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Irish meets classical in Placid

Irish group Cherish the Ladies will perform with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta alongside championship Irish dancers on Sunday. (Photo provided)

Two styles of music will meld as Grammy-nominated Irish group Cherish the Ladies joins 20 musicians from the Lake Placid Sinfonietta Sunday at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts.

Cherish the Ladies travels the world, entertaining audiences with their Irish music, comedic anecdotes in between songs, and the combination of music and dance through the two Irish steppers that come with them. This summer, Jason Oremus and Garret Coleman will dance alongside the ladies.

Sinfonietta Music Director Ron Spigelman met the group in the late 1990s and was “blown away” by their performance, he said. At the time, Spigelman was the assistant conductor. He was unable to remember where it was they first met but also unable to forget the impression they made. Spigelman and the group were able to work alongside each other several more times afterward.

According to Spigelman, when a committee for the Lake Placid Sinfonietta was debating how to distinguish the music performed this year, he spoke up.

“I have something for you guys,” he said.

Spigelman admits that a blend of classical and Irish music is unusual, but he assures that because both genres are just as old as each other, the blend is wonderful. He called the combination “a perfect marriage.”

Cherish the Ladies consists of five or six performers, depending on the availability of each member. They have a pool of top performers to pick from for each tour, according to Spigelman. On Sunday, Cherish the Ladies will include Joanie Madden on flute and whistle, Mary Coogan on guitar, Mirella Murray on accordion, Kathleen Boyle on piano, Mollaig Casey on fiddle and Molly O’Riordan as lead singer. Madden was part of the group when Spigelman first met her. He believes that if she wasn’t a musician, she could be a comedian.

If you go …

Who: Cherish the Ladies and the Lake Placid Sinfonietta

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 16

Where: Lake Placid Center for the Arts, 17 Algonquin Ave., Lake Placid

How much: $35 adults, $8 students 18 and under, free for Sinfonietta Full Series subscribers

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