Events
Always check the celticmadison.org Events Calendar first!
- Dance Events are posted on our Dance page.
- Regular Celtic Music Events in Madison
If you really never get your fill of live music, you'll have to come by Madison's public sessions:
- Every Wednesday: The decades-long local tradition of Wednesday sessions stumbled in 2019, and 2020 wiped it out. For now?
- First and Third Saturdays: Irish trad session 1-3 pm at the Cambridge Market Café 217 W. Main St. Cambridge 53523. It is an open session meant for intermediate to advanced players but beginners are welcome. The tunes/sets are led by those in attendance.
- Second and Fourth Sundays of the month, 1 pm to 3 pm (or 4 or 5 pm if people don't want to quit), either (in summer weather) at McFarland House Cafe in McFarland, as an outdoor session, with seating at picnic tables, in front of the Cafe under a big gorgeous shade tree, unless it's raining, or (in winter weather) at Unity Church, 601 Tompkins Drive, Madison, 53716, park and enter thru the rear lot off Groveland.
- Monthly Cargo Coffee East Slow Irish Session. This is a slow Irish session for beginners and intermediate players. Tunes will be played at a slower tempo to facilitate learning the traditional tunes and learning to play in a group. It is also an open session, meaning that all are welcome to join in
- Occasional(?) Wednesdays: about 15 miles southeast, out in Stoughton, the Viking Brewpub on Main Street hosts a session, 7pm.
- Here are some excellent tips on how traditional Irish music sessions work, from a Belfast-based Web site.
Other Calendars
- The Shamrock Club also maintains an Irish music and dance calendar for the Milwaukee area and for all of Wisconsin.
- For sessions outside of Madison, see the regional links below.
Free Newsletter
In Print - Infrequent
The Celtic Music Association publishes a free, occasional newsletter, dubbed Celtic Madison. You may add yourself to our mailing list by e-mailing your name and street address to snailmail@celticmadison.org. See archives of old newsletters below.
Via E-Mail - More Up-to-Date
We also send out the newsletter via e-mail, which you can choose to receive instead of, or in addition to the printed newsletter. This group of subscribers also receives alerts when any major Celtic music events are happening in Madison (on average, less than once a month). To be added to our e-mail list, please send your e-mail address to rcnewton@facstaff.wisc.edu. Don't worry, we do not release our mailing list to anyone else.
Archive
Past Web-ized newsletters: (older archived issues may not meet current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
About CMA
The Celtic Music Association is a group of unpaid volunteers which primarily organizes concerts by traditional musicians from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales. For over 20 years, CMA has brought several acts per year to Madison, ranging from lesser-known gems like Máire O'Keeffe to big names such as The Tannahill Weavers and Altan. We are nominally (although far from exclusively) run by students and faculty of UW-Madison, and therefore qualify to register as a Student Organization at the UW. We also actively support Madison's local Celtic dance and music culture.
Contact CMA
CMA does not have a formal hierarchy of officers. Whoever is willing to take on the responsibility of a task gets to be the contact person for that area!
- Booking: If you are a touring band or agent interested in a gig in Madison, give Bob Newton a ring at (608) 219-2009 or e-mail him at rcnewton@facstaff.wisc.edu.
- Web site: If you have a suggestion for or a comment about any part of the celticmadison.org Web site, send an e-mail to Alan Ng at alan@alan-ng.nospam (use net instead of nospam).
- Free newsletter: see above.
- Donations to CMA are gratefully accepted and will make our continued existence easier by helping us cover the many expenses of booking and presenting traditional artists, publishing the free newsletter, and renting this Web server. You can also help the whole community by helping us keep ticket prices at an accessible level. Contact treasurer Craig Heilman at cma@celticmadison.org or mail a check payable to "Celtic Music Association" to Celtic Music Association, 7500 Paoli Road, Verona, WI 53593. We do not yet have 501(c)3 tax-free status, but your assistance will do just the same amount of good anyway!
Recommended Links
- Madison's Celtic musicians
- Other Madison-area Celtic music links
- Madison-area Celtic dance links
- Madison-area Celtic culture links
