Irish Fair of Minnesota
Harriet Island 175 W Water St, St. Paul, United StatesJoin the Center for Irish Music at the Irish Fair of Minnesota!
Join the Center for Irish Music at the Irish Fair of Minnesota!
Join the Center for Irish Music for an "Irish Instrument Petting Zoo" at the Irish Fair!
Join a selection of musicians from the CIM's Advanced Youth Ensemble for a special performance on the Leinster Stage at the Irish Fair of Minnesota!
If you are a student who has learned a few tunes, but still feel like you are in over your head when playing with a group, this is the class for you!
You don’t have to be able to play “at speed” or perfectly, the class will accommodate the participants’ skill levels as they progress to the inherent joys of playing music with other people. While our lessons are being conducted online, we will focus on playing with an accompanist or following another melody player. Melody instruments only.
This ensemble is for learning to play together with fellow musicians, challenging one another to learn new tunes and belt them out with great rhythm and style. This ensemble will meet in person and will focus on playing together with other accompaniment and melody players. As a group, the Wren Intermediate Ensemble is non-competitive. Taught by flute player and guitarist Iain Dove McAfee.
Join flute and uilleann piper, Seán Gavin to learn one new tune each week for 4 weeks this Summer. Seán was the winner of the 2016 Seán Ó Riada gold medal in Cork and has a great wealth of tunes. Intermediate and advanced tin whistle players will learn from Seán’s deep understanding of the instrument itself, and his unique way of teaching the stylistic secrets of the Irish tin whistle! Don’t miss this opportunity to study with Seán online in a group setting.
Deadline for financial aid applications for Fall Term.
Visit our Financial Aid page to learn more and apply.
Fall Term registration deadline for returning students to keep their private lesson time
Make up week for Summer Term private lessons.
Fall Term Registration Deadline for Group Classes & Family Discount
Join the Center for Irish Music for an Open House event to:
- Meet our instructors and staff
- Take part in an instrument or class demo
- Register for fall classes
- Join an informal session
- Enjoy complimentary refreshments
First Day of Fall Term
Experience the enjoyment and challenge of playing music with others in a mixed instrument ensemble! Together, the group works on new and old repertoire, with Dáithí Sproule, a world-class instructor and performing musician, as mentor.
This class is for musicians interested in improving their rhythm, dancers interested in understanding the music they dance to, and for anyone interested in learning some basic Irish dance steps.
In this 6-week class, Danielle will discuss jig, hornpipe, polka, and slide rhythms. As a dancer, Danielle knows how vital it is that these tune types are played with *a* right swing and emphasis. This class will begin to explore what that means. Danielle will introduce a few tunes, discuss their phrasing, and teach some basic steps to practice to feel the nuance of the tune type in your body. You can dance with your feet, seated with your hands, or watch and learn.
Irish music is most fun when it is played with friends! Join Brian Miller for the Beginning Ensemble in 2021-22, an in-person class. This first-time mixed-instrument ensemble is open to musicians ages 9-12 who know about 10-15 full-length Irish tunes (jigs, reels, or polkas). This class is a great opportunity to meet new Irish music friends who play different instruments, and to improve your Irish music skills which include learning music by ear, rhythm, pitch and repertoire!
In the class, Dáithí Sproule will share songs from the repertoire of this influential music group of the late 1960s, early 70s, renowned for their harmonies and innovative arrangements on guitars and keyboard. Though closely associated with the songs of Donegal, the band consisting of Tríona and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, their brother Mícheál and Dáithí himself actually sang a wide range of material in English and Irish, including some non-traditional songs. Dáithí looks forward to teaching a selection of this material.
Open Sky Ensemble celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2022! We have a great variety of instruments right now but are always happy to add more. If you know many tunes and have a fair amount of CIM instruction under your belt, come join this fun Monday evening adult ensemble!
Poetry has always been one of the glories of Irish culture. In this class Dáithí Sproule will share a selection of Irish language poetry in English translation, choosing examples from as early as the 6th century up to the present day and filling in the historical and literary background. Dáithí looks forward to students bringing their own particular interests and loves to the conversation.
The tin whistle is a rewarding Irish instrument and a great fit for young musicians with small hands. Join Norah Rendell for a continuation of the Introduction to Tin Whistle for Kids that started in May 2022 (and ran through the summer with Iain Dove McAfee), designed for musicians going into Kindergarten to grade 2. Norah will teach your child how to play polkas, marches, jigs and songs. Hands-on parental support is needed for regular practice at home.
The Redwing Ensemble class is an intermediate level mixed-instrument ensemble. Directed by Hannah Flowers, students will learn tunes and arrange them in sets to perform together as a group. This class has a strong focus on building ensemble skills including playing fluently, adding variations, listening to each other, maintaining excellent rhythm, using simple harmonies, preparing for performance, increasing knowledge of traditional Irish music, and having fun with each other and the music!