JUNEAU — An Alaska Folk Festival favorite, champion fiddler Caitlin Warbelow will soon make a rare Juneau appearance with members of the world-renowned Irish band Lúnasa, including Patrick Doocey on guitar and Kevin Crawford on flute. Juneau is the first stop in an Alaska tour that includes Fairbanks, Denali and Anchorage, where they’re headlining the “Galway Days” Irish festival. All proceeds benefit the Juneau Symphony.
Caitlin Warbelow hails from a family of Fairbanks bush pilots. She’s a a fiddler/violinist and entrepreneur currently residing in Brooklyn. Caitlin began her studies at age three in the Boston Suzuki program, and went on to win honors from the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts and the National Suzuki Conference, as well as scholarships at the Meadowmount School, Boston University, and Columbia University. In the folk and traditional realms, she holds championship titles at the New England Fiddle Championship and the Fleadh Cheoil (All-Ireland Competition).
Caitlin is the violinist/fiddler for the new, critically acclaimed musical “Come From Away.” In 2014, Caitlin became the violinist/fiddler for Riverdance’s new production, “Heartbeat of Home”, as well as a substitute violinist for Sting’s new musical on Broadway, “The Last Ship.” Caitlin has toured and performed with Cherish the Ladies, Mick Moloney and the Green Fields of America, The Alt (John Doyle, Nuala Kennedy, and Eamon O’Leary), Cathie Ryan, Trinity Dance Company, The Brock McGuire Band, Michael Londra and Celtic Fire, The Prodigals, and The Mickey Finns, among many others. Known as something of a musical chameleon, Caitlin performs, records and teaches extensively in NYC and around the country in a variety of genres including Irish traditional and rock, country and bluegrass, Texas swing and contest fiddling, and on occasion returns to her roots as a classical violinist.
Guitarist Patrick Doocey is from Foxford County Mayo on the West Coast of Ireland. He is a predominantly self-taught guitarist and has become one of the most in demand accompanists on the Irish music scene. He has toured all over Europe, Asia, Africa and America with various Irish Bands and music acts, and performs regularly with top bands Lúnasa, Téada and Ragús – The Show.
Flutist Kevin Crawford was born in Birmingham, England, to Irish immigrant parents from Miltown Malbay, Co Clare. Despite his renown in Ireland, it wasn’t until he was invited to join the seminal group Moving Cloud in 1993 that he received his first real measure of international recognition. With them, Kevin recorded two critically acclaimed albums. In 1997, however, a new opportunity presented itself when Irish supergroup Lúnasa asked Kevin to join as a permanent member. His albums, solo or with various groups, have consistently been ranked “Album of the Year” by various newspapers.
The concert is Tuesday, August 9 at 7 p.m. at the Rockwell Ballroom.
Tickets are $20 per person and are available at Hearthside books, the JACC, or online at http://www.jahc.org/now-playing. For more information and tickets, call the Symphony office at 907-586-4676.
