Frequently Asked Questions
This event is a weekend-long gathering of traditional Irish musicians and fans – a fun time for all!
It includes instrument instruction workshops, Irish Journeys, sessions and a concert performance of world class Irish musicians.
Cruinniú is an Irish word which means “to gather”, assemble or draw together. It is pronounced “creh-new“.
Click the play button below to hear it.
The weekend class package will cost $295.00.
This does not include meals or lodging.
Registering for a Class Package will include:
- All instruction in your selected class. Note that these classes are intended to be sequential, each building on the one before. Therefore only one workshop class may be selected for each person.
- Irish Journeys. These are topics of general interest to the Irish music community.
- Multiple sessions each day.
- Admission to the Friday night Céilí
- One ticket to the Saturday evening concert.
Irish Journeys are presentations on any Irish Culture-related topic: music, dance, storytelling, history, etc. We offer several Irish Journeys simultaneously. Simply pick the ones you want to attend.
This years Irish Journeys descriptions are here.
Of course! The concert is open to anyone in the public who wishes to buy a ticket. There is a selection on the “Registration and Tickets” page to purchase concert tickets.
No better place to start learning! You will find the intermediate/advanced class level challenging, but in a good way. If you are coming from an old time or bluegrass background, you will learn new ornaments, the “feel” of the various Irish dance rhythms, and interesting ways of creating variations which fit the basic melody. If you are coming from a classical background, you may begin experiencing the art and skill of learning by ear. You will learn how some of the ornaments you have heard from recordings of Irish players are done. You will begin to see the similarities and differences between Irish and classical techniques.
Most classes are intermediate/advanced: meaning that if you have not played Irish music before, you might find it challenging, and fast-paced. It is ok, though! We all started learning sometime, somewhere! Please read the class descriptions carefully before choosing a class. If in doubt; shoot us an email. We are happy to help.
If you are a beginner on your instrument, you are welcome to register and come to observe, but overall these classes will be of less benefit. They are designed for players with at least an intermediate skill on their instruments. Tunes will generally be taught by ear and used by the instructor to demonstrate important techniques, ornaments, ways of phrasing, or creating variations.
An exception might be experienced woodwind or recorder players. They should be able to pick up the penny whistle fairly easily, because whistle fingering is much like that of the recorder or clarinet. Note that the whistle you will need is called a “D-whistle” – the six-fingered note is a D, and it plays a D scale. Boehm system flute players are welcome in the flute class; an “Irish” flute is not necessary.
The Cruinniú offers a class for beginner to intermediate fiddle players: the Beginning Fiddle class. This class is meant for people who have played some classical violin, who play bluegrass or another style but are new to Irish music. There will also be a beginning bodhrán class. No experience is necessary for this class. You will need to have your own bodhrán.
If in doubt, email us. We will guide you with the choices!
Students between the ages of 11 and 18 (middle and high school age) are welcome to attend the Cruinniú. However they must be supervised by an adult at all times.
Both parents/guardians and students – must review the Youth Policy section of our Cruinniú Terms and Conditions prior to registration for complete information.
Come prepared for a lot of fun! You will get to catch up with old friends, meet new ones and get to know and hear some incredible musicians.
June weather in Houston can be really nice, hot or sometimes really hot. Unfortunately it’s one thing we can’t control. All classes and sessions are inside where its air-conditioned. If it’s nice, the UST campus has some lovely outdoor areas for lunch and the PennyWhistle pub has a great patio for a session group.
- Instrument and/or dancing shoes
- A water bottle – stay hydrated! We will have filling stations on campus
- Recording device to capture all those new tunes
- Notebook and pencil – handy for making sure you remember every detail
- Sweater – in case the A/C is a bit cold for you
- Bring your tunes and share them!
- We have compiled mp3 files of some of the common Houston sets to share in case you want to brush up. The bundle also has a couple of pdf files with links to The Session pages for those tunes and a quick reference to the starting measures. Download this zip file. After download, on your computer, double click on the file to unzip it.
- The Gathering Hornpipe by Charlie Lennon is the “Crúinniú tune”. Details here
The Cruinniú is centered on the University of St. Thomas campus
The concert will be in Jones Hall on the UST campus
Evening sessions will be held at the PennyWhistle pub just down the street from the campus.
All of the location information along with maps of the area are under Venue Info in the web menu.
There will be dorm space available at the University of St. Thomas in Guinan Residence Hall. We have arranged for a special Cruinniú rate at our host hotel, the Crown Plaza Galleria.
For more information see the Lodging page.
There are also many other hotels and other facilities in Houston.
Breakfast and lunch will be available on campus for an additional charge. You may select and pay for these meals at registration. Click here for details.
Dinner will be on your own. There is a variety of restaurants in the immediate vicinity of the university. Download this list for a sampling of what is available.
Drinks: We encourage everyone to bring a reusable water bottle; there are filling stations on campus.
There will be a limited number of bottles of water for sale. There is also a campus vending machine with soda and sometimes water.
Coffee and tea may be served during breaks for a voluntary donation.
Please use our Contact Us page to give us your suggestions. We will try to answer all queries as soon as possible.