Liz Carroll with Nic Gareiss and harpist Maeve Gilchrist

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Friday Concert Performer

Chicago’s premier Irish fiddler Liz Carroll is joined by harpist Maeve Gilchrist, and Lansing’s own dance phenom Nic Gareiss. 

Chicago’s premier Irish Fiddler, Liz Carroll is joined by harpest Maeve Gilchrist, and Lansing’s own dance phenom Nic Gareiss.

“Brilliant…She does more than run through her fingertwisting reels and sustained slow airs. Carroll – and her listeners – continually rediscover each melody.” -The New York Times

“A show-stopper…the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene. The nimble Gareiss called forth visions of Fred Astaire.” – Daniel Gewertz, The Boston Herald

Liz is a recipient of the National Heritage Fellowship Award (1994). In 2010 she became the first Irish-American musician nominated for a Grammy. In 2011 she became the first American-born composer honored with the Cumadóir TG4, Ireland’s most significant traditional music prize.
www.lizcarroll.com

Dancer Nic Gareiss has been hailed by the New York Times for his “dexterous melding of Irish and Appalachian dance.” He re-imagines movement as a musical practice, recasting dance as medium that appeals to both eyes and ears. Based in Lansing, Michigan, Gareiss draws from many percussive dance traditions, weaving together a dance technique facilitating his love of improvisation, traditional dance footwork vocabulary, and musical collaboration. He has concertized in fifteen countries for over ten years with many of the luminaries of traditional music and dance including performances at London’s Barbican Centre, the Irish National Concert Hall, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Kennedy Center.

www.nicgareiss.com

MAEVE GILCHRIST, harpist, singer, composer and producer

Described by one critic as “a phenomenal harp player who can make her instrument ring with unparalleled purity”, Maeve Gilchrist has taken the Celtic (lever) harp to new levels of performance and visibility.

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Maeve‘s innovative approach to her instrument stretches its harmonic limits and improvisational possibilities. She is as at home as a soloist with an internationally renowned orchestra as she is playing with a traditional Irish folk group or using electronic augmentation in a more contemporary, improvisatory setting.

www.maevegilchristmusic.com