Cherish the Opportunity

Aoife Clancy

Aoife Clancy leads the Irish Song Workshop in Brevard. Photo by Bob Campbell.

You pronounce her traditional-Irish first name like “Ee-fuh.” But you don’t need to know any more Gaelic than that to take Aoife Clancy’s Irish Song Workshop, a cumulative Thursday series featuring bodhrán-accompanied and cappella tunes passed down through Clancy’s family via multiple generations. Students will receive song sheets and a thorough background in the tunes’ history and meaning.

“Most of the songs I will be teaching will be songs of traditional origin and mostly in the English language, as Gaelic songs take longer to teach, and I could spend the [whole series] teaching just one Gaelic song,” says Clancy, though she notes, “it’s possible I’ll teach a simple song in Gaelic just so students have an understanding of the background and pacing of songs in the Gaelic language.”

An internationally celebrated singer from a fertile artistic legacy, Aoife is the daughter of Bobby Clancy (The Clancy Brothers) and was a long-time member of Cherish the Ladies, a Celtic supergroup formed to increase the presence of women in the genre.

A brand-new WNC resident — she moved to Etowah only two months ago — Clancy is on the road most of the year, touring America and Europe. But she says she “absolutely loves” being a WNC resident.

Irish Song Workshop, 2-3:30pm March 3, 10, and 24. $20 per student per class. 349 S. Caldwell St at the Transylvania Community Arts Center. Call 828-884-2787 to register.

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