Bach's Lunch Series Concert: A Fine Winter's Night

Matt & Shannon Heaton and Lissa Schneckenburger &

Corey DiMario ~ vocals, guitar, bouzouki, Irish flute, fiddle, and bass

“A Fine Winter’s Night” features original

and traditional Irish music to help usher in Christmas, featuring sacred and

secular carols.  With an appealing blend of voices, guitar, bouzouki,

bass, fiddle, Irish flute and whistle, these two well-known duos—Matt &

Shannon Heaton and Lissa Schneckenburger & Corey DiMario—will delight the

audience with music that is  simultaneously homegrown, refined and

timeless.

www.mattandshannonheaton.com

www.lissafiddle.com

DiMario/Schneckenburger duo bio:

When fiddler and folk singer

Lissa Schneckenburger joins double bassist and tenor guitar wizard Corey DiMario for a live

performance, they deliver a stunning tapestry of delicate ballads, original fiddle tunes,

and gorgeous re-imagined pop classics. As a duo the two have performed together for over

ten years, since meeting in the Klezmer ensemble at The New England Conservatory of

Music where they each earned a Bachelors degree in performance. Ms Schneckenburger

grew up in Maine as an active member of the folk community, where she learned to

play at the feet of some of the most venerable musicians in New England. She

has released numerous solo albums as an accomplished fiddler and singer, leading to

"Covers" (released June 2013) which includes several memorable duos with Mr. DiMario

on double bass. A diverse musician, Mr. DiMario adds rock solid, low-end

accompaniment and driving rhythm to any musical situation. A founding member of the string

band sensation Crooked Still, he brings a diverse musical palette and energetic approach

to every performance.

Individually they have performed

with an amazing array of folk bands including Crooked Still, Bela Fleck, Tony

Trischka, Bill Keith, Pete Wernick, Eric Weissberg, Richie Stearns, Noam Pikelny, and The

David Wax Museum (DiMario) and Solas, Cherish the Ladies, Childsplay, Halali, and

Long Time Courting, (Schneckenburger) Their newest collaboration is for A Fine

Winter's Night, a holiday show with traditional Irish duo Matt and Shannon Heaton.

Matt & Shannon Heaton bio:

Boston-based Matt and Shannon

Heaton play traditional and updated Irish music on flute, accordion, guitar,

bouzouki, and voices. Their inventive approach to traditional tunes and

ballads, their variety of instruments, and their blend of new and old music

creates a robust “band” sound the Boston Herald called  “majestic

excellence.” Winner of Live Ireland’s “Trad Fusion Album of the Year,” the

Heatons move seamlessly from harmony singing, to driving flute tunes, to lush

guitar lines, creating a big, layered, modern sound.

Their 5th album “Tell you in

earnest” (rel. Feb 2015) is a collection of ballads with dramatic stories. Each

song is like a two-person play, with emotionally honest dialog, riveting action,

and enduring themes of intrigue, love, revenge, and regret. There are plenty of

American roots influences and original touches here—newly composed melodies,

self-penned stories, updated lyrics, tight harmony singing—but everything is

filtered through an Irish traditional music framework. That each song is

arranged with great care and creativity is a given, and is just another way the

Heatons reach deep to bring the emotional core of each song alive for their

audiences.

Matt and Shannon had their musical start in Chicago, where they played with

mentors Liz Carroll, John Williams, and Jimmy Keane. Annual trips to Clare,

three years in bluegrass-haven Boulder, Colorado, and their move to Boston in

2001 have all influenced their repertoire and style. They are an integral part

of Boston’s vibrant Irish music and neo-Celtic Acoustic scenes, and many of

their new arrangements and compositions well out of their work with fellow

traditional musicians in and around New England (Matt also plays with Flynn

Cohen’s Deadstring Ensemble and has an acclaimed CD of music for children;

Shannon plays with Long Time Courting and Childsplay).

Matt and Shannon are poised,

passionate performers. They are comfortable onstage and have a warm, sometimes

hilarious, presence and banter with audiences. This is Indie traditional music,

founded in an authentic love of traditional music (and each other) and a sense

of adventure and fun for exploring new directions and possibilities.

 “Their playing is masterful

and inventive, their arrangements city-smart and spacious. Still, they never

forget that Irish music is, at its heart, a neighborly form meant for sharing,

not showing off." —Scott Alarik  Boston Globe

 “Brilliant, American-bred

Irish folk” –Daniel Gewertz, Boston Herald