SFA’s new Celtic Harp Band to perform Irish favorites

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music and its Calliope Concert Series will present the Celtic Harp Band in concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 8, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Present and past SFA harp students will come together to perform Irish music on smaller, Celtic harps. The program will also include poetry of W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Thomas Moore, Eavan Boland and Spike Milligan read by Dr. Jamie Weaver, associate professor of music history at SFA.

The Celtic Harp Band includes Haley Brant, Susanna Campbell, Rachel Clark, Corinna Hogan, Martha de Luna, Emily Mitchell and Kjersten Sanders.

Among the selections to be performed are “Londonderry Air (Danny Boy),” “The Harp That Once Through Tara’s Halls” and “Wearin’ o’ the Green.”

This concert replaces the originally scheduled concert by flutist/composer Gary Schocker who had to cancel his performance on the Calliope Series due to a scheduling conflict.

The cancellation provided an opportunity to proceed with the budding idea of establishing a harp band, according to Emily Mitchell, SFA artist-in-residence and harp adjunct instructor.

“SFA is always on spring break during St Patrick’s Day, so we’re waiting a couple of weeks to get our Irish on,” Mitchell said.

Cole Concert Hall is located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive.

Admission is free. For more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit http://www.finearts.sfasu.edu/.