daiv

my name is david, and i live about an hour west of chicago. i come from an irish family, and grew up playing with my grandma, her cousin una, and my uncle. my uncle’s band the kells: http://www.thekells.org .

i love playing at sessions in the chicagoland area and try to get out as much as i can. my second favorite place to have some tunes is out in the cincinnati metropolitan area, with all my friends and family in ohio. if you see me out, it is likely you’ll see me playing the concertina, even though i was originally a flute and whistle player. i teach concertina, flute and whistle at a music school in the ’burbs.

outside of the music i am a cognitive psychology grad student, who researches multiple aspects of text comprehension and formatting, as well as spatial perception. i also am very involved with the engineering school at my university, whereat i run a club that works on creating real world business and patents, etc. as i can’t help myself, i also founded an irish music club at my university, which is focused on free instruction and ensemble work. our club also emphasizes “excursions” to sessions in the chicagoland area, as well as workshops and concerts from top players.

my favorite musicians:

fiddle-- james kelly, brian rooney, caoimhín ó raghallaigh, brendan mcglinchey, martin hayes, maurice lennon
concertina-- noel hill, mary macnamara, edel fox
pipes-- willie clancy, seamus ennis, mick o‘brien, tommy martin, paddy keenan, richard o’mealy, liam o’flynn
flute-- mike rafferty, my uncle (brian mccoy), fintan vallely, matt molloy
accordion-- joe derrane, tony mcmahon, paddy o’brien, john williams, billy mccomiskey
singing-- joe heany, iarla ó lionáird, mary o’hara, tríona ní dhomhnaill

my favorite concertinas are carroll concertinas ( http://www.carrollconcertinas.com )

my favorite whistles are burke whistles ( http://www.burkewhistles.com )


i play the silver flute, with a boehm headjoint made by david copley. my modern irish flute is a boosey pratten copy by jon c., although i also have an 8-key nicholson copy. it is stamped gisbourne, and with the address we have estimated it to be from 1854. here is a picture of it’s twin in the dayton c. miller collection: http://tinyurl.com/vueer