There are times that it’s great to be in New York for Irish Arts, and this is one of them! Lots of fascinating info at the conversation led by Mick Moloney at Irish Arts Center on Wednesday with Joanie Madden and Séamus Begley, who are the latest pairings in the Masters in Collaboration series. The concerts are going on all weekend– Friday through Sunday. They are pretty close to sold out so don’t delay! At the conversation, we learned how Séamus used to sing to the pigs (the acoustics were very good in the shed) and how Joanie used to play for dances every week.
Joanie and Séamus demonstrated a bit of what they will be doing, joined by Séamus’ son Owen on 
concertina.
After the conversation ended there was an impropmptu bit of music and dance in the Irish Arts Center lobby– where Margie Mulvihill was one of the waltzers! A troop of us went to An Beal Bocht to try and catch the end of Kevin Burke’s concert there– we were too late, but a session broke out anyway.
