Événement

Bellingham Irish Festival Feature Concert: Rakish + Elias Alexander

Elias Alexander is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and actor, and is one of a handful of musicians from the US who are on the forefront of creativity within contemporary Celtic music. He graduated from Middlebury College in 2013 with a BA in music. Since then he has composed for, lead, and toured with several bands including Soulsha, an eight-piece Afro-Celtic Funk band, and The Bywater Band, an innovative Celtic ensemble. He also plays with other bands including Fàrsan, MAC, and Seven Nations, and has performed with greats of the Celtic world such as Alasdair Fraser, Carlos Nuñez, and Gillebride MacMillan. Elias has appeared at major festivals, including Celtic Connections (Glasgow, Scotland), Outside the Box Boston, Fresh Grass, Festival of Small Halls (PEI), Austin Celtic Festival, KVMR Celtic Festival, and many, many more.

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Violinist Maura Shawn Scanlin and guitarist Conor Hearn unite to form Rakish. The pair gets their namesake from the traditional Irish tune Rakish Paddy, an origin that aptly suits the duo and their shared background in traditional Irish and Scottish music. Yet rakish itself also suggests something strikingly unconventional in its appearance, and Maura and Conor knowingly embrace this wealth of connotation in their music, drawing on the music they grew up with and performing it with their own slant.

In a performance that is something more akin to concert music, Rakish explores tunes and songs from Irish and American folk traditions in a way that reflects their shared interest in and love for chamber music and jazz. Maura Shawn, a two-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and a winner of the Glenfiddich Fiddle Competition, wields the technical range of an accomplished classical violinist and the deep sensitivity of a traditional musician. Conor, a native to the Irish music communities of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD, makes his home in Boston playing guitar for a number of traditional music acts and bands. As a duo they have performed on Front Row Boston, Brian ODonovans Burren Backroom Series, and they can be heard on broadcasts of WGBHs A Celtic Sojourn.