Passim’s Summer BCMFest (Boston Celtic Music Festival) Returns for 4th Year to Harvard Square
Daylong fest includes Celtic Edition of Live Music Brunch, Free Outdoor Performances and Ticketed Evening Concert at Club Passim on July 8th
Cambridge, MA – June 12, 2018 – The summer edition of the popular Passim’s BCMFest (Boston Celtic Music Festival), a showcase for Celtic music and dance, returns to Harvard Square on Sunday, July 8th. The all ages festival features nearly 12 hours of Celtic performances by Boston area musicians, including a free outdoor concert and a ticketed finale in Club Passim featuring Matt and Shannon Heaton with Ari & Mia. Tickets are available now at www.passim.org/bcmfest .
Passim’s Summer BCMFest begins with “The Celtic Brunch,” a special edition of the Live Music Brunch series at Club Passim from 10AM -2PM, featuring fiddle-piano duo Chris Overholser and Utsav Lal. The festivities then move outside to Palmer Street (directly adjacent to Club Passim) from 2:30-5PM for a free concert featuring the trio of Caroline Dressler, Giulia Haible and Maggie MacPhail (all members of Scottish Fish) and the progressive folk/traditional/fusion quintet Pumpkin Bread.
Summer BCMFest 2018 concludes at Club Passim with the evening performance at 7PM by a pair of duos: Matt and Shannon Heaton (a founder of BCMFest) and Ari & Mia. Tickets for this concert are $18 for the general public, $10 for Passim members and students with ID. For tickets, reservations and other information,visit passim.org/bcmfest.
BCMFest is a program of Passim, a Cambridge-based non-profit seeking to build a vibrant music community through its legendary listening venue, music school, artist grants, and outreach initiatives. The Summer BCMFest was formed following the success of Passim’s longstanding winter BCMFest, a weekend gathering celebrating Greater Boston’s richness of music, song and dance from the Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other Celtic traditions. Passim’s winter BCMFest is set to take place January 18-21, 2019.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:
The Sunday evening performances will be headlined by Matt and Shannon Heaton who have been a much-loved mainstay of Boston-area Celtic music for nearly 17 years. Shannon’s virtuosic turns on flute, whistle and accordion and Matt’s resounding accompaniment on guitar and bouzouki, as well as passionate and striking vocal harmonies define their signature sound. They will be joined on the bill by cello and fiddle duo, Ari & Mia. The sisters Friedman (Ari on cello and Mia on fiddle) have expanded from Scottish and Cape Breton traditions to incorporate themes from the American south as well as northeastern folk music.
Fiddlers Caroline Dressler and Maggie MacPhail and cellist Giulia Haible – the Saturday afternoon headliners – make up three-fifths of Scottish Fish, one of the area’s most popular Celtic-oriented youth bands, mixing both original and traditional Celtic music. Joining them is Pumpkin Bread, a quintet focused on original folk music with a flavor for spirited improvisation. The day’s first performers will be the recently launched collaboration of classically-trained violinist, Chris Overholser and wide-ranging world music pianist Utsay Lai during the “Celtic Brunch” at Club Passim.
Club Passim is located at 47 Palmer Street in Cambridge, MA 02138. For more information, visit https://www.passim.org/live-music/brunch/.
About Passim
The mission of Passim is to provide truly exceptional and interactive live musical experiences for both performers and audiences, to nurture artists at all stages of their career, and to build a vibrant music community. Passim does so through their legendary listening venue, music school, artist grants and outreach programs. As a nonprofit since 1994, Passim carries on the heritage of our predecessors-the historic Club 47 (1958-1968) and for-profit Passim (1969-1994). We cultivate a diverse mix of musical traditions, where the emphasis is on the relationship between performers and audience and teachers and students. Located in Harvard Square, Passim serves Cambridge and the broader region by featuring local, national and international artists. Our ultimate goal is to help the performance arts flourish and thereby enrich the lives of members of our community. For a complete schedule, visit www.passim.org.
