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Tim Collins will be making a rare North American trip to teach and perform at Cascadia Irish Music Week in Olympia, Washington, July 21-27, 2019. Tim is one of Ireland's finest concertina players and a member of the Kilfenora Ceili Band, also an excellent teacher. Cascadia is a weeklong Irish music immersion experience with some of Ireland's best traditional musicians... classes, concerts, talks, and sessions, sessions, sessions. http://www.cascadiairish.org This year's teaching staff includes: Fiddle - Antoin MacGabhann, Randal Bays, Nathan Gourley Flute - Catherine McEvoy, Eamonn Cotter Concertina - Tim Collins Uilleann pipes - Mick O'Brien Guitar - Frank Kilkelly Accordion - Johnny Og Connolly Banjo - Pauline Conneely Dance - Mairead Casey Plus introductory classes in fiddle, whistle, pipes and concertina For more information or to sign up please visit http://www.cascadiairish.org

Cascadia Irish Music Week welcomes anglo concertina master Tim Collins, July 21-27, 2019, Olympia WA. Visit our website for more details http://www.cascadiairish.org

Made flight arrangements for the 2018 NHICS class with Noel Hill at the Transfiguration Spiritual Center in Cincinnati in July...so it's real. Getting pretty excited. Bringing a Button Box Ceili and about a year of basement work from method books (not much of a concertina community where live). Have no idea what to expect, but I will try to emulate a sponge and soak up everything I can hold. Apart from anything else...I'll be out of the basement interacting with other humans playing the same instrument! Anyone else going? Any advice from old hands? Will a guitar be useless baggage for the week?

Just a note to let you know that I have been teaching English Concertina at Music Under the Southern Cross for the last 6 years. It is a live-in School lasting 6 days starting on Sunday evening and going to Friday lunch time. This year we had 7 English concertina students and I was assisted for two days by Sarah Wade. For those interested in attending please go to www.celt.com.au and follow the link to the School. The School has classes in English Concertina, Harp, Scottish Fiddle, Irish Fiddle, Canadian Fiddle, Uilleann Pipes, Mandolin, Guitar, Tin Whistle and Traditional Singing. The classes are not for beginners. Students need to be able to play a jig or reel at dance speed as a minimum - except for the singers. The School offers intensive tuition with Australia's top players/teachers. It is held in Australia's summer which is also the Northern Hemisphere's winter - hint, hint. Concertina students are invited to join the closed facebook group Music Under the Southern Cross Concertinas. This binds students together and helps with the planning of my classes. I try and get students to learn a couple of tunes before the School so we can concentrate on ornamentation, variations, rhythm and fluency. Each year a tune is taught by ear but music is also provided after the hard work has been done. The School also offers slow jams, a variety of sessions and electives on topics like dance and rhythm and has a large lake and pool. Music Under the Southern Cross is Australia's premier school for teaching traditional music. The School in 2015 will run into the nearby Newstead Folk Festival where many tutors and students will be performing. The School will have it's own concert. Everyone is encouraged to attend so that all can continue playing their new tunes and enjoying the friendships developed. For more information go to the website or email me at music@celt.com.au .