Evento

Bellingham Irish Festival - Saturday Evening Concert

Na Rósaí

In 2010 Erik Killops returned to his hometown of Portland, Oregon after receiving his bachelors degree in Irish Music & Dance at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Shortly after he met recent New Jersey transplant Richie Rosencrans and California native Preston Howard at sessions around Portland. All three were eager to start a project and discovered common interests in regards to traditional music. After a few house gatherings, a weekly performance began at local watering hole. In the fall of 2012 flute player Conor O'Bryan moved to Portland from Chico, California and immediately joined the ranks of the group.

In the Fall of 2014 Na Rósaí released their debut album featuring an eclectic mix of traditional Irish music, old time Appalachian tunes, and a set of French tunes.

Na Rósaí's second album is currently in the works.

Reed and Vogt

Laura Reed & Sam Vogt spent years independently collecting and adapting traditional Irish music for fiddle and guitar. So both were surprised to find each other wandering the halls of a Bluegrass festival. Having discovered themselves to be the only two remaining musicians unwilling to play a twelfth rendition of "What Have They Done To The Old Home Place?," they retreated to remote Bellingham, WA until they'd transformed their mutual catalogs of jigs and reels into a carefully curated performance. Sam and Laura combine a warmth and precision in traditional melody with innovative harmonies for the modern ear.

Alicia Guinn

Alicia Guinn has danced in the sean-nós tradition for the past 20 years. Old-style Irish dance is incredibly rare to find outside of Ireland, and Alicia is one of only a handful of dancers teaching and promoting this tradition in North America.

Alicia is the organizer and teacher for Sean-nós Seattle. She was also a founder of the Sean-nós Northwest Festival in 2009 and currently serves as the festivals Dance Director. In the past decade, she has worked for festivals throughout the U.S. and Canada, performing, teaching, and adjudicating sean-nós dance competitions.

Alicia's sean-nós style has direct ties to the dance communities of Galway and Clare, including steps learned directly from Connemara dancers including Pádraig Ó hOibicín, Máire Áine Ní Iarnáin, Seosamh Ó Neachtain, and the Devane family.