Irish Musician Joe Derrane Discussed at Boston College on Thursday, September 22

Boston accordion legend Joe Derrane is the subject of a lecture by Earl Hitchner of the Irish Echo newspaper this Thursday, September 22, 2011 at Boston College. The event takes place at Gasson Hall on BC campus from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Along with the lecture by Mr. Hitchner is a performance by Derrane, mandonist John McGann, professor of strings at Berklee College of Music, and Seamus Connolly, All-Ireland fiddle player and head of the Gaelic Roots Irish Music program at Boston College.

Derrane was born in the Mission Hill section of Roxbury, a neighborhood of Boston, in 1930, to Irish immigrant parents. He studied the accordion with noted accordion player Gerry O'Brien, and by the time he was a teenager was a recording artist and noted musician in Boston's vibrant Irish community. This was also during the heyday of the Dudley Street Irish Dance Hall era in Roxbury, where hundreds of Irish immigrants, Irish-Americans and Canadians convened each night to dance to traditional music.

For more details on Boston College's Gaelic Roots fall schedule, click here.

For year round information on Irish music, dancing, theatre, literary events, as well as Irish gift shops, pubs, cultural centers and more, visit IrishBoston.org.

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