About Celtinental Music...
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Miki Nelson
Miki
Celtinental Music is a booking agency run by Miki Nelson, offering select award winning Celtic and World musicians for concerts. These artists have performed in all sorts of performance situations from large festivals with an attendance of thousands, to large and small concert halls, and intimate smaller venues. They are the embodiment of their tradition, and their awards reflect their all around performance package of mastery of their instruments, experience, fun, humor, charm, and rapport with their audiences, plus an indefinable ingredient that sets them apart as true showmen!
Miki is a veteran of Celtic concert production under her own concert production company Tir na nOg, as well as independent concerts with the Seattle Folklore Society and others. She also occasionally helps book other agencies' artists independently. Tir na nOg presented in concert folks such as Andy Irvine, Dave Swarbrick and Simon Nicol, Martin Carthy, Patrick Street, Silly Wizard, De Danann, Kornog, Battlefield Band, Gabriel Yacoub of Malicorne, Bleizi Ruz, Andy Stewart and Manus Lunny, Capercaillie, Boys of the Lough, Relativity, Tannahill Weavers, and more.
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Miki became interested in Celtic music after playing Renaissance music and dance, then English music and dance forms, and finally Celtic music and dance,. In the UK, Ireland had many memorable moments; one was meeting a young Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn in the Cellar pub in Galway. Yet another was heading off to Dublin down a rural road in the early morning on foot while it was still dark, and getting a lift from an old farmer in a donkey cart, off to sell his milk in big steel cans in the back of the cart, an experience of rural Ireland not given to many! In Scotland, she went on small UK tours with the fairly new Silly Wizard with young Johnny Cunningham, and in London hung out with folks such as Steeleye Span, one of the major influences on English folk rock.
When not booking artists or producing concerts, Miki also performs Celtic music with her husband Brian, and even had the pleasure recently of being asked to perform with the seventh Dr. Who, Sylvester McCoy, at a Dr. Who convention.
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Aki Namioka
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Aki Namioka started taking piano lessons when she was 5, and has been an avid musician ever since. She has played the concert flute since she was 11, and started playing Irish music in 2006 after a trip to Ireland sparked her interest. While in Ireland, Aki picked up an Oak D Whistle as a souvenir, along with a Tin Whistle tune book. After learning the whistle fingering and reading the music from the tune book, Aki realized she didn't sound anything like the recordings. So, she went in search of a real teacher, and found Tudy McLain at Dusty Strings. After a few months of playing the whistle, Aki acquired a beautiful wood simple flute, which has been her constant companion for 10 years. Now Aki and Tudy perform Trad music together with Land of Erin. Aki is also the Session lead at the Shawn O'Donnell's Thursday Sessions.
Aki's full professional resume is on LinkedIn.
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Celtinental Music is a member of Folk Alliance.
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