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Award Winning Folk and Dance Duo Atwater and Donnelly to Perform for Music, Gettysburg!

Music, Gettysburg! is proud to present the Atwater –Donelly Duo in concert Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 4pm at the Lutheran Theological Seminary chapel in Gettysburg. The duo provides a thrilling blend of traditional American and Celtic folk music and dance.

The highly praised husband-wife duo blends gorgeous vocals with an astonishing array of instruments including the mountain dulcimer, old-time banjo, tin whistle, guitar, limberjack, mandolin, harmonica, feet and more. They often collaborate with other musicians, Cathy Clasper-Torch, Heidi and John Cerrigione, and Uriah Donnelly; and Irish step-dancer Kevin Doyle; and can be seen performing solo, as a duo, trio, four-person band, or the six-member old-time gospel band, Jerimoth Hill.

Based in Foster, Rhode Island, Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly have traveled extensively for twenty-two years in the United States, and occasional trips to Ireland, England, and Canada, to perform as well as find their songs and dances one by one. They have produced six books, a film, and eleven recordings that receive international airplay.

Married since 1989, Aubrey and Elwood perform throughout the United States and, on occasion, abroad. Their ten recordings receive international airplay. Highlights include airplay on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," Fiona Ritchie's "Thistle and Shamrock," and the nationally syndicated "Midnight Special" out of Chicago.

Atwater and Donnelly have performed and researched traditional folk music and dance in Appalachia, the Ozarks, New England, and other key places in the United States, as well as Ireland, England and Prince Edward Island. They have performed with or shared festival billing with folk legends Jean Ritchie, Pete Seeger, and Doc Watson.

Aubrey and Elwood lead workshops, study with traditional musicians and folklorists, play for and call contra-dances, appear on television, and regularly receive standing ovations for their concerts during trips to festivals and camps such as the Hindman Settlement School in Eastern Kentucky, the Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia, the Old Songs Festival in New York, the Ozark Folk Center in Arkansas, and the Swannanoa Gathering and the John C. Campbell Folk School in western North Carolina.

In 2005, Aubrey and Elwood appeared in six performances of a play called "Folktown: The Story of the Fifth Mary," which was written and produced by playwright Bob Hollis and based on twenty-two songs in the Atwater-Donnelly repertoire. This exciting community project involved approximately one hundred people and took place right in their hometown of Foster.

The Atwater-Donnelly Duo won Motif Magazine's "Best Local Folk Act" award in 2006 and well as three awards in 2007: "Best Folk Act" for the Atwater-Donnelly Band, "Album of the Year" for "The Halfway Ground", and "Best Female Vocalist" for Aubrey Atwater.

Music, Gettyburg! is a premier free concert series featuring the finest regional, national and international musicians hosted by the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettyburg. The seminary chapel is located at 147 Seminary Ridge on the west edge of Gettysburg. For more information about this and other concerts remaining in the Music, Gettysburg! schedule, please call 717-334-6286 ext 2197 or email info@musicgettysburg.org or visit the web site at www.musicgettysburg.org .

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