Irish Masters Karan Casey and Buílle to Perform at Highline Ballroom in New York City

Renowned Irish artists Karan Casey and Buille will perform Saturday, November 21 of 2009 at 8:00 pm at Highline Ballroom in New York City. Karan Casey has established herself as one of Ireland’s most distinctive and influential vocalists. Known for her early work with Solas and her successful tours and recordings as a soloist, she has redefined the boundaries of Celtic music. She is accompanied by Ireland’s Buille (concertina virtuoso Niall Vallely, pianist Caoimhín Vallely and guitarist Paul Meehan), the powerful and innovative ensemble which will also open the show. The program includes selections from Casey’s new Ships in the Forest CD (Compass Records).

Karan Casey’s career has spanned 20 years, from her early days as a jazz performer in Georges bistro in Dublin to her time in New York with Solas (which became the most celebrated Irish band in the US) to her now blossoming solo career. Following groundbreaking early releases with Solas, she released five acclaimed solo albums and performed on the Grammy-winning Celtic Solstice with Paul Winter & Friends and Tim O’Brien’s Two Journeys.

She has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan, performing with her own band as well as with Tim O’Brien, Karen Matheson (Capercaille), the Michael McGoldrick Band, and Lúnasa. She won awards for “Best Folk Album” and “Best Folk Female” from Irish Music magazine and was nominated for the BBC Folk Awards and the Danish Grammy. She has performed on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, and appeared at many prestigious venues and festivals, including the Kennedy Center, WOMAD USA, Mountain Stage, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Buille’s Niall Vallely is one of Ireland’s greatest concertina players, was a founding member of Nomos and has in recent years performed as a soloist and with Karan Casey, Tim O’Brien, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, and Paddy Keenan. Caoimhín Vallely first came to prominence as fiddle player with the exciting Cork band North Cregg, but has emerged in recent years as one of the finest piano players on the traditional music scene. Paul Meehan, a product of thriving Irish music scenes in Manchester, County Armagh, and Cork, recorded three albums with North Cregg, and spent a number of years touring and recording with Dorsa, the Karan Casey Band, and Lúnasa.

Highline Ballroom is located at 431 W. 16th Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues), NYC
$25; students with college ID $18
Box office (212) 414-5994 Ticketweb: Ticketweb.com (866) 468-7619
Info (212) 545-7536, worldmusicinstitute.org