In This Issue:

UPCOMING EVENTS

CIM gift certificates and CDs make the perfect gifts!

Instructor's Corner

Save the dates!

*NEW* Common Repertoire

Upcoming
Events

Friday, December 6

The Darkest Midnight, a Celtic Nativity with The Beggar Boys, Kerri Joy, and Tom Klein at The Celtic Junction. 7pm for a special pre-concert performance by the McNally Smith World Vocal Ensemble, Beggar Boys begin at 7:30pm.

Saturday, December 7

Todd Menton delights patrons at The Dubliner Pub from 9pm to 12:30am.

Sunday, December 8

Don't miss the CIM staff's favorite event of the year! Our Fall recitals and potlucks are this Sunday, from 1-6pm at The Celtic Junction. For all the details, visit our webpage. Invite your family and friends for this afternoon of music and fellowship!

At 7pm at The Celtic Junction catch Shona Nollaig: A Celtic Christmas with Troy MacGillivray, Andrea Beaton, and Nuala Kennedy.

Friday, December 13

Be sure to get your tickets for Katie McMahon's Celtic Christmas at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium at St. Catherine University at 7pm.

Saturday, December 14

Yulefest IV: A Charity Fundraiser,

featuring Barra, The HiBs, and The Eddies, passes on all proceeds to The Emergency Foodshelf Network! 7pm at The Celtic Junction.

Sunday, December 15

Join us for a special holiday family session from 2:30-4pm! Bring your instruments and a treat to share and come for a festive afternoon.

Tin whistle students take part in last year's holiday family session.

**Applications for financial aid for the Spring term are due by the end of the day on the 15th. For an application and details, click here.

Saturday, December 21

A Hearthside Holiday Hooley at the Celtic Junction featuring New Folk Records' musicians Greg Herriges, Chad McAnally, and Todd Menton. Also with dance and music from the O'Shea Irish Dancers. 7:30pm.

December 23 - January 5

The CIM will be closed for the holidays. Classes resume on Monday, January 6th. Our fall term continues through January 26th.

Saturday, December 28

ExPat's Gathering, 7pm at The Celtic Junction.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of all of the possible events within the Irish community in the Twin Cities. For more listings, please visit the IMDA's Event Calendar, which is a great schedule of local events.

Volunteering at CIM

One of the best things about the Center for Irish Music is our community of involved students, parents, staff, instructors, and community members. We could not present the events that we do each year here at CIM without you! There are many opportunities to volunteer each year. If you are interested in volunteering, please let us know by filling out our Volunteer Form or contacting our volunteer coordinator, Becky Bollinger at volunteer@centerforirishmusic.org.

Volunteers at Eigse CIM, a Gaela

Event, February 2011.

The Center For Irish Music is on Facebook!

FB page screen grab

As of Dec. 3, we have 2,223 fans! WOW! Become a fan of the Center for Irish Music on Facebook to share ideas, keep up-to-date on current CIM events, and share your love of Irish music with the larger Irish community. And tell your friends, too!

CIM has a LinkedIn group and we encourage CIM members to contact each other via this social networking site.

CIM's LinkedIn Profile

As always, we welcome your feedback and comments. Please feel free to contact us at any time at:

The Center for Irish Music

@The Celtic Junction

836 Prior Avenue North

St. Paul, MN 55104

651-815-0083

admin@centerforirishmusic.org

December 2013

Happy holidays from all of us at CIM...

We have many things to share with you this month!

Sunday December 8th - Fall Recitals!

Come share the music our students have been working on this semester at our Fall recitals this Sunday, December 8th at the Celtic Junction. Your spirits will surely be lifted with the wonderful music and display of talent and hard work!

1:00-2:00pm Youth Recital 1 for younger students
2:30-3:30pm Youth Recital 2 for teens
4:30-6:00pm Adult Recital (in studio 2)

Special Holiday session party next Sunday

Join us for the special annual Holiday session party next Sunday, December 15th from 2:30-4:00 in the multi-purpose room. Bring your instruments and be ready to play!

Financial Aid Application Deadline is December 15

For those reapplying, you only need to submit which classes you would like to take in the Spring term and submit them toErika by email. Applications are always available on our website here.

NEW Common Repertoire!

See the article below or click on this link to start learning the new session tunes today.

As you can see to the left, there are some amazing holiday shows coming to the Celtic Junction this month. I look forward to seeing you at a few of them.

Sincerely,

--Norah Rendell, Executive Director

Give the Gift of Music

this Holiday Season!

Do you have a family member or friend who would love the gift of music? We suggest:

CIM personalized gift certificates

CDs of live recordings from our Young Irish Musicians and Minnesota Irish Music Weekends

Contact Erika to order your gift certificates or visit her in the office to purchase CDs. CDs can also be purchased through our website.

Instructor's Corner

Each month this year, one of our instructors will share some of his or her ideas with you; album recommendations, YouTube clips or practice tips. We hope you get some inspiration from this new addition to our newsletter.

This month: Mag McDermott, CIM fiddle instructor

3 THINGS I DO FOR QUALITY PRACTICE TIME AT HOME (
for kids or adults):

1) I put my my instrument all ready to play, in a safe spot. It makes the difference

between working on my latest musical challenges at a moment's notice or going

days without touching my instrument.

2) I schedule fifteen minutes of practice time on my calendar at a time that is

a bit open-ended. If I get caught up in the musical process, I can turn that fifteen

minutes into an hour.

3) I give myself an instant reward for following through my music schedule.

Last week my reward was downloading clare.fm's The West Wind podcast to listen

to afterwards. Next time it may be chocolate! Hard to say.

Mag McDermott has an extensive background performing and teaching fiddle and is devoted to educating youth in playing proficiency, confidence in performance, and musical group camaraderie. In addition to teaching at CIM, she has taught at City of Lakes Waldorf School, the St. Paul Conservatory of Music, and the Hoveland-Jost Conservatory in St. Paul.

February 22, 2014

Our annual fundraiser, instructors' concert, and silent auction is an event not to be missed!

**We are now accepting donations for our silent auction.**

June 13-15, 2014

Planning is already underway to bring you the best in traditional Irish music instruction! Plan for a weekend full of workshops, sessions, and a concert with our visiting artists.

Announcing CIM's New Common Repertoire!

Click here to go directly to the new common repertoire page.

CIM instructors have chosen a new collection of 23 tunes to be the NEW Common Repertoire.

We hope that all of our students will enjoy learning these tunes and that our repertoire of common tunes continues to grow!

The online resource includes an .mp3 of each tune played at both slow and fast speeds and a downloadable .pdf of the sheet music. This is to facilitate learning at home, on your own by ear, or with your teacher in your lessons.

However you decide to learn the new tunes...

... do join us on Sunday, December 15th from 2:30-4:00pm to play the new tunes at our special holiday session party!