Apollo’s Fire Presents: Wassail!

Tags for: Apollo’s Fire Presents: Wassail!
  • Performance
Sunday, December 17, 2023, 4:30–6:30 p.m.
Location:  Gartner Auditorium
Gartner Auditorium
Apollo's Fire Performing On Stage

Photo courtesy of Apollo’s Fire

About The Event

Cleveland’s own internationally acclaimed, Grammy-winning ensemble Apollo’s Fire brings to life the music of the past for audiences of today. Join us for this special occasion in which the group presents their program “Wassail! An Irish Appalachian Christmas,” created and directed by Jeannette Sorrell.

On Christmas night in Old Ireland, families and friends gathered for singing, storytelling, and plenty of wassail. From a caroling party through the streets of Dublin to a holiday barn dance in Virginia, this heartwarming program follows the hopes and fears of the Irish who bravely crossed the Atlantic. Irish singer Fiona Gillespie joins with fiddles, medieval harp, hammered dulcimer, and bagpipes in this communal celebration of the American immigrant experience. The people of the mountains welcome Christmas with love, singing, dancing, and prayer.

Tickets and more information can be found on the Apollo’s Fire website.

Performers
Fiona Gillespie—Irish singer
Susanna Perry Gilmore—fiddle
Emi Tanabe—fiddle
Caitlin Hedge—fiddle
Tina Bergmann—hammered dulcimer
Anna O’Connell—soprano & Celtic harp
Sam Kreidenweis—singer
Jeannette Sorrell—harpsichord (Dec. 10 only)
Derdriu Ring—narration (Dec. 17 only)

The 2024–25 Performing Arts Series is sponsored by the Musart Society. This program is made possible in part by the Ernest L. and Louise M. Gartner Fund, the P. J. McMyler Musical Endowment Fund, and the Anton and Rose Zverina Music Fund.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

Performing arts programs are supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.