For Immediate Release
Slighe nan Gaidheal (Seattle’s Gaelic language and cultural society)
Contact: George Young - georgeyoung@slighe.com www.slighe.com

Presenters Féis Seattle
June 13-17, 2012

Seattle, WA, December 7 2011 – We are pleased to announce the presenters for the 8th Féis Seattle. Our 7 presenters of language, instrument and song all have great Celtic traditions and skills to share. Join Slighe nan Gaidheal’s thriving community of Scottish Gaelic language and culture enthusiasts for Féis Seattle 2012, to be held June 13 through 17, 2012 at historic Fort Worden located along the Admiralty Inlet on the Olympic peninsula near Port Townsend, Washington

Language Presenters this year will be:
• Beginning Speakers - Muriel Fisher a native of the Isle of Skye and the founder and director of the Tucson Gaelic Institute. She also teaches regularly at the University of Arizona and in the summers at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the Gaelic-medium college on her native island. http://www.murielofskye.com/murielof...m/Welcome.html
• Emerging Speakers - Rachel McPherson, who’s spoken Gaelic from childhood, was born on Skye, raised in Benbecula, Harris, and Inverness. Recently retired as Deputy Head Teacher in Scotland’s exciting new Glasgow Gaelic School.
• Immersion Speakers- Margie Beaton a native Gaelic speaker from the Island of Eriskay, Scotland. She currently lives in Mabou, Cape Breton and has recently retired as Gaelic Teacher and Vice Principal at Dalbrae Academy in Mabou.

All of our language presenters have devoted their lives to Gaelic education

Instrument Presenters this year will be:
• Bagpipes - Barry Shears a native of Glace Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He is an acknowledged expert on the history of traditional piping in Nova Scotia and its intrinsic connection to the Gaelic language, music and culture. An award-winning musician, Barry has performed at concerts and festivals throughout North America, as well as in Scotland and Europe. http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/caper/
• Fiddle - Kimberley Fraser born on Cape Breton Island and nurtured within its rich musical heritage. She holds a degree in Violin performance from Berklee College of Music and in Celtic Studies from St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. A master at the trio of fiddling, step dancing and piano, Kimberley is a much sought after teacher for all three. http://www.kimberleyfraser.com/
• Wire-strung Harp- Cynthia Cathcart is an expert on the Clàrsach, the wire-strung harp of Scotland and Ireland. Performing and teaching internationally, she is a leader in a new wave of interest in this rare instrument. The brilliant revival of this ancient instrument is in part due to the uniquely bell-like resonance of brass, silver and gold harp strings, producing a sound unlike any other harp. Cynthia strives to bring the joy of making music on these precious strings to anyone who is drawn to their sound. http://www.cynthiacathcart.net/

Gaelic Song Presenter this year will be:
• Gillebride MacIlleMhaoil (MacMillan) is from the Milton, South Uist. Gaelic is his first language and Gaelic songs and traditions were always an important part of family life. Gillebrìde studied Celtic Studies at Glasgow University and is employed in Glasgow Univ. Celtic and Gaelic Department. He has been described as having a voice “that wine writers would love to set their vocabularies loose on – mahogany richness with hints of sea salt, perhaps – and he has a way of singing in Gaelic that conveys the gist and tone of a song by subtle inflection”.

Additional presenter information and photos can provided upon request.

Féis Seattle is a festival consisting of prepaid three-day classes and workshops, with traditional evening céilidhs--gatherings at which participants sing, dance, play instruments, tell folk stories--and ends in a lively finale with a public concert on June 15, at Fort Worden’s USO Hall . It brings the tradition bearers together only once every two years, and it gives students of Gaelic and traditional Celtic instruments the chance to study with all seven presenters in a seaside setting of mists, greenery, and distant mountains at a fraction of the cost of a trip to Scotland or Eastern Canada.

Additional Féis information, including class registration, housing, meals, costs, etc. is available through Slighe nan Gaidheal, Féis Seattle 2012 Committee, PO Box 31834, Seattle, WA 98103, 206-903-9452, or through our website at: www.slighe.com/feis Contact our committee at www.slighe.com/feis2012committee

About Slighe nan Gaidheal: Incorporated in 1997 as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, Slighe nan Gaidheal has worked hard for the past 14 years to fulfill its mission to teach and disseminate to the general public the Scottish Gaelic language in its contemporary and historical context though classes, performances, the encouragement of its routine use, and otherwise.