University of Florida Performing Arts

presents

Paddy Moloney andTHE CHIEFTAINS

and special guests

Sunday, February 10, 2013, 7:30 p.m.

Phillips Center

ProgramThe program will be announced from the stage.

About The ChieftainsSix-time Grammy winners, The Chieftains are recognized for bringing traditional Irish music to the world’s attention. They have uncovered the wealth of traditional Irish music accumulated over centuries, making music their own with a style as exhilarating as it is definitive.

The Chieftains were formed in 1962 by Paddy Moloney, from the ranks of the top folk musicians in Ireland. Moloney brought together musicians such as fiddler Martin Fay, flautist Michael Tubridy, tin whistle virtuoso Seán Potts and bodhrán player David Fallon. They recorded a supposedly one-off instrumental album but five years later were reunited with some additions — fiddler Seán Keane, and Peader Mercier replacing Fallon. Harpist Derek Bell came on board in 1973. It wasn’t until 1975 that The Chieftains began playing together full time and they marked the event with a historic performance at Royal Albert Hall in London. The following few years saw the departure of Mercier, and the addition of bodhrán player and vocalist Kevin Conneff. Another lineup change in 1978-79 would see the departure of Potts and Tubridy and the addition of a new flautist, Matt Molloy.

Although their early following was purely a folk audience, the range and variation of their music quickly captured a much broader public, making them the best known Irish band in the world today.

Never afraid to shock purists and push boundaries, in their nearly 50 years together The Chieftains have amassed a dizzyingly varied resume. They have been involved in historic events such as a tour of China (being the first Western group to perform on the Great Wall), Roger Waters’ The Wall performance in Berlin in 1990, became the first group to give a concert in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. (at the invitation of former Speaker, Thomas “Tip” O’Neill), and in October of 2001, Maloney performed at a Ground Zero memorial service in New York for the victims of September 11. They have performed with many symphony and folk orchestras worldwide, and they have broken many musical boundaries by collaborating and performing with some of the biggest names in rock, pop and traditional music in Ireland and around the world.

On top of their six Grammy awards, they have been honored in their own country by being officially named Ireland’s Musical Ambassadors, performed during the Pope’s visit to Ireland in 1979 in front of an audience of 135 million people. Also, they were the subject of a Late Late Show tribute in 1987, their 25th anniversary. In 2010, Maloney’s whistle and Molloy’s flute travelled to outer space with a NASA astronaut, and in 2011, they performed for HRH Queen Elizabeth II during her historical visit to Ireland.

In 2010, The Chieftains released collaboration with guitarist/producer Ry Cooder titled San Patricio on the Concord Music Group label. The album was named after The San Patricio Battalion, a group of Irish immigrant conscripts who deserted the U.S. Army in 1846 to fight on the Mexican side of the Mexican-American War. This release proved a remarkable collaboration, with many of the most distinguished Mexican and Mexican-American musicians including Lila Downs, Los Tigres Del Norte, Los Cenzontles and Carlos Nunez, as well as narration by Liam Neeson and a piece featuring Linda Ronstadt. A commercial and critical success, the album sold more than 60,000 copies in North America and charted No. 37 on the Billboard 200, the highest charting of all 58 of The Chieftains’ albums. Extraordinarily, San Patricio was the subject of a St. Patrick’s Day 2010 New York Times editorial, which celebrated the unlikely juxtaposition between the Irish and

the Mexicans: “The rest is joy, thoroughly Mexican yet utterly Irish, carried aloft by tin whistles, skin drums, pipes, harps, guitars and stomping feet. It’s a mix you’ve never heard, but eerily familiar … We are all people who have lost our land in one sad way and found another. Whether we lament and celebrate in a pub or cantina, whether our tricolor flag has a cactus on it or not, we are closer to one another than we remember.”

The trappings of fame have not altered The Chieftains’ love of, and loyalty to, their roots. They are as comfortable playing spontaneous Irish sessions as they are headlining a concert at Carnegie Hall. After all these years of making some of the most beautiful music in the world, The Chieftains’ music remains as fresh and relevant as when they first began.

In 2012, the group celebrated their 50th anniversary by collaborating with old and new friends alike, reliving past memories and introducing The Chieftains’ historic career to a whole new generation of fans. The Chieftains’ Voice of Ages involves the band collaborating with some of modern music’s fastest rising artists (Bon Iver, The Decemberists and Paolo Nutini, among them) to reinterpret traditional songs for old and new generations, proving what the music means today while hinting where it might lead tomorrow.

Touring PersonnelPaddy Moloney, tin whistle, uilleann pipes

Matt Molloy, fluteKevin Conneff, bodhran, vocals

Triona Marshall, harpJon Pilatzke, fiddle, dancerJeff White, guitar, vocalsDeanie Richardson, fiddleAlyth McCormack, vocals

Cara Butler, dancerNathan Pilatzke, dancer

BiographiesALYTH McCORMACK — A voice described as having “spun glass fragility belying a sinewy strength,” accompaniments “transcendentally timeless and effortlessly contemporary,” combined with the uncomplicated conviction with which she communicates to her audiences have ensured that McCormack is one of the most exciting singers on the Celtic scene. Her vocal talent and understanding approach give her an ability to cross over diverse singing styles making her comfortable performing with a variety of artists. She was born and raised on the Island of Lewis of the Northwest coast of Scotland. After the academy, McCormack returned to her roots and began another education altogether, touring with various bands and projects throughout Germany, Spain, Italy, Estonia, North America, the U.K., Brazil, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Norway and Sweden. During this time, she recorded with various artists, appearing on 16 albums to date, and in 2000 released her first solo CD An Iomall (The Edge) on Vertical Records. She has appeared at various festivals — Celtic Colours, Celtic Connections, The Edinburgh International Festival, The Lammertree Festival, Hebridean Celtic Festival — and in 2001, performed with her trio as part of Distilled-Scotland Live in New York.

McCormack also works as an actress performing for both stage and screen. She has worked with such directors as Alison Peebles, Ian McElhinney and Chris Baldock, and is a founding member of Scottish theatre group Dogstar, taking leading roles in their award-winning productions. McCormack has appeared on various film soundtracks, most notably Festival by Annie Griffin, winner of the British Comedy Award for best comedy film in 2005.

CARA BUTLER — A lover of the stage from a very young age, Butler started dancing when she was six years old. Under the tutelage of renowned Irish dance master Donny Golden, she went on to win numerous Irish dance championships at world-class levels, including five regional and six national titles. Her competitive years were intermingled with the best of Irish music exports, including Cherish the Ladies, Greenfields of America and Solas. This year marks her 21st year as the principal female dancer with The Chieftains, who are six-time Grammy award winners. Butler is famous for her starring role as the lead dancer in the nationwide Folgers coffee commercial, A Dancer’s Morning, and can be seen dancing in Shania Twain’s video, Don’t Be Stupid. She has also appeared in and choreographed dance sequences with Brad Pitt in The Devil’s Own and Cher and Ryan O’Neal in Faithful. In 1999, Butler opened as a principal dancer in Jean Butler and Colin Dunne’s Dancing on Dangerous Ground in London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane. She continues to work with her sister of Riverdance fame doing dance workshops and appearing in Jean Butler’s masterclass, an instructional DVD. Butler’s expertise lies in her formal Irish dance training but is not limited by it. She is a performer at heart and her various talents enable her to excel in many mediums. In 1996, she toured with Ashley MacIsaac showcasing her virtuosity as a singer and dancer.

In 2006 she joined her talents with Triona Marshall and the Pilatzke Brothers — both of The Chieftains — creating TREAD, their own tour de force of traditional music and dance influenced greatly by their mentors in Irish music. Most recently, Butler has joined forces with husband Jon Pilatzke and brother-in-law Nathan Pilatzke, creating one of the most dynamic and unique dance shows touring the world today called The StepCrew. This production brings together Irish, tap and Ottawa Valley stepdancing and boasts an entire collective of virtuosic percussive dancers and musicians. For full details visit www.stepcrew.com.

DEANIE RICHARDSON — Long regarded as one of country and bluegrass music’s most soulful and heartfelt fiddle players, Nashville native Deanie Richardson has toured and recorded with some of the most respected names in the industry, including Vince Gill and Patty Loveless, who’s Grammy-nominated Mountain Soul and most recent recording Sleepless Nights (also nominated for

a 2008 Grammy) showcase her unique and inimitable musicianship. Despite her busy touring, performance and recording schedule, Richardson devotes much of her time to her school, The Main Stage, teaching and guiding a new crop of young fiddle, guitar and mandolin players down Tennessee’s rich country music roads.

JEFF WHITE — is a singer/guitarist active on the American bluegrass and country scene for the last 20 years. Starting out with Alison Krauss & Union Station back in the late 1980s, White contributed to two of Krauss’ early recordings playing guitar and singing harmonies on Two Highways and the Grammy award-winning I’ve Got That Old Feeling. After arriving in Nashville Tennessee in 1992, White started playing and singing harmonies with country artist Vince Gill. He has contributed to many of Gill’s records, most recently his box set These Days which was nominated for album of the year honors at this year’s Grammy Awards. White began touring with The Chieftains in 2000. In 2002, he helped the band with their two bluegrass/greengrass records Down the Old Plank Road and Further Down the Old Plank Road, and their Live in Dublin: Tribute to Derek Bell album. He has appeared on records or toured with Tim O’Brien, Patty Loveless, Lyle Lovett, Keith Whitley, Charley Pride and made two solo albums on the Rounder record label. He is a fiddle freak who loves all styles of fiddling. He has produced two award-winning albums with fiddle ace Michael Cleveland, the last which featured an all-star lineup with guests like Del McCoury, Vince Gill, Dan Tyminski and Tim O’Brien. He is a songwriter as well, his songs having been covered by Alison Krauss & Union Station, Del McCoury and Dan Tyminski.

JON PILATZKE — Jon Pilatzke is a creator of and performer in one of the most dynamic and unique dance shows touring the world today called The StepCrew. This production brings together Irish, tap and Ottawa Valley stepdancing and boasts an entire collective of virtuosic percussive dancers and musicians. For full details visit www.stepcrew.com. Hailing from the Ottawa Valley of Ontario, Canada, Jon has been stepdancing and playing the fiddle for three decades and is the three-time winner of the Canadian Open Stepdancing Championships. He has had the pleasure of performing in many different musical and theatre productions including Bowfire — a virtuosic display featuring 10 of Canada’s best violinists from all different genres. For the past 11 years, he has been ecstatic to stepdance and play lead fiddle all over the world as a permanent fixture with The Chieftains. Performances with them have included everything from Late Night with David Letterman to the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Awards. In recognition for their talents, Jon and his brother Nathan received a Gemini Award (the Canadian equivalent of an American Emmy) in 2005 and performed alongside The Chieftains for the 2006 Grammy-nominated album The Chieftains Live From Dublin: A Tribute to Derek Bell. Jon was happy to expand his horizons in the summers of 2009 and 2012 as the violinist for international sensation Loreena McKennitt, playing at some of the most prominent outdoor music festivals across Canada and throughout Europe.

NATHAN PILATZKE — Undoubtedly one of the most dynamic and energetic stepdancers to ever hit the stage, Nathan Pilatzke has been performing for 30 years. Hailing from the Ottawa Valley of Ontario, Canada, Nathan (who has been aptly nicknamed Crazy Legs) started stepdancing at the tender age of 5. Since 2002 Nathan has been touring the world with Irish supergroup The Chieftains, visiting countries including Sweden, Norway, China, Japan, Australia and most of Europe and North America. He has performed everywhere from The Ryman Auditorium with Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs and Allison Krauss to Late Night with David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. The year 2005 proved triumphant for Nathan when, together with his brother Jon, they garnered a Gemini Award (the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy) for best performance in a variety program on The Chieftains in Canada. Back in Canada, Nathan has teamed up with fellow young Chieftains’ alumni in an Irish/Canadian traditional music and dance project called TREAD. They were honored to record their first CD Live from Matt Molloy’s and have toured Japan, Italy, Scotland and Ireland extensively. Most recently,

Nathan has joined forces with his brother Jon and sister-in-law Cara Butler creating one of the most dynamic and unique dance shows touring the world today called The StepCrew. This production brings together Irish, tap and Ottawa Valley stepdancing and boasts an entire collective of virtuosic percussive dancers and musicians. For full details visit www.stepcrew.com.

TRIONA MARSHALL — Martin Adams of The Irish Times called Tríona Marshall’s playing “spontaneous, delicately graded, full of rhythmic vitality, and technically impeccable.”

Trained as a classical harpist, Marshall was principal harpist with the RTE Concert Orchestra for five years up to 2003, when she was invited to play as guest harpist for The Chieftains. Since then she has performed solely on the Irish harp playing as both guest harpist with The Chieftains on tours throughout the world and as a solo performer, with performances at the 9th World Harp Congress, the Special Olympics Opening Ceremony held in Croke Park, Dublin and at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival where with Thomas Ranjo — sole non-Japanese performer of the Satsuma biwa or Lute of the Samurai she successfully performed both Japanese and Irish music with harp and shakuhachi as well as harp and biwa.

As principal harpist with the RTE Concert Orchestra, she explored a number of different styles varying from jazz to modern Irish and standard classical. These included, amongst others, the premiere performance of contemporary jazz artist Bobby Lamb’s Shining Sea for harp and Orchestra, a performance of Robert Farnon’s Intermezzo for harp and strings, Bill Whelan’s Seville Suite along with the Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo.

Marshall comes from Portlaoise in Ireland. She is one of five in a family of musicians and started playing the harp when she was 7. After winning numerous harp competitions throughout Ireland, her studies and performances took her around Europe. She also made a number of tours as a member of the EUYO (European Union Youth Orchestra) over four years.

Worldwide Management:Macklam Feldman Management #200 – 1505 West 2nd Avenue

Vancouver, BCCanada V6H 3Y4www.mfmgt.com

North American AgencyOpus 3 Artists

470 Park Avenue SouthNew York, NY 10016Tel: 212-584-7500

www.opus3artists.com