Winter Solstice

Irish Arts Center (IAC), the multidisciplinary center dedicated to bringing people of all backgrounds together through the excellence and dynamism of Irish arts and culture, this year creates a thrilling intersection of musical traditions from Ireland and the Gulf of Mexico for its annual Winter Solstice Celebration (December 14 at Symphony Space). The beloved holiday gathering is hosted by NEA award winner and “one of the most important Irish musicians to emerge from the folk revival of the 1970s” (Time Out) Mick Moloney (banjo, mandolin, vocals) and acclaimed fiddler Athena Tergis.

This year, the Winter Solstice Celebration explores jigs, reels, and mid-winter musical favorites with The Green Fields of America, one of the nation’s best-known Irish American groups, which was formed by Moloney and also includes NEA award winner Billy McComiskey (accordion), Brendan Dolan (piano), Liz Hanley (fiddle), Niall O’Leary (dance), and John Roberts (concertina, vocals). Members of Radio Jarocho—Carlos Cuestas (plucked instruments), Julia del Palacio (dancer), and Victor Murillo (bass)—will be joined by Zenen Zeferino (jarana, vocals) and Guadalupe Peraza(mezzo-soprano) to perform music and dance from the upbeat son jarocho tradition of Veracruz, Mexico, relating early music, indigenous, and African rhythms.