At the Augusta Irish Retreat, you will choose from many dynamic sessions centered around learning Irish tunes, songs and traditions. From your classrooms in the newly renovated Blackwater Falls Lodge, look out on some of the most idyllic scenery West Virginia offers. You’ll be treated to learning sessions and authentic Irish music played by master artists of the genre. Celebrate the culture you love with good friends, great music, and incredible instructors.
The concept of this weekend was dreamed up by Augusta Irish Week founder Mick Moloney along with Emily Miller and Seth Young, just before Mick departed this world too soon. The vision is being carried forward brilliantly by Brenda Castles and the Augusta team.
Register today to secure your enrollment. Once enrolled, you may call the Blackwater Falls State Park Lodge directly at (304)-259-5216 for accommodations within the lodge or surrounding cabins. Tell them you are with Augusta when you call.
Augusta offers students the option to purchase a guest pass for a spouse or friend. This pass, which may be purchased at registration, allows a spouse to attend all non-class activities (after lunch).
Schedule for Augusta Irish Retreat 2024:
Schedule subject to change. View a PDF of the schedule.
Thursday
4:30-7:00 pm: Check-in with Blackwater Falls (for your room) and with Augusta (for your program packet)
5:00 pm: Dinner
7:00 – 8:30 pm: Orientation (Meet the staff, learn about the weekend workshops)
8:30 – 9:30 pm: Welcome gathering with songs and tunes
After 9:30 pm: Open Tune and Song sessions in the lodge
Friday
8:00 – 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 – 10:45 am: Period 1 (Guitar Accompaniment in Drop-D; Fiddle Tunes from County Clare; Pipe tunes for all instruments)
10:45 – 11:15 am: Tea Break
11:15 – 12:30 pm: Period 2 (Introduction to singing “as Gaeilge” (in the Irish language); Variation in Traditional Music; Song arrangement for guitar & bouzouki)
12:30 – 2:30 pm: Lunch Break
2:30 – 3:30 pm: Period 3 (Slower => Faster tune session; Playing well with others)
3:30-4:00 pm: Tea Break
4:00 – 5:00 pm: Ceilidh Dance (Join the band or dance!)
5 – 7:30 pm: Dinner Break
7:30 – 8:30 pm: Staff Concert All Staff
9:00 – 10:00 pm: Staff-led tune and song sessions
After 10:00 pm: Open Tune and Song sessions in the lodge
Saturday
8:00 – 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 – 10:45 am: Period 1 (Slow air playing; Vocal Ornamentation; Making a tune sound Irish)
10:45 – 11:15 am: Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:30 pm: Period 2 (Harmony Singing; Odd Dance Tunes for all instruments; From Feet to Fingers: Connecting Irish Music & Dance)
12:30 – 2:30 pm: Lunch Break
2:30 – 3:30 pm: Period 3 (Slower => Faster Tune Session with staff; An introduction to the Irish Bouzouki)
3:30-4:00 pm: Tea Break
4:00-5:00 pm: Student Open Mic (Please bring a song, tune, or bit of verse to share! We love these student sharing opportunities!)
5:00 – 7:30 pm: Dinner Break
7:30 – 8:30 pm: Film Screening: Plight of the Bumble Bee with live music score and conversation with the director, Brenda Castles.
Following the film – 10:00 pm: Staff-led tune and song sessions
After 10 pm: Open tune and song sessions in the lodge
Sunday
8:30 – 9:30 am: Breakfast (Pack for 11:00 am checkout)
9:30 – 10:45 am: Period 1 (Backing Tunes on the Fly; Introduction to Lilting (mouth music); Learn Hornpipes)
10:45 – 11:15 am: Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:30 pm: Farewell Tune & Song Session All Staff
Tuition for the weekend is $395 and a meal ticket (optional) is $170. Students will need to reserve their hotel rooms directly with the Blackwater Falls Lodge at (304) 259-5216
Augusta Irish Retreat 2024 | Artistic Staff
Brenda Castles (concertina, vocals)
Brenda is known both as a respected solo performer and as a member of Mick Moloney’s Green Fields of America. She has a series of All Ireland Fleadh titles to her name in solo and group competitions. Originally from County Meath, she hails from a rich tradition of music held by her family and the musicians she credits as her extraordinary teachers. She herself is an in-demand teacher, privately and at festivals such as the Catskills Irish Arts Week. She currently is based in Dublin and New York and spends time performing around the world including recent gigs in Alaska. Her CDs, Indeedin’ You Needn’t Bother and The Light Side of the Tune have been critically acclaimed. In addition to being an accomplished musician and singer, Brenda is a licensed veterinarian. She once owned a horse named Rocky who was the companion for Irish champion racer Oscar Time.
Joey Abarta (uilleann pipes)
Joey Abarta has spent more than half his life traveling, teaching, and performing music on the uilleann pipes. Originally from California, he first received instruction on the pipes from Dubliner Pat D’Arcy, a founding member of the Southern California Uilleann Pipers Club. In August of 2009, Joey’s accomplished playing won him a second place title worldwide at the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann. In the fall of 2014 Joey won first prize at the An tOireachtas, becoming the the first American uilleann piper to do so since 1969. In 2015 Joey was honored to be a recipient of a traditional arts apprenticeship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council meaning he was awarded a grant to teach his art to the next generation. This year Joey was awarded an Artist Fellowship in the Traditional Arts from the Massachusetts Cultural Council meaning he was recognized as a bearer and conduit of a cultural tradition by his peers and the state of Massachusetts.
Currently based in Boston, Joey divides his attention between performance, teaching, and recording. In addition to performing solo, he performs with his wife, old-style step dancer Jaclyn O’Riley, Nathan Gourley of “Life is all Checkered”, and has toured with Mick Moloney and the group The Green Fields of America. He is currently the acting President of the Boston Pipers Club (1908-present) and through the club organizes uilleann piping workshops and concerts for its members and public. Joey is also the president of The Patrick J. Touhey Memorial Weekend which is an annual festival focusing on historical presentations and workshops based around early American piping styles and pipers. In 2018 Joey was invited by Na Píobairí Uilleann to represent piping in America by performing for the president of Ireland at the Abbey Theater in Dublin Ireland. The concert was a part of the country’s celebration of uilleann piping being recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Eimear Arkins (fiddle & vocals)
Eimear Arkins is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and dancer from Ruan in County Clare.
She holds eleven solo All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil titles and has competed in all Ireland, European and World Dancing Championships. Eimear has toured extensively with Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann on concert tours throughout Ireland, Britain, North America and Canada. She has represented Ireland in France as a performer at Rennes Expo and in Spain as a participant in La Noche Negra a cultural collaboration and exchange between the Mid-West of Ireland and the province of Asturias.
In 2014 Eimear was selected to be part of the Comhaltas National Folk Orchestra of Ireland, which was put together to perform the Boróimhe Suite, a newly composed suite of music, written and directed by Michael Rooney, commemorating the life of Brian Ború.
For the past eight summers, Eimear has performed with the internationally renowned show Brú Ború and was part of the troupe that represented Ireland at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China. In August 2015, Eimear traveled to World Expo 2015, in Milan with St. Louis Irish Arts where she promoted not only Irish culture but the expression of Irish culture worldwide.
Eimear has toured and performed with numerous groups including Cherish The Ladies, The Paul Brock Band, Trinity Irish Dance Ensemble and Téada. She is a regular teacher at St. Louis Irish Arts since and has given workshops at various festivals throughout the world including Catskills Irish Arts Week, New York; Viljandi Pärimusmuusika Festival, Estonia; St. Louis Tionól, St. Louis; Festival Interceltique de Lorient, France, Winnipeg Irish Fest, Canada and Canadian Celtic Celebration, Thunder Bay, Canada.
Eimear released her debut album, What’s Next? in June 2018 to great acclaim. Most recently she was awarded Newcomer of the Year 2019 by liveIRELAND
“She is a lovely singer, wonderful fiddle player and a truly accomplished step dancer. Triple threat time! Count us as major new fans of her and what will surely be a terrific career. Eimear Arkins–remember THAT name!” Bill Margeson, liveIRELAND.
David McKindley-Ward (bouzouki, guitar & vocals)
Award winning musician and singer, David McKindley-Ward, grew up in the DC area steeped in folk, traditional music, and protest music from all over the world. From his solid folk foundation of Pete Segeer and Stan Rogers, he found a love for Irish music from cassette tape recordings of the old folk revival balladeers from the 50s and 60s; the Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem, the Dubliners, The Wolftones, and many more. His interest in traditional singing grew when exposed to such greats as Paul Brady, Dolores Keane, and Donal Maguire, and much of his style and repertoire is based on these three. David has collaborated with Irish singers and instrumentalists Billy McComiskey, Eimear Arkins, Liz Hanley, and with Joey Abarta and Brenda Castles as The Sheep Stealers. He has recorded three albums with singer-songwriter Letitia VanSant, their latest release due this fall.
Over the last few years, he has made a name for himself as a touring artist across the US, Ireland and the UK and a regular performer and instructor at festivals including Catskills Irish Arts Week, Baltimore TradFest and The Philadelphia Céilí Group. He recently moved to the Boston area and has found a musical home amongst the fine traditional Irish musicians based there.
Alan Murray (bouzouki & guitar)
Guitarist, bouzouki player and singer Alan Murray hails from Glasgow, Scotland, where he grew up playing the whistle and later guitar. Eventually moving to New York City, he has established himself as an in-demand performer and teacher on the Irish music scene. He has played and toured around the world with many of the finest traditional musicians and acts today, including Niall and Cillian Vallely, Eileen Ivers, Colin Farrell, Paul Brock, Battlefield Band, and FourWinds.