Tillotson Center Presents Guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto in Concert

Eclectic, immersive and mesmerizing. International acclaimed guitarist and songwriter Hiroya Tsukamoto takes us on an innovative, impressionistic journey filled with earthy, organic soundscapes that impart a mood of peace and tranquility. Admission $5/Students $3.

Irish Band Réalta Coming at Rialto Theatre

The hot Irish group Réalta is coming in from Belfast, Ireland to perform at the Rialto Theatre in Lancaster on March 4. The concert is hosted by the Great North Woods Committee for the Arts and is a great way to get into the mood for St. Patrick’s Day month.

Réalta take a lively, exciting and respectful approach to Irish traditional music. This award winning multi-instrumentalist group has traveled extensively bringing their unique take on Irish traditional music to international audiences with an enchanting program of dance music interspersed with the occasional air and song.

While Conor Lamb and Loïc Bléjean pursue the melody on uilleann pipes and whistles, guitarist and vocalist Deirdre Galway explores the harmony and rhythms within the tunes. All-Ireland champions Dermot Mulholland and Dermot Moynagh complete the line-up with dynamic accompaniments on double bass, bouzouki, banjo, bodhrán and voice, making this one of the most exciting acts on the Irish music scene today.

Conor Lamb fell in love with the uilleann pipes and Irish traditional music when he first heard Liam O’Flynn perform at the Lorient Interceltic Festival. Now regarded as one of the leading exponents of uilleann piping, Conor is a founding member of several traditional groups including Réalta, Madagán and Music in the Glen.

Loïc Bléjean is a virtuoso uilleann piper and low whistle player from Brittany, that ancient land in the north-west of modern France. He started playing the pipes in 1989, under the tuition of Alain Le Hégarat and then traveled extensively in Ireland, where he met many wonderful musicians.

Deirdre Galway began her musical life studying and competing on piano and clarinet. After achieving distinction at Grade 8, she began experimenting with jazz, rock and Irish traditional music. Accompanying on DADGAD guitar and researching old songs, Irish music is now her passion. Deirdre is also an Irish speaker, with a first-class honors degree in Irish Language and Literature.

Multi-instrumentalist Dermot Mulholland adds his talents to Réalta on banjo, bouzouki, double bass and vocals. He is a winner of several All-Ireland titles and is a founding member of the BBC Folk Award winning band Ioscaid. Beyond Réalta, Dermot is highly sought after for various performing, teaching and recording roles.

Dermot Moynagh is one of the most influential and leading bodhrán players of his generation. His talents were highlighted when he won the prestigious All Ireland Fleadh-Cheoil championship at a young age and since then he has been in high demand as a live performer and recording artist.

The release of their second album, “Clear Skies,” has brought Réalta widespread critical acclaim, with the Irish Music Magazine summing things up by writing, “Réalta have grown bigger, bolder and braver and this is one of the best CDs to have come out of Ireland this year.”

The show on March 4 will begin at 7 p.m., admission is $18 per person. Visit the Rialto Theatre to purchase tickets in advance, or online at www.gnwca.org. For more information about this and other GNWCA shows, visit the website, find the Great North Woods Committee for the Arts on Facebook or call (603) 246-8998.

Tillotson Center Present Ball in the House

Ball in the House is an R&B/Soul/Pop a Capella group based out of Boston, whose high energy shows have audiences singing, dancing, even beat boxing along. Join us for a concert with Ball in the House and local students joining the group on stage. Sponsored by Tillotson North Country Foundation. Admission $5.

St. Kieran Arts Presents: Cabin Fever Follies — Following the Country Road

Take a walk down the Country Road of Music with a great collaboration of local musicians as they present a history of this popular music genre. Always a highlight of our performance series schedule, the lineup brings many of our musical friends back to the venue and presents many new participants as well.

Join us for an afternoon of great entertainment and support our local arts center; keeping the live arts alive in the North Country!

Tickets: $15 all seats

Chamber Players ‘Winterlude’ Concerts Feature Romantic Classics & A Beethoven Celebration

The North Country Chamber Players will present their ever-popular “Winterlude” concerts on Saturday, February 15, at 4 p.m. at the Sugar Hill Meeting House, and on Sunday, February 16, at 3 p.m. at Court Street Arts at Alumni Hall in Haverhill. This year’s program will feature Romantic Era masterpieces by Gabriel Faure and Antonin Dvorak, and the brilliantly energetic and good-natured Piano Trio in Eb, Op. 1 No. 1 of Ludwig von Beethoven. This Trio was Beethoven’s first published piece and will kick off a year-long celebration of the 250th Anniversary of his birth.

The concerts will open with Dvorak’s charming, and surprisingly lush Terzetto for two violins and viola, and will conclude with Faure’s beloved Piano Quartet in C minor, a piece that is romantic to its core, filled with delicate sparkle, songful melodies and an impassioned climax.

Now in their 42nd Season, the North Country Chamber Players have been described by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts as “one of the outstanding cultural resources in the state of New Hampshire,” and a critic from the Boston Musical Intelligencer lauded them as “a sophisticated group of experienced, passionate, focused, and obviously talented musicians.” Violinist Curt Macomber, a long-time Chamber Player favorite, who has been praised by the New York Times for his “thrilling virtuosity” and by Strad Magazine for his “panache,” will join Chamber Players members Bernard Rose, piano, Ronnie Bauch, violin, Ah Ling Neu, viola, and Chris Finckel, ‘cello.

Tickets for these concerts cost $25 if purchased in advance, on-line or by calling (603) 444-0309, or may be purchased at the door for $30. Students, age 18 and under, are admitted free of charge. Visit www.northcountrychamberplayers.org for further informatioion.

Lonesome Ace Stringband’s Old-Timey Music at Rialto Theatre

Modern old-time sounds for those who love bluegrass and folk, that’s how the Lonesome Ace Stringband describes their music. The Great North Woods Committee for the Arts is hosting the band at a concert on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at the Rialto Theatre, starting at 7 p.m.

The Lonesome Ace Stringband is an old-time band with Bluegrass chops that play some righteous folk and country music. There’s a depth of groove and sense of space not often heard in bluegrass today, a level of instrumental interplay and vocal blend uncommon in old-time, and an on-stage rapport that transcends all of this.

Three Canadians lost in the weird and wonderful traditional Country music of the American South, the band members Chris Coole (on banjo), John Showman (on fiddle) and Max Heineman (on bass) are each journeyman musicians and veterans of some of Canada’s top roots music acts (New Country Rehab, The David Francey Band, The Foggy Hogtown Boys, Fiver).

The band has toured internationally, been engaged at some of the largest festivals in North America and Europe (including Merlefest, Rockygrass, Wintergrass, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Vancouver Folk Festival, Gooikorts, John Hartford Memorial), and recorded four albums. On the first two albums, “Old Time” (2014), and “Gone For Evermore” (2016) the band leaned heavily on the traditional old-time cannon to express what it needed to say musically. In 2018, with the release of “When the Sun Comes Up,” the band showcased its songwriting and studio savvy, offering up a more progressive interpretation of old-time music, and taking its sound to new places. All three albums have been embraced by both fans and critics alike.

The fourth album, “Modern Old-Time Sounds for the Bluegrass and Folksong Jamboree,” showcases the band’s musical range, interpretive skills, and instrumental/vocal “chops blended with maturity.”

Tickets for the Lancaster show are $18 per person will be available at the Rialto Theatre, online at www.gnwca.org, or at Fiddleheads on Main St. in Colebrook. For more information on this and other GNWCA events, call 246-8998, visit www.gnwca.org or find the GNWCA on Facebook.

Adonis Puentes & the Voice of Cuba Orchestra at The Colonial Theatre

Get ready for some hot Latin jazz! Adonis Puentes’ rich, soulful voice is the perfect front for his all-acoustic orchestra, layering traditional Cuban rhythms with deep bass lines, jazzy horns, and his melodic guitar. A Grammy-nominated vocalist and composer from Cuba who weaves passionate, hypnotic Salsa and Cuban Son melodies through jazz arrangements, Puentes and the Orchestra create a worldly experience that is as emotive as it is danceable!

“Original compositions richly imbued with tradition; superb arrangements with an international flavor; a world class band that delivers with great precision; witty, intelligent lyrics inspired by everyday life and by the greatest power of all: Love.” —Latin Jazz Network

The Colonial Theatre Presents: Iris DeMent

The youngest of 14 children, born in Arkansas and raised in Southern California, Iris DeMent spent her childhood immersed in gospel and traditional country music. Beginning with her 1992 debut, ‘Infamous Angel,’ which was hailed as “an essential album of the 1990’s” by Rolling Stone, Iris DeMent released a series of stellar records that established her as “one of the finest singer-songwriters in America” according to The Guardian. The music earned her multiple Grammy nominations, as well as the respect of peers like John Prine, Steve Earle, and Emmylou Harris, who all invited her to collaborate. Merle Haggard dubbed her “the best singer I’ve ever heard” and asked her to join his touring band, and David Byrne and Natalie Merchant famously covered her “Let The Mystery Be” as a duet on MTV Unplugged. NPR called her “one of the great voices in contemporary popular music” and The Boston Globe hailed her work as “a work of rare, unvarnished grace and power.”

“Iris DeMent makes music that celebrates humanity’s efforts toward salvation, while acknowledging that most of our time on Earth is spent reconciling with the fact that we don’t feel so redeemed. Grounded in hymns, early country songs, gospel and folk, DeMent’s work is treasured by those who know it for its insight and unabashed beauty.” —NPR

The Tillotson Center Presents: ‘Sunday on the Steinway’ with Matthew Odell

The New Hampshire-born pianist Matthew Odell began his studies at the age of 10 and has since won acclaim for performances of a wide range of repertoire as a solo recitalist, soloist with orchestra, and chamber musician. Mr. Odell currently teaches at The Juilliard School and frequently presents master classes, workshops, and lectures at professional conferences and universities throughout the U.S and Europe. Admission $10/Students $5.