Thursday, November 25, 2010

Irish Accordion Master Heads to Moscow

"Ireland may be on its knees economically but remains firmly on its feet in cultural terms. A sea of Irish music and dance is sweeping the world, and one of the tidal waves in this Irish cultural storm will break land in Moscow this weekend with the arrival of musical legend Breanndan Begley and his sons.

A virtuoso Irish button-accordion player as well as singer and step dancer from a family with siblings of no less talent, he’s a superstar in the traditional music world of his native land.

On his first visit since the Soviet 1980s, he’s in for a shock at the transformation — not in terms of the obvious, but more the extraordinary Irish music and dance scene in Moscow. Scores of Russian musicians have embraced the music of the other extremity of Europe. Thousands have learned to dance in various Irish forms through a host of schools across the capital and in other Russian cities, too."

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