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St. Patrick’s Day is this week, so here’s a bit of history about Irish music. It began as an oral tradition to be passed from one generation to the next. This practice of listening, learning by ear, and not writing tunes down is still encouraged.

Traditional instruments include the Irish harp, which is believed to have originated in Egypt. The Celts brought music to the Irish 2000 years ago, and they had influences from the East. The harp was the most popular instrument, used to create music for nobles and play for the Irish chieftains until the Flight of the Earls (1607). After that, the harpists played where they could.

The first written records of Irish tunes began in 1762. Traditional Irish music travelled with Irish immigrants all over the world. Traditional instruments include fiddle, Celtic harp, Irish flute, penny whistle, uilleann pipes and bodhrán and have expanded more recently to the Irish bouzouki, acoustic guitar, mandolin and tenor banjo.

In the US in the 1920s, Irish music was first recorded and available for listening. Since then, many Irish musicians have kept the traditions alive and thriving for many different audiences.

Here’s a link to sounds from the Traditional Irish Music Archive. Listen to some Irish music, or find it on your favorite streaming app.

Have a birthday in early March? You might share it with one or more of these musical people. While this is by no means an exhaustive list, feel free to check out someone new to you. Music is meant to be shared, and not just what’s on your current playlist.

1 March 1904 Glenn Miller of the Glenn Miller Orchestra – “In the Mood”; “Moonlight Serenade”; “String of Pearls”
1 March 1927 Harry Belafonte (Jr) “Banana Boat Song” Also actor and human rights activist
1 March 1930 Pierre Max Dubois, French Composer
1 March 1932 Jacques Leduc, Belgian Composer
1 March 1933 Istvan Lang, Hungarian Composer
1 March 1939 Leo Brouwer, Cuban Composer
1 March 1947 Alan Thicke, Canadian actor and TV theme song composer (Diff’rent Strokes; Facts of Life)
1 March 1983 Elan Sara DeFan, Mexican singer-songwriter
1 March 1987 Kesha American pop singer

2 March 1909 Hanoch Jacoby, Israeli Violist (Israel Philharmonic 1958-74)
2 March 1913 Celedonio Romero, Spanish Guitarist
2 March 1917 Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American singer, bandleader, actor and television producer
2 March 1944 Leif Segerstam, Finnish violinist, conductor and composer (342 symphonies and counting)
2 March 1961 Simone Young, Australian conductor
2 March 1962 Jon Bon Jovi, American rock singer-songwriter
2 March 1977 Chris Martin, British rock singer-songwriter and piano player (Coldplay “Viva la Vida”)

3 March 1929 Nikos Mamangakis, Greek classical and electronic music composer
3 March 1933 Marco Antonio Munoz, Mexican Latin pop singer and actor
3 March 1953 Dave Amato, American rock guitarist (REO Speedwagon)
3 March 1978 Seomoon Tak [Lee Su-jin], Korean rock singer
3 March 1981 Eugene (Kim Yoo-Jin) South Korean K-pop singer and actress
3 March 1981 Tobias Forge, Swedish heavy metal singer (Ghost)
3 March 1997 Camila Cabello Cuban-American singer-songwriter

4 March 1678 Antonio Vivaldi, Baroque violin virtuoso and composer
4 March 1932 Miriam Makeba, South African singer and civil rights activist (Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording 1965)
4 March 1936 Eric Allandale [Dubuisson], West Indian-British rock and soul trombonist and songwriter
4 March 1950 Emilio Estefan, Cuban-American musician and producer (Miami Sound Machine)
4 March 1951 Linda Yamamoto, Japanese singer and actress
4 March 1981 Carol Banawa, Filipino singer and celebrity

5 March 1913 Julian Krein [Yulian Kreyn] Russian composer and musicologist
5 March 1955 Juraj Filas, Slovak composer
5 March 1991 Daniil Trifonov, Russian Grammy Award-winning classical pianist

6 March 1938 Lovelace Watkins, American singer known as “The Black Sinatra”
6 March 1942 Flora Purim, Brazilian jazz singer
6 March 1944 Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand operatic soprano
6 March 1946 David Gilmour, British rock guitarist and vocalist (Pink Floyd 1968-2014)
6 March 1964 Madonna Wayne Gacy [Stephen Bier, Jr.] American musician (Marilyn Manson)
6 March 1975 Yannick Nezet-Seguin, French Canadian conductor
6 March 1985 Pretty Yende, South African operatic soprano

7 March 1907 Juan Francisco Giacobbe, Argentine composer
7 March 1992 Alisson Kruusmaa, contemporary classical composer (born in Estonia)

8 March 1940 Johnny Ventura, merengue and salsa bandleader and politician
8 March 1943 Gayla Peevey (“I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”)
8 March 1972 Angie Hart, Australian pop singer
8 March 1973 Anneke van Giersbergen, Dutch singer
8 March 1975 Peggy Zina, Greek singer
8 March 1988 Benny Blanco, American record producer

9 March 1911 Ramon Campbell Batista, Chilean physician, composer, and ethno-musicologist
9 March 1930 Ornette Coleman, American jazz saxophonist and composer
9 March 1936 Mickey Gilley, American nightclub owner and country singer
9 March 1951 Zakir Hussain, Punjabi tabla virtuoso, composer, producer, and film actor
9 March 1993 Suga [Min Yoon-gi], Korean rapper and songwriter (BTS)

10 March 1892 Arthur Honegger, Swiss composer
10 March 1934 Fou Ts’ong, Chinese-British concert pianist
10 March 1955 Youssra [Seveen Nessim], Egyptian actress and singer
10 March 1962 Seiko Matsuda [Noriko Kamachi], Japanese pop singer
10 March 1976 Haifa Wehbe, Lebanese-Egyptian actress, model, pop and world music singer
10 March 1976 Kisaki, Japanese progressive rock musician (Phantasmagoria)
10 March 1983 Carrie Underwood, American Grammy Award-winning country music singer-songwriter
10 March 1983 Che’Nelle [Cheryline Lim] Malaysian-Australian pop and hip-hop singer-songwriter
10 March 1984 Li Yuchun [Chris Lee], Chinese singer-songwriter and actress
10 March 1992 Emily Osment, American actress and singer
10 March 1994 Bad Bunny, Puerto Rican rapper and singer-songwriter (YHLQMDLG)

11 March 1903 Lawrence Welk, American accordionist and orchestra leader (Lawrence Welk Show
11 March 1906 Hasan Ferit Alnar, Turkish composer
11 March 1921 Astor Piazzolla, Argentinian banodeonist and composer
11 March 1926 Ilham Mimaroglu, Turkish electronic music composer and musician
11 March 1950 Bobby McFerrin, American Grammy Award-winning vocalist (“Don’t Worry Be Happy”) and classical music conductor
11 March 1969 Terrence Howard, American actor and singer-songwriter
11 March 1985 Arooj Aftab, Pakistani-American singer and composer (Mohabbat)

12 March 1945 George Jackson, American rhythm&Blues, rock, and southern soul songwriter (One Bad Apple; Old Time Rock and Roll) and singer
12 March 1946 Liza Minelli, American singer and actress
12 March 1948 James Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

13 March 1960 Adam Clayton, English-Irish musician and Rock bassist (U2)
13 March 1980 Lee Jung-hyun, South Korean pop singer and actress
13 March 1984 Yuuka Nanri, Japanese actress, voice actress and pop singer
13 March 1992 Ozuna, Puerto Rican singer

14 March 1930 Dieter Schnebel, German experimental composer (Harley-Davidson, for nine motorbikes and trumpet)
14 March 1933 Quincy Jones Jr., American jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, record producer and film producer
14 March 1981 Mei-Ting Sun, Chinese concert pianist

15 March 1912 Lightnin Hopkins, American blues musician
15 March 1932 Arif Mardin, Turkish-American music producer (Atlantic Records: Aretha Franklin, Bee Gees)
15 March 1941 Mike Love, American vocalist (Beach Boys)
15 March 1947 Stomu Yamash’ta, Japanese percussionist, keyboard player and traditional Japanese-progressive rock fusion composer
15 March 1975 Will.i.am [Adams], American singer-songwriter, rapper, musician (Black Eyed Peas)
15 March 1987 Tatiana Shmailyuk, Ukrainian heavy metal vocalist

Composition Theme: This month we’ll be taking a look at composing marches. This is the kind of music you would hear out of a marching band at sporting events. If this interests you, go ahead and check out this month’s composition!

Music History: We will be looking at the history of marches this month. Did you know the first marches actually came from militaries which used marches to direct troops? If things like this interest you, check out our music history for this month!

Young Students: Our young students station this month will help your small kids learn about marches through some simple drawing and matching games.

Happy President’s Day! We’re excited to see you for lessons. February is winding down so make sure you complete music history or music composition before it changes next week. (Don’t worry- March’s theme will also be great.)

Don’t forget to practice and also play something for fun, especially if you’re out of school today. See you soon.