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Fiddling virtuoso performs for St. Patrick’s Day
By Robyn Wisch, KVNO News
March 16th, 2011
Omaha, NE – A fiddling virtuoso takes the stage this week for a Saint Patrick’s Day performance at the Holland.
Eileen Ivers has been described as the “Jimi Hendrix of the violin.” A nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion, Ivers was the original musical star of the world-renowned Irish dance production, Riverdance. Ivers said Thursday’s performance with the Omaha Symphony will be an eclectic mix of orchestral pieces and classical music with a uniquely Irish twist.
“Some tunes date back to the early 1700s,” she said, while “others are even more recently written, including one or two originals as well that I wrote.”
“It’s pretty varied,” she said, with “a lot of heartfelt, beautiful slow melodies and laments dating back to the famine times… sprinkled in with jigs and more joyous, upbeat dance music.”
Ivers says she the performance should be lively and fun, and she hopes the production brings joy to the audience.
“I know the Holland Performing Arts Center is beautiful…but hopefully at the end, we just want them to feel like they’re in a big Irish pub and having a great time.”
Ivers will perform Thursday at 8PM at the Holland Performing Arts Center in downtown Omaha.
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