When a Celtic New Year is celebrated at Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on Saturday night, the audience can expect Irish music and dance in the form of jigs and reels performed by the New Century Ensemble and its leader Zan McLeod. “Technically, I’m more Scottish than I am Irish,” said McLeod, a multitalented accompanist and producer. “But the word ‘Celtic’ has become a popular [term] in the last 15 years. As people get more familiar with the music, they realize a lot of it came from England and Scotland, as well as Ireland.”
Having performed in many musical styles and genres, this native of North Carolina co-founded the Irish-American group Touchstone. In 1988, McLeod migrated north to D.C., where he met up with his Irish musician buddies and began touring and recording. Addicted to the Celtic sound and the history behind the music, he never looked back.
| Onstage |
| A Celtic New Year |
| Where: Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW |
| When: 6 p.m. Saturday |
| Info: Free; 800-444-1324 or 202-467-4600; kennedy-center.org |
Now, guitarist McLeod (who has performed and recorded with such Irish notables as the Chieftains and Seamus Egan) works with his New Century Ensemble, and its Celtic cast of performers that include Peter Brice on the accordion, Rosie Shipley on the fiddle and the professional New Century Dancers under the direction of Kate Bole.
“We’ll do the normal dance music that you hear from Ireland and Scotland; the traditional jigs and reels and Caeli [dance] repertoire,” McLeod said. “We have a singer, as well [to perform] some of the more familiar tunes. Audiences will hear the less familiar as well, such as the ‘Christmas Eve’ reel and a jig called ‘The Butterfly.’ ”
Add to that some holiday songs and a Celtic version of “Auld Lang Syne,” a traditional Scottish tune by Robert Burns, and the celebration is complete.
“We have a few young dancers and I’m sure the kids in the audience will get up with them, McLeod enthused. “I think it will be a fun show for most anybody. And you can’t beat the price.”
