Magical Strings Announces 25th Annual Celtic Yuletide Celebration -- Portland (Saturday, December 6)!

Acclaimed Family Celtic Group Celebrates 25 Years of Annual Yuletide Concerts, plus Newest CD Release!

Portland, Oregon (PRWEB) December 2, 2003 -- The Celtic-based ensemble Magical Strings brings an unforgettable evening of seasonal song, dance, and storytelling to Portland with its popular Celtic Yuletide Concert, to be held on Saturday, December 6, at 7:30 p.m., at the First Congregational Church (1126 SW Park Ave).

Always a must-see event, this years Celtic Yuletide performance marks a special anniversary for the group: Its 25th Annual Concert! Along with their five children, Philip and Pam Boulding have welcomed each of the past 25 Yuletide seasons with a Magical Strings performance featuring the familys music, as well as a variety of accomplished Northwest dancers, musicians, and other performers. In this latest Celtic Yuletide Celebration, Magical Strings will play many of their favorites from past years as well as selections from their critically acclaimed new CD, Where Dragons Dance. Magical Strings Yuletide Concerts are known across the Northwest as warm, joyous, family-friendly events, and its sound has been hailed by The Washington Post as warm, graceful, and sonically gorgeous."

The concert will once again reunite the Boulding familys three generations of musicians and dancers, who will also be joined by many special guest artists and friends. With Celtic harps, hammered dulcimers, whistles, concertina, strings and harp-like instruments from around the world, Magical Strings and friends will blend music of different lands with a traditional Celtic repertoire and soulful original compositions. Much more than a concert, the evening also offers dancing, storytelling, juggling, dramatic choreography, poetry and solo harp in a beautiful and symbolic presentation of the timeless Yuletide journey from darkness to light.

A Musical Gathering of Family and Friends
Magical Strings is led by Philip Boulding, who composes, arranges, and plays harp for the group, along with wife Pam, who plays hammered dulcimer. Sons Geoffrey and Brenin provide fiddle and cello, and twins Morgan and Marshall contribute concert whistle, harmonium, wire-strung harp and endless merriment. A violin solo spotlights Brittany, the youngest of the Boulding children and a senior at Rice Universitys Shepherd School of Music in Houston. Concertgoers may even be favored with a dance from the Bouldings wee granddaughters Kailey and Rowan in full Celtic costume.

This years Yuletide entertainment also includes the lightning-fast feet of the Raney Irish Dancers, juggler extraordinaire Thomas Arthur, singer Mike Saunders, and Jarrod Kaplan on lively percussion. Colleen Raney of the Raney Irish Dancers will sing a beautiful Irish carol in Gaelic.

By the evenings end, the audience also becomes a key part of the festivities, with members invited to don a costume and enter the medieval processional through the hall with the musicians, or to join in the caroling to close the nights merriment.

About Magical Strings
Since 1980, Magical Strings has increased its popularity worldwide, performing to critical acclaim throughout the United States, Canada, the British Isles and Japan. The group has toured and recorded with Dan Fogelberg, appeared on Garrison Keillors Prairie Home Companion," and played two sold-out tours of Japan. They have recorded 13 albums on Flying Fish/Founder Records, EarthBeat Records, Magic Hill Music, and their newest on Allegros Alula Visions label.

Philip and Pam Boulding were awarded a residency from an Irish arts organization in County Kerry, Ireland, to compose music in an old stone cottage on a bluff overlooking the western sea, which inspired much of the music on their CD Legend of Inishcahey, and their latest album, Where Dragons Dance.

Portland Yuletide Concert Tickets:
General seating, $16 adults and $10 children (12 and under); $18 and $12 at the door. Tickets are available on-line at www.magicalstrings.com, at TicketsWest (503-224-TIXX), the Portland Waldorf School (503-654-2200) and Cedarwood School (503-245-1477). For more information contact (503) 233-6890. Tickets often sell out quickly, so advance purchase is advised.

Contact Information
Philip and Pam Boulding are currently available for in-studio appearances, performances and interviews. For further information, photos, complimentary admission to the show, or for a review copy of their new CD Where Dragons Dance, please call (253) 857-3716 or (253) 857-6402, or e-mail info@magicalstrings.com. Or, in Portland, please call Lorna Miller at (503) 233-6890.

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