Irish Music Traditions – Atlanta is one branch of the USA-Southern region of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ), an international membership organization founded in Ireland in 1951 to preserve Traditional Irish Music and Culture. CCÉ fosters Irish cultural events for people everywhere to enjoy its distinctive character, with hundreds of branches of worldwide.
Visit Comhaltas HQ Dublin site at http://comhaltas.ie/.
A Few Words from the Branch Chair
May 10, 2011
Dear Members of Irish Music Traditions,
It gives me great pleasure to open this letter with the announcement of our Bernard & Kathy Lane Scholarship recipients! Congratulations go to:
- Molly Hildreth, student of Jessica Sherwood
- Abigail Shelton, student of Kimberly Barnes
- Claire Shirey, student of Katherine Irwin Thomas
Each recipient will be awarded $500.00 to help offset the cost of the approved summer workshop each has chosen to attend. Thank you to our Scholarship Committee who did not take their roles lightly and were very diligent in their evaluations! Our Scholarship Committee was made up of two of our own board members; a musician and member of another branch of Comhaltas, and of course our founder Bernard Lane. I have invited our Scholarship winners to our next members meeting in June so that we may congratulate them in person and to our Annual Meeting October 6th to tell us about their workshop experiences.
Speaking of meetings, I hope you noted the change in our Membership Meeting from May to Saturday, June 2nd. We are tagging onto the AJCB Summer School events by holding our meeting prior to the closing Céilí for the summer school. We will hold our meeting at 4:30pm at the Harp Irish Pub in Roswell and then join the Céilí. There will be some important topics on the agenda! For instance, our Executive Board has agreed that we should update the name of our branch to better reflect our new strategy. Come and be a part of the discussion!
Please consult our web page for the calendar of meetings and other current events. And as the school year is winding down, I hope you will consider getting our young players out to the local dance and music sessions!
Slán go fóill,
Teresa Finley
Irish Music Traditions Board Chair