The Vancouver Island Symphony is celebrating St. Patrick's Day with traditional and original Celtic music.
The unique stylings of Rant Maggie Rant will combine with the symphony orchestra to create a collaborative Celtic experience during the symphony's Lucky Irish Spirit concert.
Lucky Irish Spirit shows Friday (March 17) at 7:30 p.m. at the Port Theatre, and is part of Festival Nanaimo events.
"What is special about this group is the fact that they are not only a Irish and Celtic band but they are more versatile than that," said Pierre Simard, Vancouver Island Symphony artistic director, adding that the band also combines world music into its repertoire.
Rant Maggie Rant hails from Stratford Ontario. The band is known for its Celtic sound, which combines styles from Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, the Isle of Man and regions of Galicia, Spain and Brittany, France. Rant Maggie Rant combines these influences with musical styling from Quebec and Canada's East Coast to create its unique soundscape.
The group consists of three main members Lindsay Schindler, vocalist and fiddle player; Glen Dias, lead vocalist, recorder player and percussionist and Barry James Payne guitarist, harmonica and bouzouki player.
Rant Maggie Rant performs as a six-piece group. The current group also includes Rob Larose, Steve Clarke and Daev Clysdale.
Both Schindler and Dias are founding members of Rant Maggie Rant.
Schindler studied classical violin as a child. According to the band's website, as Schindler grew up she felt a need to "diversify and push boundaries" this led her to experiment with numerous styles.
Dias's earlier performances were influenced by rock and folk music from the United Kingdom. He is a member of Ptarmigan and has performed with jazz musicians and guitarist Lenny Breau and flautist Paul Horn. He performed psych-folk in his early career and then enjoyed a professional music career in music theatre and opera.
Rant Maggie Rant made its debut in 2008 and since then has performed at festivals, folk clubs, concert halls and churches across Canada and in the United States.
Rant Maggie Rant recently released its fourth full-length album, Latitude. The band is touring across Canada promoting the album and will perform with the Vancouver Island Symphony during the tour.
Tickets for the Lucky Irish Spirit concert range in price from $33 to $59 or $18 for students and are available in advance by calling 250-754-8550 or by visiting www.porttheatre.com.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com