This Fall, we will offer two sections of this class so students can participate remotely and in person at CIM. Please select "IPS22Fall-ONLINE" or "IPS22Fall-INPERSON" when registering.

Pub songs are raucous, tuneful, and above all, fun! But like the most intricate reel, you need skill and a concentrated approach to play and sing them well. Todd will teach the vocal techniques and rhythmic strategies needed to help you stand and deliver these wonderful ballads and drinking songs. All instruments encouraged.

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.

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.

Flute player and uilleann piper Seán Gavin has listened to thousands of hours of recordings of traditional Irish music with an incredible ear for intricate musical details that define personal and regional styles. In this listening class, Seán will guide students to listen and learn from musicians whose playing has shaped the Irish music tradition.

The 60s were an amazing era for growth in Irish music, with the development of new ways of presenting and arranging the music and the incredible popularity of folk and traditional music among the general public — everybody knew and sang the songs. Dáithí is looking forward to walking down memory lane and playing and teaching some of the music from the time and telling the story of the folk clubs and folk and traditional acts of the era (some now little known or forgotten in America), an era that laid the foundations for everything that has come since.