22nd Annual Old St. Patrick’s Siamsa na nGael
CHICAGO (February 2018) – The 22nd Siamsa na nGael celebration, Old St. Patrick’s Church’s annual celebration of Irish heritage, will bring world-class Celtic entertainment to the Chicago Symphony Center on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.
This year’s celebration will tell the story of two slave liberators: an Irishman named Daniel “the Liberator” O’Connell and a slave turned liberator named Frederick Douglass, who joined forces to become “drum majors for justice.” They developed a strong friendship and traveled together around Ireland speaking out against injustice and oppression in all its forms. This evening will look at their life stories to better understand how we can strive to wipe out injustice, oppression, and slavery in our present world.
The story of this unique and powerful friendship will be told through story, music, and dance. The tales will be told and celebrated through performances by soloists Gavin Coyle and Alfreda Burke; Chicago’s own Irish diva Catherine O’Connell; renowned tenor soloist Rodrick Dixon; by the
22nd Annual Old St. Patrick’s Siamsa na nGael Celebrates Two ‘Drum Majors for Justice’, the 100-voice Old St. Patrick’s Concert Choir, the step dancing of the Trinity Irish Dancers, the Irish Trad Band, the After School Matters singers, special guest narrators, and others.
This extraordinary event was started 22 years ago by Chicago civic leaders MAGGIE DALEY AND SHIRLEY RYAN. The program is produced by Siamsa na nGael Creative and Artistic Director Bill Fraher. Bill Fraher is the director of concert choirs for Old St. Patrick’s Church.
Tickets:
Tickets range in price from $30-60 and may be purchased through the Symphony Center Box Office, (312) 294-3000 or www.cso.org starting Monday, January 29.
Sponsorship and post-performance reception packages are available by calling (312) 798-2348. Packages start $150 which includes tickets to the post-performance reception in the beautiful Grainger Ballroom. Benefactor packages include the pre-performance dinner for major sponsors.
This year’s honorary event co-chairs are VIRGINIA AND NORM BOBINS, SHELLEY AND BILL FARLEY, AND LYNN AND JIM KILEY
