Ruth Boylan is originally from Celbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland and is now based in Central Victoria. She plays traditional music on the concertina and fiddle. Ruth has won many All-Ireland Fleadh Cheol titles and was a leading fiddle player for the Beartla O’ Flatharta Ceili Band in Ireland for over ten years. As well as teaching music, Ruth has travelled Internationally, performing on stage in Canada, the United States of America, Australia and Europe. She is currently working on a number of music projects including arranging and recording music with the Boylan Band.
For the DCMW, Ruth will be leading Anglo Concertina classes.
Saturday Elective: Ruth will focus on The amazing Elizabeth Crotty: Elizabeth Crotty (1885-1960) was a highly respected traditional concertina player from West Clare, Ireland. Elizabeth and her sister Maggie played together for local house dances, weddings, christenings and wakes at a time when only a very small number of women publicly played Irish traditional music. Elizabeth Crotty’s music style was simple but very rhythmic. Although she never made any commercial music recordings, her fame spread in the 1950s as a result of some private recording sessions that were aired on radio in Ireland. In this session, we’ll learn a number of her most popular tunes with her unique variations.