About CMN

What is Celtic Music Night at St. Andrew?

CMN is a fun, free, donation supported Community event, whose aim is to fill the gap which exists in-between the realms of concert, music jam session, and cultural lecture. By combining elements of each of these events into a concise and free evening, we hope to serve as a friendly and accessible forum for people of all ages to learn and demonstrate the Celtic arts, and further the Celtic tradition while building a community.

The Circle of Tradition.
For thousands of years the circle of Tradition has worked the sustain and bring to us the music and culture that we are here to enjoy today, and so it continues… By attending Celtic Music Night, you have already entered into that circle—welcome!

St. Andrew Flag
The four stages of the Circle of Tradition, represented on our event symbol by the letters super-imposed on the flag of Saint Andrew, are as follow:

O = Observe: we all begin on the outside of the circle, but as soon as we Open our ears and Observe the music and culture at work, we have entered into the tradition. This is such an important step—did you realize being a part of something so big was so easy?
Which brings us to…

L = Learn: we begin listening to the music, learning its patterns, and the stories behind the tunes and the people who wrote them—there in lies the culture…
This leads us to…

P = Participate: we start singing the tunes to ourselves, and telling others about what we’ve heard and learned, and soon friends and family also come to appreciate what you’ve discovered and passed on to them. And then perhaps we decide to play the music, learning an instrument or two. and practice, and eventually even perform it for others…
and by so doing, we…

T = Teach: those who listen to us play or listen to our stories, are welcomed into the circle with you, as you have reached one of the most important parts of the Circle, the Connection, which seals it into an endless loop—Tradition. You have at this point channeled into the life’s work and times of thousands of generations that have come before, and given those-to-come a profound gift.

The best part of all of this, is that you can operate on whatever level within the circle you want or can. By coming to the performance, you are in, and by telling another of something you learned while here you’re already going full circle!

I sincerely thank you for taking part and coming to Celtic Music Night—Enjoy the show!

—David Brewer

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