BRIAN O'DONOVAN, CHAMPION OF CELTIC MUSIC

TRAVEL & CULTURE MAGAZINE
FALL/WINTER 2022-'23

On a string of Saturdays stretching back years and now decades, Brian O'Donovan's soothing radio voice has been welcomed in households, cars and earphones around New England, and streaming across the globe.

A native of Clonakilty, West Cork, Brian moved to Boston in 1980. He has since become an authority, ambassador and champion of Celtic music, and all of us who listen faithfully to his show, A Celtic Sojourn on GBH, are the better for it.

With his intimate knowledge of music – Celtic and otherwise - Brian enthralls his appreciative audience with a treasuretrove of Celtic music from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cape Breton, Appalachia and beyond. And with his witty, genial and often profound perspective of why music and culture matter, Brian takes the time to inform his listeners on the intricacies and nuances of this distinctive traditional folk music dating back centuries.

Much like Brian O'Donovan himself, the Celtic music he lovingly shares is melodic, authentic and straight from the heart.

In 2002, Brian parlayed the popular radio show into a bi-annual traveling concert, presented each St. Patrick's Day and Christmas season. Now in its 20th year, "A Celtic Sojourn Live" has become a mainstay in New England's holiday cultural tradition, up there with the Boston Holiday Pops and Boston Ballet's Nutcracker.

Brian and his wife Lindsay, a gifted musician and singer in her own right, developed "A Celtic Sojourn Live" as a cabaret-style, on-stage family-gathering, with poetry, storytelling and laughter, memories of loved ones and days gone-by, and always, plenty of songs, tunes and dancing.

When the show celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2012, we asked Brian what he hopes to achieve each year. "I want our audience to be taking time out of their normal hectic lives, that speed of living that is amplified at the holidays," Brian said. "To relax into the seats of a beautiful theater and to not just be entertained but to feel like they are part of something real and ancient, very human and celebratory; like the rituals of the time of year both Christian and Pagan, the joy of being together during the coldest time of the year."

In 2022, "A Christmas Celtic Sojourn" returns for its 20th season from December 10 - 18 at four concert venues in New Bedford, Worcester, Rockport and Boston. Brian is joined by Producer and Director Jenna Worden, with Music Direction by Seamus Egan and Maeve Gilchrist, and Dance Direction by Ashley Smith-Wallace. And as always, incredible musicians, singers and dancers. The show is also available to enjoy online.

A few years ago, we asked Brian to reflect on his lifelong passion for Irish and Celtic music.

"I believe that music – in all forms; instrumental, vocal and with dance – is the blood that courses through the veins of Irish culture." Brian said, "Our great literature, visual arts, theater, film, are of course, each and collectively, vital parts of what makes us what we are, but it's our music that attracts outsiders and welcomes them in, while keeping us rooted emotionally.

"Celtic music, roots music generally, has an earthiness, a veracity, a connection - real or imagined to a simpler past – one that reminds us of our humanity. Long may it be so. I am lucky to simply be the messenger."

Thank you, Brian!

Click here for details on the upcoming shows: christmasceltic.com

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