For over three decades, Brian O’Donovan has been hosting A Celtic Sojourn on WGBH, a program exploring traditional and contemporary music from around the Celtic world. He’s also well known for his live concert series A Christmas Celtic Sojourn, as well as many other presentations around New England.  In partnership with Rockport Music and working in close collaboration with fellow Artistic Director, Edinburgh-born harpist/composer Maeve Gilchrist, Brian is proud to present the third annual Rockport Celtic Festival- Exploring Celtic Roots and Branches. The Festival brings crossover and collaborative work between musicians from different genres including classical, jazz, and American Traditional.

EPSG:4326

Words & Music: The Celtic Spirit

Shalin Liu Performance Center

This evening features an all-star cast of some of the most innovative string voices across the globe. Featuring Maeve Gilchrist on the Celtic Harp, the groundbreaking guitarist Yasmin Williams and innovative Old-time duo, Tatiana Hargreaves and Allison De Groot- this evening will have the audience reimagining what acoustic string music means as we take our respective time-old traditions and reframe them in a contemporary light. This is simply going to be a party that you’re not going to want to miss!

Global Strings

For over three decades, Brian O’Donovan has been hosting A Celtic Sojourn on WGBH, a program exploring traditional and contemporary music from around the Celtic world. He’s also well known for his live concert series A Christmas Celtic Sojourn, as well as many other presentations around New England.  In partnership with Rockport Music and working in close collaboration with fellow Artistic Director, Edinburgh-born harpist/composer Maeve Gilchrist, Brian is proud to present the 4th annual Rockport Celtic Festival- Exploring Celtic Roots and Branches.  The Festival brings crossover and collaborative work between musicians from different genres including classical, jazz, and American Traditional.

Salon Session With Maeve Gilchrist

Cape Breton fiddler Katie McNally, Shetland fiddler Kevin Henderson and guitarist Conor Hearn team up for an exhilarating evening of fiddle music and dance.

Festival Club: Ceilidh!

Bringing together some of the brightest lights in the Cape Breton, Quebec and Newfoundland Music scene, this evening celebrates the melting pot of traditions that make up the unique and diverse musical traditions of Eastern Canada. French settler culture, the Irish fishing industry, Mass migration from Scotland and of course, the indigenous music of the first nations in Canada will feature in this foot stomping evening of music!

Opening Night: Quebec to Newfoundland

For this special Festival edition of ‘Upstairs on Main’, we invite the fantastic duo Rakish with violinist Maura Shawn Scanlin and guitarist Conor Hearn. This duo will bring an evening of Irish and American folk tunes!  Grab a drink at the bar and settle in for this folk-club style concert, hosted by Maeve Gilchrist to kickstart the festival in style!

Rockport Celtic Festival

Sep 17, 2023

Words & Music: The Celtic Spirit

Sep 16, 2023

Global Strings

Rockport Celtic Festival