A Night to Remember

Before moving on to another topic, I want to report on the October 12th Mercy Center Benefit concert advertised in my previous post. The concert itself was phenomenal. The audience was receptive and responsive, the performers were outrageously good, and everyone seemed pleased to be able to support the Mercy Center. The music had a lively edge because it was recorded for future release by Compass Records to raise additional funds for Mercy Center. Paul Keating of the Irish Voice (weekly newspaper) wrote a lovely article which captures the evening quite well, so I encourage you to click here and let him relate the details.

The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra (WSHSO) was scheduled first in the sound check lineup, so we arrived six hours before the concert was to begin. We didn't actually do our sound check until around 4 pm, but we had a grand time chatting with other performers and gnoshing on sandwiches and other taste treats. We rehearsed a little and shared some tunes with other musicians as well. Here are a few pictures taken before the show in the "green room,"

Don Meade, Gail Neely, and me

photo by Lizabeth Kennedy, used with permission

In the foreground (left to right): Tony Horswill, Liz Hanley, Gail Neely

Along the mirror: Lisa Farber, Dan Neely, Lizabeth Kennedy
Reflected in the mirror: Don Meade, Brendan Dolan, and Ivan Goff
photo by Linda Mason Hood

The WSHSO played three sets immediately following the intermission. I played Irish flute on the Curlew Hills barndance set, F whistle on The Isle of St. Helena (sung by Liz Hanley), and on Dan O'Hara (sung by Donie Carroll) I played D whistle and sang on the choruses. You can hear all of these selections, by the way, on the WSHSO MySpace site.

While this picture doesn't show all 15 of us, somehow I was lucky enough to be included. I'm on the far right in the second row.

The program included lots of dancing. The kids below study dance at the Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance.



At the end of this 3-hour extravaganza of music and dance, everyone came onstage for an exuberant grand finale. What a night! This picture conveys our high spirits, but it would be impossible for any picture to communicate how supremely happy I felt at this moment:

I am standing behind and to the right of Joanie Madden (flute player in the red shirt). Continuing left to right after Joanie is Mick Moloney, organizer of this event and WSHSO sponsor, Tommy Sands, and Robbie O'Connell.

All 3 onstage photos belong to Lizabeth Kennedy and were used with permission
Thanks Liz!

© 2008, Linda Mason Hood
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