative staff, loyal supporters, audiences that are passionate about all kinds of music coming out of Ireland, and an executive director dedicated to providing truly memorable musical experiences.
Julie Feeney's Irish Arts Center residency is running from April 25 - May 6, with performances Wednesday-Sunday evenings at 8pm. Visit irishartscenter.org for details and tickets.
For other Irish sounds around town this weekend you'll have to choose from Susan McKeown at the New York Irish Center in Queens on 4/28, or Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul at Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington, LI, on 4/28. You can also catch Brian Conway playing the music of Turlough O'Carolan at An Beal Bocht Café in the Bronx on 4/29.
