A CELTIC CHRISTMAS

Now in its 29th season, Tomáseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas recreates the joy and innocence of a night before Christmas in a remote farmhouse in the parish of Teampall an Ghleanntáin in the west of Ireland – when the neighboring families gather around the fire to grace the wintry night with the haunting melodies of traditional Irish Christmas carols, to raise the rafters with the joy of their music and to knock sparks off the flagstone floor with traditional dances, and to fill the night with the laughter of their stories.

Please visit ACelticChristmas.com for more information about Tomáseen Foley and A Celtic Christmas.
PRESS KIT and DOWNLOADABLES for presenters visit the Presenters Page.

VIDEO PREVIEWS

PRESS & TESTIMONIALS

FEEDBACK FROM ATTENDEES AT RECENT SHOWS:
"It was a spiritual experience!"
"We've seen Broadway. This was better!"

IRISH TIMES Friday, December 18, 2018
'The arrival of the parcel from America was a source of intense excitement'
Family Fortunes: 'Mother, flushed to the gills, fumbled with the twine and paper covering'
Even before we reached home from school we heard the news.
"Ye got a parcel from America."
Continue reading here.

MAIL TRIBUNE December 2018
Review: Stories from the Old Country
Southern Oregon's holiday season wouldn't be complete without Tomáseen Foley's "A Celtic Christmas" at the Craterian Theatre in Medford.
Last weekend, Foley's mixed-media show of song, dance, music and stories sold out again for the 23rd annual performance.
Rich in the traditions of Western Ireland, the music of "A Celtic Christmas" alternates between the melancholic and the lively.
Continue reading here.

PERFORMER BIOGRAPHIES

TOMÁSEEN FOLEY - NATIVE IRISH STORYTELLER, DIRECTOR
Storyteller Tomáseen Foley was born on a small farm in the remote parish of Teampall an Ghleanntáin in the West of Ireland. Each year from Thanksgiving until Christmas, his show Tomáseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas plays to critical acclaim and packed concert halls around the US. Tomáseen Foley’s Irish Times tours throughout the remainder of the year. The Oregon Cabaret has developed a hit musical from his story Parcel from America.
He has released two CDs: A Celtic Christmas: Parcel from America, and a live recording, The Priest and the Acrobat. Rego Irish Records says “(He) is a master of the Irish narrative and a keeper of the flame for a priceless piece of Irish culture.”
tomaseenfoley.com

WILLIAM COULTER – GUITAR, MUSIC DIRECTOR
William Coulter is a Grammy Award winning guitarist who has been performing, recording, and teaching traditional, classical, Celtic and folk music for the past 25 years. He is an internationally acclaimed master of the steel-string guitar. In 2005 he won a Grammy for a track he contributed to a solo guitar compilation of Henry Mancini tunes, called Pink Guitar. William performs as both a soloist and a member of ensembles, including Isle of Skye, Orison, and the Coulter-Phillips Ensemble.
He has recorded many albums for Gourd, including the best-selling Shaker music CD Simple Gifts, and the critically acclaimed Celtic Sessions. The most recent of his seven CDs on the Gourd Music label is the acclaimed solo album The Road Home.
William earned his BA in music from UC Santa Cruz and a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory. During his classical studies he was always drawn to traditional Irish and American folk music. This led to a second Master's degree from UCSC, earned in 1994, in ethnomusicology with an emphasis on traditional Irish music, language and song.
williamcoulterguitar.com

BRIAN BIGLEY - UILLEANN PIPES, IRISH FLUTE, WHISTLES AND TRADITIONAL IRISH DANCE
Brian Bigley has studied the Irish uilleann pipes for nearly 25 years as a player, as well as a maker, of the instrument. He has toured North America and Europe extensively as both a musician and a dancer, appearing in shows such as Tomàseen Foley's A Celtic Christmas, the Omaha Symphony's Celtic Journey, and the Apollo's Fire Countryside Concert Series. In 2002 and 2003 Brian competed with great distinction at the World Irish Dance Championships held in Glasgow and Killarney. He has recently released his fourth recording of traditional Irish music Dance the Town Green in conjunction with the New York School of Irish Dance.
Brian now lives near Cleveland, Ohio, with his fiddler wife, Kristen, and their dancing children, James and Kathleen.
brianbigleymusic.com

EIMEAR ARKINS – MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST, SINGER AND IRISH DANCE
Eimear Arkins is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and dancer from Ruan, County Clare, in the West of Ireland.
She holds eleven solo All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil titles and has competed in all Ireland, European and World Dancing Championships. Eimear has toured extensively with Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann on concert tours throughout Ireland, Britain, North America and Canada. She has represented Ireland in France as a performer at Rennes Expo and in Spain as a participant in La Noche Negra a cultural collaboration and exchange between the Mid-West of Ireland and the province of Asturias.
In 2014 Eimear was selected to be part of the Comhaltas National Folk Orchestra of Ireland, which was put together to perform the Boróimhe Suite, a newly composed suite of music, written and directed by Michael Rooney, commemorating the life of Brian Ború.
For the past seven summers, Eimear has performed with the internationally renowned show Brú Ború and was part of the troupe that represented Ireland at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China. In August 2015, Eimear traveled to World Expo 2015, in Milan with St. Louis Irish Arts where she promoted not only Irish culture but the expression of Irish culture worldwide.
Eimear has toured and performed with numerous groups including Cherish The Ladies and Téada. She is a regular teacher at St. Louis Irish Arts since and has given workshops at various festivals throughout the world including Catskills Irish Arts Week, New York; Viljandi Pärimusmuusika Festival, Estonia; St. Louis Tionól, St. Louis; Festival Interceltique de Lorient, France, Winnipeg Irish Fest, Canada and Canadian Celtic Celebration, Thunder Bay, Canada.
www.eimeararkins.com

MARCUS DONNELLY – IRISH DANCE
From Ireland to Luxemburg and from Moscow to Paris, France and Paris, Texas, his leading performances with shows such as Ragús, Rhythm of the Dance, Celtic Legends, and most recently in the U.S. with Celtic Crossroads have created one of the most exhilarating, truly creative Irish dancers performing today. Marcus first started dancing at the age of ten, in second-hand dance shoes his father bought for fifteen shillings in Dublin, and went on to compete with distinction in the All-Ireland and World Dance Championships before becoming a full-time professional dancer at the age of sixteen. When he is not touring he works with his own dance company, Furious Feet, in Galway, Ireland

NATALIE WAGNER - IRISH DANCE
St. Louis native Natalie Wagner fell in love with Irish Dancing at the age of 12 and hasn’t stopped dancing since.
Natalie dances for The Clark Academy and has found success competing at the regional, national, and world levels. Her passion for dance led to further education in Ballet and Modern Dance and she is incredibly excited to be joining the cast again for Tomáseen Foley's A Celtic Christmas.