Magical Strings’ Celtic Yuletide Story

It all began 42 years ago with the two of us (Pam and Philip) and our four young boys (twins Morgan and Marshall age 4, Brenin 6, and Geoffrey 8) would hop on a ferry and travel across the Sound to Seattle bringing with us our harps, hammered dulcimers and little instruments that the children played. We would set up in the Grand Central Arcade in Pioneer Square and play for all who would stop to warm their hands by the fire in the cavernous brick hall.  So much interest was generated that we started to keep a mailing list and decided to do our first holiday concert. We booked the Seattle Concert Theater (long since torn down) then walked to a nearby print shop where Pam created a hand-drawn poster which we duplicated, posted around town and mailed out. We nearly filled the 400-seat hall and a tradition was born.

As that first audience sat silently waiting for the concert to begin, Philip realized he had forgotten to tune Brenin’s quarter size cello. As he stood up to do so, twin Morgan crept up to that little cello microphone and spoke the first words ever uttered at Yuletide: “Hello, micropho-O-O-O-O-ne!”  Well, that broke the ice and when the roar of laughter finally quieted, we started “Love Came Down at Christmas”, the lovely pentatonic Irish carol that to this day still opens every Yuletide show.

At that first concert the mischievous red-headed twins did a hilarious ‘elf-dance’ which evolved into stories of the Elf Princes of Magic Hill; and two years later, the “Fairy’s Gift”, daughter Brittany at age five months was brought on stage in a basket by the fairy queen.

We ended the evening with the whole audience singing along on “All Through the Night” – hearts were filled – and from that day forward, the timeless ‘bookends’ of every Yuletide show since and hence, were established.

Over the years the concerts expanded to include more guest artists, more venues, and more complex stories…until one fateful day when the Raney family introduced themselves to us.  Our Yuletide family then grew in more ways than we could have imagined.  One of the six sisters comprising the Raney Irish Dancers caught Brenin’s eye… in time came marriage, grandchildren, and the Tara Academy of Irish Dance – we inherited a ‘clan’ of champions!  It wasn’t too many years later that guest artist, amazing percussionist Matt Jerrell, caught the attention of another Raney lass, Brigid. Matt was roped into the family, adding little dancers Cadence and Eli to the Yuletide family, and a ‘fairy’s gift’, sweet baby Aislinn.

Over time, our children grew up, married, and had children and careers of their own.  Brittany, who at the 4^th Yuletide concert received the ‘gift of music’ as the fairy princess, seemed to fulfill a prophecy and took up music to a high degree becoming a violinist for the Seattle Symphony, soloist and chamber musician in high demand.  Her husband Prescott, a former opera singer among many other talents, has joined Yuletide over the last several years as lead singer.

Every year all our children return home for these concerts, sometimes alone, sometimes with their families.  Now three of the five live here in the Northwest (Brenin, Brittany, and Morgan). Geoffrey usually travels from Rhode Island with his eldest daughter Kailey, a junior at Northeastern University in Boston and sometimes younger sister Lindsey appears on stage with us. Marshall who also lives in Rhode Island, has brought his whole family here for many of our celebrations. Brenin and Sara’s children, Rowan and Haydn, both champion Irish step dancers always manage to be a part of Celtic Yuletide and have since before they were even dancing.

This year we are all experiencing dramatic changes to cherished traditions and that certainly includes our Celtic Yuletide Concerts with 42 years of performing together as a family all over the Northwest.

Thank you for supporting our Magical Strings, with your donations. We wish you a peaceful and heart-warming holiday and Christmas season. May this concert help to bring us closer together even though we all must stay safe and physically isolated from one another.  Together we can ~

Kindle the Light of Yuletide in our hearts.

Dublin-born multi-instrumentalist Colm MacCarthaigh writes tunes and songs, sings in English and Irish and is an in-demand session guitarist and bouzouki player who has played with musicians worldwide including such venues as varied as Ireland’s National Concert Hall, lazy cafés in Amsterdam’s Jordaan, the main stage at FleadhCheoil na hÉireann and with Riverdance. We hope you’ll order his new CD his new CD Time Again.   https://www.notesfromthesound.com/time-again .

Jocelyn Pettit, West Coast Canadian award-nominated touring musician, who has performed at our Yuletide concerts for eight years, just graduated this past summer with a Master of Music Degree (Scottish Music), from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. You can find out more about her and purchase her CD’s at http://www.jocelynpettit.com/

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For virtual Harp classes, private lessons, and
 Celtic harps made by Philip email us at:

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