South Shore Conservatory's Evenings Under the Stars Presents A Celtic Sojourn with WGBH's Brian O'Donovan

South Shore Conservatory’s Evenings Under the Stars (EUS) concert series welcomes WGBH’s A Celtic Sojourn with Brian O’Donovan on Saturday, July 16, 7 pm as they continue the 20th anniversary season of EUS. Sponsored by Deborah Allinson, this is the second of four EUS Saturday evening open air summer concerts in the Jane Carr Amphitheater at One Conservatory Drive, Hingham.

This Celtic Sojourn: Roots and Branches concert features a range of traditional and contemporary artists from around the Celtic World in what promises to be one of the highlights of the series, and indeed a highlight of the summer’s Celtic calendar in New England.

“The Conservatory’s outdoor space is just gorgeous,” O’Donovan said on his recent first time visit. “With the diversity of musicians, singers, and dancers we are lining up, this will be a highlight of the summer.”

Over the last 30 years, local, regional, and national broadcasts of O’Donovan’s radio program, A Celtic Sojourn have proven extraordinarily popular. This concert follows the format established for the wildly successful Christmas Celtic Sojourn series of concerts (which, during this past December, played to over 14,000 people in the area) and A St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn which expanded in 2016 from multiple shows in Cambridge, to New Bedford and Worcester. This year, O’Donovan also hosts concerts with the Lowell Summer Music Series, as well as producing and hosting the hugely successful ongoing Burren Backroom Series in Somerville.

“Live music is where it’s at,” O’Donovan is fond of saying. “I love to invite audiences into the heart of the music, and there is nothing like seeing and hearing it in person. Each Saturday on air at WGBH and with a growing world-wide audience on the web, we explore and celebrate the roots and branches of Celtic music. This concert will do just that, but up-close and personal on the beautiful Conservatory grounds. “

SSC fiddle instructor Christine Hedden performs as part of O’Donovan’s program. As a performer and a composer, Hedden has explored the fiddle in a variety of contexts: free jazz and improvisation, electronic music, contemporary classical music, and in the great rivers of tradition. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan, she performs regularly as a solo fiddle player, as well as with her beloved Father-Daughter duo, Headin' Home, and with a quartet of folk-inspired composers from University of Michigan, Ensoleil.

Prior to the concert audience members are invited to enjoy light hors d’oeuvres and drinks, mingle with guests and meet the performers at a pre-concert reception. WGBH is the reception sponsor.

Evenings Under the Stars is one of two series in the Conservatory’s diverse Summer Spotlight outdoor summer entertainment. Summer Spotlight also includes fun Wacky Wednesdays family concerts which started its season on June 29 with Parents’ Choice award winner Karen K & the Jitterbugs. All concerts take place in the Jane Carr Amphitheater at One Conservatory Drive in Hingham, which completely updated its lighting and sound system last year, thanks to Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, a program of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, administered through a collaborative arrangement between MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and individuals who generously donated the matching funds required as part of this grant.

Other Evenings Under the Stars concerts include The Big Swing: The Music of the Swing Era on July 23, and A Grand Night for Singing: The Music of Rodgers and Hammerstein on July 30.

Tickets for Evenings Under the Stars performances purchased before the day of the concert are $40 for pavilion and $25 for lawn seating. Evenings Under the Stars tickets purchased at the door are $45 for pavilion seating and $30 for the lawn. Preconcert reception tickets are $25. There is no charge for children under three. Tickets may be purchased online at www.sscmusic.org/evenings_under_the_stars.html. For more information or to order tickets, visit www.sscmusic.org or call 781-749-7565, ext. 22.

For more information about all South Shore Conservatory programs and events, visit www.sscmusic.org or follow us on Facebook.

About South Shore Conservatory

South Shore Conservatory, recently recognized as a national model for arts education by the National Guild for Community Arts Education, is celebrating nearly 45 years of enriching the lives of South Shore residents through music and the arts. SSC was founded as a not-for-profit community music school in 1970 and now has two beautiful campuses in Hingham and Duxbury. Currently serving over 3500 students of all ages and abilities, SSC is the largest community school for the arts in Massachusetts. Students participate in more than 50 diverse programs in music, dance and drama. Through innovative partnerships with social service agencies, SSC’s Creative Arts Therapies department supports the mental, emotional, and physical health of some of our community’s more fragile members. SSC’s Hingham campus is located at One Conservatory Drive, Hingham, 781-749-7565. SSC’s Duxbury campus is located at the Ellison Center for the Arts, 64 St. George Street, Duxbury, 781-934-2731. South Shore Conservatory is a member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education. SSC programs are supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. For more information call us, follow us on Facebook or visit www.sscmusic.org.

In keeping with SSC’s inclusive mission to provide access to quality education in the arts for all, the Conservatory offers programs for all segments of the population to enjoy, regardless of age, ability, geography, and financial means. Furthermore, South Shore Conservatory admits students and families of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school.