A CELTIC CHRISTMAS to Return to San Francisco at United Irish Cultural Center

For decades, Tomáseen Foley's A Celtic Christmas has criss-crossed the country bringing holiday joy to audiences. This December, the acclaimed show — new each year — will return to Northern California with its Irish musicians, dancers, and native Irish storyteller, Tomáseen Foley. The show will also feature a special guest appearance by San Francisco's own Whelan Academy of Irish Dance. A Celtic Christmas will perform Friday, December 18 at United Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco. 

A Celtic Christmas springs from the infinitely rich treasury of Ireland's cultural heritage: a re-creation of a night before Christmas in the West of Ireland in the 1940s, before the advent of the motorcar, the television, and the telephone. In this family-friendly recreation of age-old tradition, neighbors bring their fiddles, tin whistles, flutes, bodhráns, uilleann pipes, and their unshakeable sense of community for a night of traditional music, song, dance, and of course storytelling. A Celtic Christmas features award-winning performers, some very familiar to local audiences and some new faces.

Storyteller/Director Tomáseen Foley grew up cradled in a culture unique to the old communal way of life, and continues to share the joy of that upbringing. In conjunction with the Omaha Symphony and other orchestras, he performs in Celtic Journey as well as occasional performances with Apollo's Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra. He has released two CDs: Parcel From America, and a live recording, The Priest and the Acrobat.