FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                          October 23, 2003

CHERISH THE LADIES TO TAKE CENTER STAGE IN CONCERT SERIES

            The Irish-American group Cherish the Ladies is the second act of the Northwest Oklahoma Concert Series. The all-female group will appear at 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 6, in Herod Hall Auditorium on the campus of Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

            Tickets for the event are $10 for adults and $5 for students and are available at Holder Drug, Schuhmacher’s, Alva Chamber of Commerce and the Northwestern Bookstore.

            Cherish the Ladies takes its name from a time-honored Irish traditional jig and has grown from a one-time concert concept to an Irish traditional music sensation, literally the most successful and sought-after Irish-American group in Celtic music history.

            Organized by folklorist/musician Mick Moloney and sponsored by the Ethnic Folk Arts Center and the National Endowment for the Arts, Cherish the Ladies began as a concert series featuring the brightest lights in Irish traditional music. Though initially the group won recognition as the first and only all-woman traditional Irish band, the members soon established themselves as musicians and performers without peer and have garnered many thousands of listeners and fans of their music.

            With a unique blend of virtuosi instrumental talents, beautiful vocals and captivating arrangements, the powerhouse group combines all the facets of Irish traditional culture, put forth in an immensely humorous and entertaining package.

            The group has traveled all over North and South America, the United Kingdom and Europe, being named Entertainment Group of the Year by the Irish Voice Newspaper and receiving the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall’s International Group of the Year Award. The “Celtic Album,” the group’s collaboration with the Boston Pops Symphony, led to a 1999 Grammy nomination. The “Ladies” have recorded seven albums and appeared extensively on American and British radio and television programs.

Members of Cherish the Ladies include:

            Joanie Madden, leader of the group who received her musical training early in life by listening to her father Joe, an All-Ireland champion on the accordion. She began taking whistle lessons and in 1984 became the only American to ever win the Senior All-Ireland championship.                           Heidi Talbot learned to play the guitar at age 12 and soon found herself singing at concerts and sessions around Kildare and Dublin, Ireland. In the summer of 2001, she joined The Whole Shabang and while performing with that group in New York, she met Cherish the Ladies. In 2003, she joined the Ladies as lead singer.

            Marie Reilly began her musical endeavors on the fiddle and tin whistle at age 8 under the supervision of her father. She has performed throughout the United States with Mick Moloney and her brother Martin, a button accordionist. She also has played in Riverdance. A graduate of Fordham Law School, she is a member of the New York Bar.

            Donna Long began piano lessons with her father, a jazz/classical pianist, at age 5 and now is considered one of the finest pianists playing Irish music. In 2003, the Smithsonian Institution asked Long to represent Irish music in the series, “Piano Traditions,” celebrating 300 years of the piano.

            Mary Coogan is a self-taught guitar, mandolin and banjo player and is a highly sought-after accompanist. She has a master’s degree in education and has been named to Who’s Who Among American Teachers.

            Cherish the Ladies’ albums include “On Christmas Night,” “The Girls Won’t Leave the Boys Alone,” “Threads of Time” and “At Home.”

The Northwest Oklahoma Concert Series is made possible through grants from the Oklahoma Arts Council, Heartland Arts Fund, National Endowment for the Arts and the Charles Morton Share Trust.

-NW-

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