Orla Fallon joins Jim Brickman on
BEAUTIFUL WORLD CHRISTMAS TOUR
at Hanover Theatre, November 15
FORMER CELTIC WOMAN STAR PROMOTING
DISTANT SHORE CD AND CHRISTMAS SINGLE
Former Celtic Woman star vocalist and harpist, Orla Fallon, has announced her first ever series of solo concert dates in support of her recent release, Distant Shore, and just recorded Christmas single, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” The Irish singer will also accompany platinum instrumentalist Jim Brickman at several concert appearances on his upcoming “Beautiful World” Christmas Tour, which begins November 11th in Newport News, VA. Fallon continues to appear nationwide as a guest vocalist on Brickman’s PBS Special, “Beautiful World.”
Fallon has received much praise for Distant Shore. Billboard Magazine noted that in releasing Distant Shore, Fallon is, “…combining her Irish roots with her appreciation for America’s heartland…” Inside World Music commented, “The Irish maiden soothes the soul with a pristine voice backed by some contemporary choral arrangements and mostly modern instrumentation…the rather pop-focused, “Dancing in the Moonlight,” is a sweet song about love that is sure to make feet happy with dancing maneuvers.”
Additionally, Fallon will be releasing her recently-recorded version of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” to radio later this month. The track was recorded in Nashville and was arranged and produced by veteran producer, Dan Shea.
Distant Shore was produced by Shea and Eoghan O’Neill. O’Neill is a founding member of the seminal Irish folk-rock band Moving Hearts, and was a musical Director of Riverdance-The Show. For the past five years O’Neill has shared the world stage with Orla as Celtic Woman’s Musical Director and bassist. Shea, a multi-platinum American producer, whose long resume of hit pop productions includes tracks by Mariah Carey, Carlos Santana, Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion and Martina McBride, produced and/or co-produced six tracks on Distant Shore. Nashville’s Green Hill Music and EMI released the album in the U.S. on September 22, 2009 with international release dates to follow.
Orla Fallon toured the world as a soloist in the phenomenally popular performing troupe Celtic Woman for four years, and recorded with them the three albums which held a record-setting 95 consecutive weeks at the No. 1 position on the Billboard World Music Albums chart. During Fallon’s four years in the group, Celtic Woman sold more than 4 million CDs and DVDs, played seven U.S. tours, and performed for more than 800,000 people. Meanwhile, the three Celtic Woman PBS Specials have aired more than 13,658 times on 685 PBS stations across the country, covering 97% of US television households. Fallon’s first solo album, The Water Is Wide, debuted on that chart in the Top 10 upon its U.S. release in 2006.
VISIT ORLA FALLON ON THE WEB AT:
http://www.orlafallon.com
http://www.myspace.com/orlafallonofficial
The upcoming teen comedy from Artigo/Ajemian Films, “We Got the Beat,” has launched a full-length music video from the movie on YouTube. Performed by the movie’s boyband, A New Condition,” (with additional vocals by Worcester’s own Sam James and Burncoat High teacher Kevin Cox), the song “My Heart Hurts” was written and produced by Worcester’s own Kaz Gamble, along with over 20 additional tracks for the film.
“We Got the Beat” is a feature length indie comedy shot during the summer of 2008 entirely in Worcester County. It is set at the fictional Worcester High. The film tells the story of Brad Roberts (Michael Copon), a high school star quarterback, who quits the team his senior year to turn his heavy metal band into the first ever boyband in 1982. Post-production on the film is almost complete, at which time producers will screen the film for distributors in Los Angeles. The local premiere will be in early spring of 2010.
The film stars:
Michael Copon – One Tree Hill, Beyond the Break, Scorpion King II
Robert Hoffman -Step Up 2: The Streets, Aliens in the Attic, MTV’s Wild ‘N Out
Ryan Hansen – Veronica Mars, Party Down, Friday the 13th
Ryan Pinkston -MTV’s Punk’d, College
Ming Na – SGU Stargate Universe, E.R, The Joy Luck Club
Kurt Fuller – Ray, The Pursuit of Happiness, Alias
E-Knock -MTV’s America’s Next Dance Crew – Season One
Laura Breckenridge – Gossip Girl, Southern Belles
Rachel Specter -The House Bunny, Prom Night, My One and Only
Congressman James McGovern will launch the second Annual Worcester State College Empty Bowl event and discusses ending child hunger, Tuesday, November10, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Student Center.
McGovern will address the forum at 11:30 and outline the Federal initiative to End Childhood Hunger by 2015. He will then inaugurate our Empty Bowl event by dishing out the first bowl of soup. There will be raffle tickets and opportunities to play SNAP bingo and food Trivia games. Information will be available to let College students know they might be eligible for SNAP benefits. Participants will purchase lunch including a bowl of soup donated by Chartwells, Bread donated by Panera Bread and apples donated by Nicewicz Farms. The cost is $10 for faculty and staff and $5 for students. Proceeds will benefit the Worcester County Food Bank, the Worcester Food Policy Council, Brigham Hill Farm and the South Worcester Neighborhood Center.
The event, sponsored by the Intergenerational Urban Institute and the Commonwealth Corps “Ending Hunger Together” program, will feature the following panelists for a discussion at 2:00 p.m.:
· Jean McMurray of the Worcester County Food Bank will give an overview of hunger in the Worcester area, and report on the “Kid’s Café.”
· Angela Beeler, pediatrician at UMASS, will discuss the effect of hunger and food insecurity on children’s health and well being. She will also address steps the medical community is taking to alleviate child hunger.
· Donna Lombardi of WPS School Nutrition, will discuss the initiatives underway to improve the nutrition of school breakfast and lunch and progress on universal breakfast.
· Sharon Driscoll of Project Bread, will focus on Project Bread’s Child Hunger initiatives and ways in which these dovetail with the President’s Ending Child Hunger by the year 2015.
· Kwame Appiah from WIC will discuss the reauthorization of WIC and the many changes currently underway in that program.
· Amy Navin of Brigham Hill Farm, will discuss schoolchildren who are volunteering at the farm and learning more about hunger and nutrition.
· Liz Sheehan of Hunger Free and Healthy & Worcester Food Policy Council, will discuss child hunger from a community perspective and discuss hopeful strategies toward ending child hunger at a neighborhood level.
The Black Student Union at the College of the Holy Cross presents Griot Live, a display of poetry, dance, and song that expresses modern and traditional African American culture. The event is free and open to the public.
Griot Live features special guests Def Jam poet and spoken word artist Gemineye. There will also be performances by the Holy Cross’ Rhythm Nation Steppaz, the Fusion Dance Team, and the Dance Squad from Clark University. Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. at the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom, Holy Cross (Enter Gate 7)
A Griot is a member of an African tribe whose job is to keep an oral history of the tribe and to entertain with stories, poems, songs, and dances. Griot Live emphasizes the importance of students coming together to share their stories. The evening allows the campus and community to see and share in the collected perspectives of the black experience.
The College of the Holy Cross (holycross.edu), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is among the nation’s leading liberal arts institutions. A highly selective, four-year, exclusively undergraduate college of 2,900 students, Holy Cross is renowned for offering a rigorous, personalized education in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition. Since its founding in 1843, Holy Cross has made a positive impact in society by graduating students who distinguish themselves as thoughtful leaders in business, professional and civic life.
Music Worcester, Inc. presents the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday, November 11th at Mechanics Hall, 8pm, with Maestro Long Yu conducting and featuring pianist Yuja Wang. A free, pre-concert lecture will also be offered at 7pm in Washburn Hall (at Mechanics Hall) by Stephen Ledbetter, a scholar, writer, lecturer, and conductor who served as Musicologist and Program Annotator for the Boston Symphony Orchestra for many years.
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is the earliest and the best-known ensemble of its kind in Asia. Formed in 1879 as the Shanghai Public Band, it developed into an Orchestra in 1907, promoted Western Music, introduced the first Chinese orchestral work to Asian audiences and has been reputed as being the “best in the Far East.” Spanning three different centuries, the Shanghai Symphony has now embraced a new era; it has held over ten thousand concerts, including premiere performances of several thousand musical works, and has collaborated with many guest artists (conductors, soloists and vocalists) of world renown.
The orchestra has gained a reputation as the most authoritative explainer of Chinese symphonic compositions and has become increasingly influential both at home and abroad, after most recently completing the audio and video recordings of Zhu Jian’er’s Symphonies, Tan Dun’s multimedia concerto, The Map, and music for the prize-winning film (Oscar and Grammy Awards) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Since the 1970s, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has toured extensively abroad. In 1990, the orchestra made its debut at Carnegie Hall in New York; in 2003, the orchestra performed in 11 cities in the US; in 2004, it toured Europe to celebrate the Sino-French Cultural Year. The Orchestra’s 125th Anniversary Celebration Concert, given at the Berliner Philharmonie (the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is the first Chinese symphony orchestra to play in this hall), was hailed as a great success.
Maestro Long Yu, Music Director and Conductor for The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, is one of the most distinguished Chinese conductors with an established international reputation. Yu is also Music Director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, President of the Beijing Music Festival Artistic Committee and President of the Artistic Committee of the Shanghai Oriental Center.
22-year old Yuja Wang has firmly established herself as one of the most significant pianists of her generation. She first came to international recognition in February 2005 when, on one day’s notice, she replaced Radu Lupu with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Pinchas Zukerman conducting, performing Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4. The success was immediate and dramatic with the Canada press reporting “a star is born.” Wang was immediately reengaged to perform Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 in June and has been invited back every season since. Wang is widely recognized for playing that combines the spontaneity and fearless imagination of youth with the discipline and precision of a mature artist. Regularly lauded for her controlled, prodigious technique, Wang’s command of the piano has been described as “astounding” and “superhuman,” and she has been praised for her authority over the most complex technical demands of the repertoire, the depth of her musical insight, as well as her fresh interpretations and graceful, charismatic stage presence. Following her San Francisco recital debut, The San Francisco Chronicle wrote “The arrival of Chinese-born pianist Yuja Wang on the musical scene is an exhilarating and unnerving development. To listen to her in action is to re-examine whatever assumptions you may have had about how well the piano can actually be played,” and The Washington Post called Wang’s Kennedy Center recital debut “jaw-dropping.”
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will be performing works by Mussorgsky (Khovantchina: Introduction, “Dawn on the Moscow River”), Rachmaninoff (Piano Concerto No. 2 in c-minor, Op. 18) and Chen Qigang (“Iris devoilee” – an extraordinary concerto for full orchestra, soprano and traditional Chinese instruments.)
Since 1858, Music Worcester, Inc. has had a rich tradition of offering the finest music programming and currently offers a full season of artistically diverse and world-renowned, international music and dance performances. Concerts are performed at Mechanics Hall, Tuckerman Hall and the Hanover Theatre. For more information on this season’s program, or for tickets, go to www.musicworcester.org or call 508.754.3231. Music Worcester is located at 323 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01608.
28
Oct
09
Interns Wanted!
Worcester Magazine is looking for editorial interns to assist with all aspects of our weekly editorial rotation, from research, data entry, writing, blog entries and reporting for both the News and Arts/Entertainment sections. Two-three days a week in-office required, plus occasional assignments to be completed on your own time. Own laptop with wireless access/email required. Email A&E editor Doreen Manning at doreen@worcestermagazine.com for more info!
