BOYS OF THE LOUGH AND 2009 IRISH 2000 FESTIVAL

Dear Friends -

See below for information on this exciting upcoming show. Get your tickets now to take advantage of the early bird special! Also, look for an important announcement in regard to the 2009 Irish 2000 Festival within the next 2 weeks!


Matt Nelligan
Irish 2000 Festival President

Legendary Celtic Veterans
The Boys of the Lough @ The Egg
to benefit the Irish American Heritage Museum

One of the finest bands in Celtic traditional music (New York Times) comes to The Egg in Albany, NY, on Wednesday, March 11, at 7:30 PM, for a rousing concert in honor of the Irish and St. Patrick to benefit the Irish American Heritage Museum educational programs and exhibit development.

Tickets for The Boys of the Lough are a $25 donation, with an Early Bird special of $22 before February 27. Seats are reserved through The Egg Box Office at (518) 473-1845 or through The Egg's Web site at www.theegg.org No Egg discounts apply. However, Members of the Irish American Heritage Museum can purchase their tickets through the Museum at (518) 432-6598 for $20 by February 27. To become a member of the Museum, please call the Irish American Heritage Museum at (518) 432-6598.

The Boys of the Lough

With forty years experience in the world of traditional music, 70 North American tours, 21 recordings and two Grammy nominations, Boys of the Lough has reached legendary status. The group features Cathal McConnell (County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland) on flute, whistles and vocals; Dave Richardson (Northumberland) on concertina, mandolin, button accordion and cittern; Brendan Begley (the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry) on button accordion, melodeon and vocals; Garry O'Briain (Dublin) on guitar, piano and mandocello; and Kevin Henderson (Shetland Islands) on fiddle.

The Boys have established a reputation for technical brilliance and integrity combined with a ready wit and sense of fun. The music ranges widely through traditional melodies of Ireland and encompasses fiddle music of Shetland, Scotland and North America. Compelling dance rhythms, which give the music such life, will lift the audience to their feet; the evocative slow airs and beautifully structured songs "some in the Irish language" will have them coming back for more.

Acclaimed for their three decades of musical accomplishments by media the world over, the Boys of the Lough have played some of the most renowned music halls, including Carnegie Hall, The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis where they appeared on The Prairie Home Companion, Wolf Trap in Virginia for the Washington DC crowd, the festival Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, Belfast, the Irish Arts festival, and halls throughout Ireland, Europe, North America and Australia.

"The most rhythmically bracing of the traditional music bands." -Time Magazine

"...music that is full of guts and technical brilliance." - Irish Times

"...musically splendid legends." -Boston Globe

"Traditional heroe" played a moving set, putting people on their feet and making them dance the night away." - Irish World

"instrumentalists and singers [who] set the ¦crowd howling and dancing in the full fury of Gaelic tunes" - Rolling Stone Magazine

About the Irish American Heritage Museum

The Irish American Heritage Museum was permanently chartered in 1992 by the Board of Regents of the State of New York. The Museum's Administrative Offices, Research Library and year-round Exhibit Gallery are located in the "Arnoff Building" at 991 Broadway in the City of Albany. The Museum's seasonal Exhibit Center, open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend each year, is located on Rt. 145 in East Durham, Greene County, New York. The Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving and interpreting materials and objects related to the history and heritage of the Irish American population of New York State and the United States. As such, the Museum is unique in America, where almost 40,000,000 individuals claim Irish ancestry. For more information about the Irish American Heritage Museum, please call (518) 432-6598 or visit its Web site at http://www.irishamericanheritagemuseum.org

www.irish2000fest.com


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