A Joyous Festival of Music and Dance
With Celtic harps, hammered dulcimers, whistles, concertina, strings and more, Philip and Pam Boulding and their five grown children along with granddaughters Rowan, Kailey and Lindsey are joined by the lightning feet of the Raney Irish Dancers. Thomas Arthur entrances all with his lyrical juggling.  Lively new arrangements of jigs and reels bring the champion Scottish trio, The McKassons, to Yuletide for the third time by popular demand!  Soulful Irish songs sung by actress/singer Colleen Raney (another sibling of the Raney clan) will grace the hall, while her brother Mark Raney on vocals, guitar and cittern charms all with his warmth, humor, and poignant songs. Tom Creegan plays in Tacoma and Seattle per tradition with his haunting Uilleann pipes.  Also featured are a children’s choir, and a magical tale from the Celtic tradition, providing a glimpse of another world through story, verse and eurythmy.  The audience becomes a key part of the festivities, with members invited to don a costume and follow the processional through the aisles with the musicians, and join in the caroling near evening’s end.  The hall resounds in glorious harmony as we close singing “All Through the Night.”

About Magical Strings
Philip and Pam Boulding founded Magical Strings with their Celtic harps and hammered dulcimers back in 1978, the same year that they began the tradition of Celtic Yuletide Concerts with their family. Practically a household name in the Northwest, Magical Strings has toured throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland and Japan. The group has toured and recorded with Dan Fogelberg, appeared on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” recorded 18 albums on four labels, with a new original solo harp CD, Musings, just released last year.  .  Philip and Pam love to share their music with children and have performed in schools throughout the country, including Waldorf schools where they have taught lyre, harp, orchestra and painting. Currently Pam is the lyre teacher to Bright Water School’s students who will also be participating this year in the Yuletide Festivities.

Often referred to by local media as the "Von Trapps of the Northwest", their love of music is embraced by all five of their adult children, ages 26 to 37, who each year return home from the east coast to join the band for the final weekend of Yuletide Concerts.  The eldest, Geoffrey, who plays the violin at the concerts, lives outside of Providence, Rhode Island where he manages the bio-imaging facility for the Medical Division and Biology Department at Brown University, and is one of the country’s foremost experts on electron microscopes.  Twins Morgan and Marshall who add field organ and harp to the shows are top designers and builders in Rhode Island and Philadelphia.  They bring great merriment to the backstage activities and anywhere else they happen to be.  Brittany, virtuoso violinist, who soloed at Spoleto Festival USA this past summer to rave reviews, will be soloing with the New Haven Symphony this fall.  She can be heard performing with the St. Louis Symphony, and celebrated Symphonies and Opera Orchestras in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut and is in demand as a freelancer and chamber musician throughout New York City and beyond.  Brenin, cellist and second eldest, lives near Seattle with his wife Sara who is the leader of the Raney Irish Dancers and director of the Tara Academy of Irish Dance, who will grace the Yuletide stage as well.  Brenin and Sara have two children, Rowan, 8, who is already winning awards in Irish dancing, and Haydn, the Boulding’s first grandson, born last March!  Besides his faithful and soulful cello playing at every Yuletide concert, Brenin is Magical Strings’ gourmet vegan chef at Harp Camp. 

Philip and Pam also design and build Celtic harps and hammered dulcimers, run the School of Magical Strings, and host the Magic Hill Summer Harp Camp and the Magic Hill Fairy School on their beautiful 5-acre home in Olalla overlooking the Puget Sound.

About the McKassons
Ryan and Cali McKasson and Matt Jerrell, a brother, sister and brother-in-law band from the Pacific Northwest, perform their music with a mythical, melodic force that has been turning heads on the American Celtic music scene.  National Scottish Fiddle Champion Ryan, award-winning pianist and harpist Cali, and percussionist extraordinaire Matt (married this summer to Brigid Raney, youngest of the Irish dancing Raney sisters!) bring an exciting edge to the Scottish fiddle tradition, creating constantly evolving textures within a powerful mix of contemporary and traditional influences.  With two brilliant CD’s, Tripping Maggie and Tall Tales, and a third CD project in the works, The McKassons join forces with Magical Strings for the third year in what promises to be a dynamic and lyrical collaboration this Celtic Yuletide season!  For more information about this rapidly-rising band, go to www.themckassons.com.

About Colleen Raney

Colleen Raney has been performing since the age of four as a singer, dancer, and professional actor in the Pacific Northwest and in New York City.  As one half of the duo Mark and Colleen Raney, she has been putting her own spin on Irish music around the area for 15 years.  Colleen is currently recording her first album of traditional and non traditional Irish music, titled Linnet, to be released in early December.

 

About Mark Raney
Mark Raney lives and works as a Country Doctor in Sultan, Washington, and contributes vocals, guitar, and cittern along with a mental library of countless songs from the British Isles. Mark studied the ancient art of Irish ‘sean nos’ song under the legendary Joseph Heaney during the early 1980’s.  He is a founding member of the Irish band Rapparee (www.seattlerapparee.com) that has headlined at F.X. McRory’s and the Seattle Center House Irish Heritage Club gala for 30 years.

Magical Strings
P.O. Box 1240
Olalla, WA 98359
253-857-3716

It will be a grand celebration of 30 years, don't miss it! Order your tickets right away, they will sell out early this year.

 

Comments from Yuletide attendees:
“It’s not Christmas till the Yuletide Celebration.”   NG, Kirkland
“What a joy and delight. My heart was stirred, and my feet were tapping. Enchanting!”  PD, Centralia
“A fantastically warm concert. This is the beginning of a new tradition for me and my family.”  BM, Gig Harbor
“Sets my feet a dancin’ and my hear soaring! I’m 67 now…you make me feel young again!” LJ
“We brought cousins visiting here from Limerick, Ireland who declared the program 'brilliant’”.    MP,
“You guys rock!”  CU, Tacoma
“I feel deep joy listening to the music – ancient stirrings of something warm and familiar. Thanks!”  DH
 “Wonderful!  This will be our annual tradition.”  FJC, Woodinville
“Absolutely beautiful!”  AH, Issaquah
“Fabulous!  We’ll be back next year!”  CF, Olympia
“This is our family tradition—wonderful!”  BB, Lynnwood
“I find myself transfixed and in awe of where the music takes me.”  EE, Seattle
“With no power for a week, you have warmed my heart for this holiday season and the year to come.”  SW, Bellevue
“There is no doubt that you already embody the joy and priceless recognition of this soul-inspired season.  Your concert last weekend was my most favorite ever experience.  The genuine love and inclusive outreach to the community was straight from the heart.  I love the spirited selections as well as the lullaby for your granddaughter.  To be a member of your family or even an extended member would be a real honor for anyone…Thank you for your outpouring of love and fabulous music.  The McKassons were amazing, as was the juggler and the woman with the angel’s voice.  My husband couldn’t get over the young dancer who clicked her heels midair. We’ll be back next year.  Thank you for the inspirational evening and for making these concerts a tradition.  In gratitude,”   SK, Portland, OR