Apollo's fire set for 'The Road to Dublin,' one of Baroque orchestra's less formal CountrySide Concerts
Jul. 18—"The Road to Dublin," a folk concert from members of Northeast Ohio-based Baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire, will take place July 22 and 23 at the Holden Arboretum in Kirtland.
To view a video of one of the ensemble's folk concerts — watch the performance of a song from its "Sugarloaf Mountain" concerts at bit.ly/af-rrc-sm — underscores the reason why the three main concerts over the two days long have been sold-out.
However, lawn seats have been added for the three main concerts — with the previously available seating under a canopied tent — set for 7:30 p.m. July 22 and 4 and 7:30 p.m. July 23.
An entry in its Countryside Concerts series, "The Road to Dublin" will move on from Lake County for a show set for 7:30 p.m. July 24 at Avon Lake United Church of Christ, with very few tickets remaining as of this writing.
Apollo's Fire, founded in 1992 by Jeanette Sorrell, its artistic director and harpsichordist, took its name from Apollo, the Greek god of fire, healing and the sun.
"It's right that Apollo is also the god of healing," Sorrell said. "Music heals on a level that transcends medicine."
The ensemble has performed its baroque and renaissance music in concerts all over the world but in the past 20 years has turned its summertime focus to "crossover music," the folk traditions from which much of their music originated. Those performances are less formal and more animated.
In programs exploring folk traditions, Sorrell tries to help American listeners reconnect with the beauty of our shared roots as immigrants.
"Twenty years ago, I wanted to do concerts in a barn," Sorrell said. "But it wasn't quite right. To me, the rustic barn setting required more rustic music, so we began with Scottish music, introduced to me by a friend."
The folk music of Scotland soon evolved into Irish music and Sephardic Jewish musical traditions, she said. Sorrell also has drawn heavily from the heritage of Appalachian music, a big influence in her teenage years, when she lived with her family in Winchester, Virginia, at the head of the Shenandoah Valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
That's where she discovered the harpsichord, a piano predecessor in which the strings are plucked.
"I've played piano all my life," Sorrell said. "But my hands are narrow, and I couldn't reach the chords to play Rachmaninoff, which led me to the harpsichord and conducting."
"The Road to Dublin" is a new concert this year, with seven members of Apollo's Fire performing on period instruments in Renaissance garb.
Those who attend a performance will see and hear other instruments with ancient roots, including the lute, bouzouki and hammered dulcimer.
The instrumentalists include others, like Sorrell, who can trace their passion for folk music to their formative years.
Tina Bergmann, for instance, learned the hammered dulcimer from her mother at the age of 8 in West Virginia. She was hailed by Pete Seeger as "the best hammered dulcimer player I've heard in my life," according to Apollo's Fire.
And fiddler Susanna Perry Gilmore lived in Ireland as a girl.
"As a teenager, she played her fiddle in Irish pubs," Sorrell said.
Fiddler Caitlin Hedge, who makes her debut with Apollo's Fire this week, also hails from Ireland. As a violist, she performs regularly with the Youngstown, Wheeling, Ashland and Mansfield symphonies. A viola is larger and more difficult to play than a violin. A fiddle is another violin relative.
Vocalist Fiona Gillespie, who also plays the whistle, was raised in a family of Celtic musicians. She splits her time singing with professional chamber and choral ensembles throughout the country and also tours with her band, The Chivalrous Crickets.
Passion, true to Apollo, is a critical element in all the music performed by Apollo's Fire, and "The Road to Dublin" is no exception. The ancient city of pubs, pints and castles has been a gathering place for bards and musicians for centuries.
The website for Apollo's Fire describes "The Road to Dublin" as "haunting ballads and legends that give way to driving reels, as Celtic fiddlers set sparks flying. Irish singer Fiona Gillespie joins the merry instrumentalists on fiddles, flute, cello, hammered dulcimer, plucked instruments and harpsichord."
Spice Catering will offer food, wine and beer for purchase before the Friday concerts and during intermission. Willoughby-based Culinaire Pavan is the caterer on Saturday. Picnics also are welcomed.
'The Road to Dublin'
What: Celtic folk concert by Apollo's Fire.
When: 7:30 p.m. July 22 and July 23 and 4 p.m. July 23, with a hourlong preview set for 5 p.m. July 22.
Where: Holden Arboretum, 9550 Sperry Road, Kirtland.
Tickets: $15 for lawn seats for main shows; $17 to $22 for preview performance.
Info: 216-320-0012 or apollosfire.org.
'The Road to Dublin'
What: Celtic folk concert by Apollo's Fire.
Where: Avon Lake United Church of Christ, 32801 Electric Blvd.
Tickets: $20 to $52.
Info: 216-320-0012 or apollosfire.org.
