New trustee Bill Whelan spearheads a master class by Riverdance musicians.

By Lesley Mahoney
Berklee.edu Correspondent
July 17, 2007

Riverdance band member Derrick Tallon demonstrates the bodhrán during a master class.
Photo by Phil Farnsworth

It had all the makings of a traditional Irish session you might stumble upon in a pub, complete with Uilleann pipes, fiddle, tin whistle, bodhrán, and a friendly, informal vibe. But instead of a pub, the venue was Berklee's David Friend Recital Hall, and rather than a group of locals, the musicians onstage were seasoned professionals, touring with a world-class production.

This unique musical experience—featuring Irish music, stories behind some of the tunes, and the history of the instruments on which they are played—was offered to a Berklee audience during a master class conducted by Riverdance band members.

The master class was organized thanks to Riverdance composer Bill Whelan, a newly inducted member of Berklee's board of trustees.

"It struck me, with the show in town, that it would be a very good opportunity to bring these musicians out to the college," said Whelan during a phone interview from his home in Galway, Ireland.

Whelan said he hopes the master class—conducted as the Boyne, Riverdance's North American touring company, wrapped up the Boston leg of its run—is an inspiration to Berklee students. "We know some students at the college are spreading their wings by way of world music," noted Whelan, whose son Brian just completed his first year at Berklee and attended the class. "I think [the Riverdance musicians] will bring something to Berklee students.

The musicians—Kennedy Aitchison on piano and keyboards; Matt Bashford on Uilleann pipes, low whistle, and tin whistle; Carolyn Goodwin on soprano saxophone; Pat Mangan on fiddle; and Derrick Tallon on drums, percussion, and bodhrán—each talked about his or her instrument and several performed solos. During the Riverdance productions, the musicians play live on stage and are an integral part of the performance.

The acoustic performance at the master class blended traditional Irish music and compositions from the Riverdance production.

"We'll play some traditional tunes, to give you an idea of where the inspiration for Riverdance comes from," Mangan said. "We'll get to some actual music from Riverdance in a while, the unplugged version."

The master class—produced by Rob Rose, Berklee's associate vice president for special programs—opened with "O'Carolan's Draught," and moved on to a selection of jigs and reels.

	Saxophonist Carolyn Goodwin
	Photo by Phil Farnsworth

For the reels, Berklee graduate Cara Frankowicz and student Armand Aromin sat in with the Boyne on violin and viola, respectively. Damien Bracken, director of admissions, scholarships, and student employment, coordinated the students' participation and worked with Whelan to bring the idea of the master class to fruition.

Magan explained that having Frankowicz and Aromin sit in on the set is "an example of how things would work at a traditional Irish session."

"We pretty much play from a base of tunes that most players would know," he said. "It's interesting the way tunes travel and the way these first reels that we're going to play were really made popular through a recording of a great fiddler named Michael Coleman."

At the end of the set, Aitchison, musical director of the American tour of Riverdance, remarked that the musicians' collaboration underscored the importance of communication onstage. "One of the things that's interesting to me is how they communicate to each other when they're playing. It's a lot like playing in a pub or club and playing with musicians you don't know. You really have to communicate in other ways than just listening to each other's playing, such as eye contact."

Stories Behind the Music

For their solo endeavors, Goodwin and Bashford gave some historical context. Goodwin performed "From Nowhere to Nowhere," a Michael McGlynn composition inspired by the Great Irish Famine of the mid-19th century. At the time, Goodwin explained, "the government set up these schemes for people to work on building roads.

"Basically, these roads didn't actually have a function. They were to give people something to do during this time and they were often breeding grounds for disease, so that most of those working never returned," she continued. "And most of the roads went from nowhere to nowhere."

Bashford's solo included "Limerick's Lamentation," a piece dating back to the mid-17th century after the Williamite War in Ireland and the fall of Limerick City. The Irish soldiers were given pardon to go to serve France and deemed "Wild Geese," he explained.

Mangan played "The Banks," and on his bodhrán, Tallon demonstrated different rhythms common in Irish music.

The band also treated the audience to music from Riverdance, including "Slip Into Spring," "Countess Kathleen," and excerpts from "Firedance" and "Dervish."

Aitchison, however, struck a different chord when he performed a solo "There Will Never Be Another You," a jazz standard. "My first love will always be jazz," he said.

Beyond the musical experience the master class provided, Whelan has a broader goal in mind: He's hoping it will serve as a springboard to get more students in Ireland interested in the college. He noted that while Berklee boasts a strong international reputation, he'd like to see a larger complement of students hailing from Ireland. "People [in Ireland] know about Berklee, but it probably seems a bit unattainable," he said, adding that the master class "seemed like a good opportunity to make a connection."

Bracken would agree. "We've been nurturing Ireland as a site to recruit students since we began our relationship with Newpark Music Centre in Dublin as a BIN [Berklee International Network] school," he said. "This [master class] helps us emphasize the fact that Berklee embraces all styles of music, from Celtic to pop to hip-hop to fusion."

Berklee graduate Cara Frankowicz and student Armand Aromin accompany Riverdance musicians on violin and viola, respectively. Far left, Matt Bashford plays the Uilleann pipes. Photo by Phil Farnsworth

In May, three students from Ireland walked in the commencement ceremony, up from one from Northern Ireland in in 2006 and none in 2005. In spring 2007, of the more than 3,900 students enrolled at Berklee, one was from Northern Ireland and eight from Ireland. That compares with 12 enrolled students from Germany and 19 from Italy; meanwhile, 183 students enrolled from Korea and 195 from Japan, countries from which Berklee sees its largest international representaion.

Parisa Roohipour, a seventh-semester music production and engineering major who hails from County Down, Northern Ireland, welcomed the idea of increasing Berklee's visibility in Ireland, where she said there are a lot of budding musicians at the secondary school level. "The chance to come to an institution like Berklee, and in a place like Boston, where there are such strong Irish links" is great, she said. "It's like a home away from home."

Lesley Mahoney is a writer/editor in Berklee's Office of Communications.