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Yuletide Greeting 2005
Dear Friends,
Glistening in the autumn mist, the holly trees of Magic Hill
are adorned with bright red berries that remind us of this ancient
symbol for the Yuletide season. We are grateful to all
of you who have celebrated with us through the years, and invite
you once again to join our colorful procession and three generations
of artists: the Boulding clan on harps, dulcimers,
violins, cello, whistles, concertina and more; songs of the season
and rollicking reels with Fiddlehead, Northwest’s
premier Celtic trio on violin, guitar and Irish pipes; and the Raney
Family Irish Dancers with their lightening-fast feet. Be
mesmerized by the lyrical juggling of Thomas Arthur and
thunderous percussion of Jarrod Kaplan. A magical
tale of kings and shepherds will be graced by eurythmy,
while Mark Raney with his warmth and humor will lead
us in song and the hall will resound in glorious harmony singing
all through the night.
With cello and Irish dance our son Brenin and his family, Sara
and 5-year-old Rowan will perform throughout the entire Yuletide
season. We feel so fortunate that they live close by in Seattle
where they work together managing the Raney family chemistry
lab, and where Sara teaches at her Tara Academy of Irish Dance.
Joining us for the final weekend will be the rest of our five,
with a growing third generation. Geoffrey, Erin, 5-year-old Kailey
and eleven-month-old Lindsey, will arrive just in time for the
Tacoma concert.
Geoffrey, our eldest and violinist, has recently accepted a position
managing the Bio-imaging facility at Brown University in Rhode
Island, where brother, builder and harp player Marshall along
with Abby and two-year-old Margaret will welcome our fifth grandchild
into the world in January of 2006. Morgan, who performs on field
organ and pennywhistle will be arriving from his home in Philadelphia
where his wife Lara is attending medical school. They have dreams
of settling in the Northwest someday.
Brittany, our youngest and professional violinist, gave a highly
acclaimed performance of the Barber Violin Concerto as soloist
in Breckenridge, Colorado this past summer. We were there! Brittany,
in her second year of graduate studies at the Colburn Conservatory
of Music in Los Angeles, just won a position in the Oakland Symphony
and will be auditioning for major orchestras nationwide. As per
tradition, her violin will sing out into the hall with a special
solo for Yuletide.
Magical Strings, the parents, have had a wonderful year of performing.
We recently completed a very successful West Coast Fall tour
and had a wonderful East Coast tour last spring – both
of them allowing us the opportunity to spend precious time with
our dear families who live much too far away. Brittany
was able to join us on stage at our concert in Los Angeles. Last
winter we performed for many children throughout the country
and, thanks to the South Kitsap School district, were able to
give over 5,000 elementary children a hands-on experience with
harps and dulcimers and treat them to some of our favorite Celtic
tunes and original works in an assembly.
This year found Philip back in Billy Oskay’s Big Red Studio
recording three solo CD’s, Celtic Mist, Celtic
Holiday, and Elegance of Hammered Dulcimer for
the Allegro label. He also has just finished creating
a beautiful new concert model harp which he will be taking over
the mountains to Spokane for the our last Arts Festival of the
year. We are thinking of naming it after one of our granddaughters;
Rowan, Lindsey or Margaret. The Kailey Harp, named for our second-born
granddaughter, has been a very popular model. Presently, there
are many students coming to Olalla for harp classes at our School
of Magical Strings and for private lessons. Magic Hill
Summer Harp ‘and Hammered Dulcimer’ Camp, by tradition
occurring on the second weekend of August, was our best yet.
We have been told by two of this past year’s campers that
learning to play the harp and dulcimer as a married couple can
be quite enlivening and awakens a new and joyous journey of togetherness.
In these times of dramatic world turbulence, Yuletide brings
a message of healing and renewal. With our Celtic Yuletide
festival we carry a flame of hope into the darkness of winter,
to kindle that inner fire that carries us through the cold to
the return of light. We hope you will come celebrate with
us and revel in that joyous light which permeates everything
with radiance—Celtic Yuletide!
Philip and Pam Boulding
Past Year's letters 2004 2003
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