Enjoy Irish Music, Help a Good Cause

New Philharmonic, the resident orchestra of the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage, and Cherish the Ladies, a leading Irish singing group, will give two performances of traditional Celtic and popular new Irish music March 19-20.

New Philharmonic is using the concerts as an opportunity to participate in the Orchestras Feeding America National Food Drive. The orchestra is inviting audiences to help the national effort organized by the League of American Orchestras by bringing non-perishable food items to the performances. The food collection will benefit the People’s Resource Center in Wheaton. The most needed food items are: dry soup, rice, powdered and canned milk, macaroni and cheese, cereal, peanut butter, beans, canned fruit and vegetables, tuna, canned meats, stew, soup, pasta, cereal, and fruit juices and sip-sized juices.

Show times are 8 p.m. March 19 and 3 p.m. March 20 at McAninch Arts Center (MAC) on campus, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn.

In the performances, the first half of the program will showcase the New Philharmonic with selections including “The Irish Washerwoman,” “The Last Rose of Summer” and “The Minstrel Boy” from Leroy Anderson’s “Irish Suite;” “Con Brio” and “Vivace” from Malcolm Arnold’s “Four Scottish Dances” and Gerard Fahy’s “Magh Scola,” arranged by Pat Hollenbeck, featuring vocals by Joanie Madden of Cherish the Ladies.

In the second half of the program, Cherish the Ladies will join the New Philharmonic to perform a collection of compositions including traditional Celtic selections such as “High Germany,” “Hornpipe” and “The Castle of Dromore;” popular selections from Cherish the Ladies' repertoire including “The Ballad of the Foxhunter,” based on the poem by W.B. Yeats and Turlough O’ Carolan’s classic, “Loftus Jones.”

New Philharmonic's music director and conductor is Kirk Muspratt.

“Cherish the Ladies is one of the top-notch Irish groups in the world, and has been adored for the past 25 years by audiences,” he said. “New Philharmonic is thrilled to spend St. Patrick’s Day weekend performing Celtic, energetic tunes with one of the most exciting ensembles in Irish music.”

New Philharmonic, named 2009 Professional Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras, continues its tradition of engaging audience members as musicians will visit with the patrons in the lobby during intermission. New Philharmonic distributes “Just Ask Kirk” cards to the audience for a post-concert question-and-answer session. Following the performance, audiences and the orchestra members join Muspratt for “Cookies with Kirk” giving the audience an opportunity to meet and interact with the conductor.
                                                                                                                                        
Tickets to New Philharmonic’s performances with Cherish the Ladies are $55 for adults; $53 for seniors and $45 for youth. To order tickets, call 630-942-4000, or visit AtTheMAC.org.