It’s not that far from the oboe to the tin whistle. Or from the oboe to the bagpipes, for that matter. Wendy Moore, founding member of The Celtic Rathskallions, who played the oboe in a symphony orchestra for 10 years, demonstrates the principle behind the bagpipes for thousands of schoolchildren each year. Her materials? A party horn and a balloon. This gets plenty of laughs from the kids, but it also reinforces Moore’s lesson: you need wind and a double reed to get a sound out of either. Then there’s the bit she does with her husband and sideman Arthur Mcgregor involving the undershorts he has stashed in the innards of her harp. It goes with her tidbits about the history of the Celtic harp: The resonating chamber of a harp was a convenient place for musicians to stow their stuff while travelling.

A fun day of four 40 minute performances of my Maddie Show for elementary students at Lyford Cay International School in Nassau. Performing outside in February is certainly a real treat!  

Some sight seeing is one of the wonderful side perks of performance touring.  A day on the grounds of Atlantis was quite an experience!

While touring my Maddie and Celtic Rathskallion shows, I find that staying in shape is important and fun (plus keeps me on track for my spring/summer triathlon race season). Daily 1 1/2 hour ocean-side runs combined with power walks plus an hour of a swim workout did the trick during this trip.  A 2 hour [...]

Homeward bound…….

To Portlaoise Library, Co. Laois and to our final tour performance of show number 32….

Another busy 3 show day……

Off to a running start then on to Bunclody and Gorey, Co. Wexford…..

As my mother would say at the beginning of every month, “Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits!”….

Along the Celtic Sea coast from Dunvargan to Wexford….