Gothard Sisters offer night of high-energy Irish entertainment

The Seattle-based Gothard Sisters bring their award-winning, high-energy display of Irish fiddling, singing and dancing to Flathead High School on Saturday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. 

Greta, Willow and Solana Gothard began classical violin training and competitive Irish dancing at a young age leading them to leadership positions in their local youth symphony and to the Irish dancing World Championships where they competed in the solo category three years in a row. 

In 2007, the sisters were on a Seattle-based Irish dance team that placed second at the World Championships in Scotland. The Gothard Sisters have also developed talents on guitar, bodhran and voice.  

Their love for music, dance and storytelling is their inspiration for performing and recording.  The Gothards have recorded six albums; their most recent, “Story Girl,” was named the album of the year in 2011 by Celtic Radio. 

The signature sound of the Gothard Sisters' recordings blends the freedom and lyricism of traditional folk forms with the discipline gained from years of training as classical musicians and the competitive world of Irish dance.

Admission is by season subscription or single tickets ($30 for adults; $15 for students; and $75 for a family), available at the door or online at flatheadvalleyliveonstage.org  Also, anyone buying a new season ticket for 2014-15 will be admitted free to this final concert of this season. 

Flathead Valley LIVE committed to bringing 'absolute best' to valley  

The Gothard Sisters show is representative of the mission of Flathead Valley LIVE on Stage — to bring world-class entertainment to the valley at a reasonable cost.

“They really are fabulous,” Betsy Wood, president of the Flathead Valley LIVE board, said. “This is really going to be a fun, high-energy show, and great family entertainment.”

Wood said that providing what they can call “shows,” rather than “concerts,” is part of the new mission of Flathead Valley LIVE. After decades of being known as Community Concerts, and then switching briefly to the name Flathead Valley Concerts Association, the organization wants its newest name to reflect a high-energy approach.

Wood credits board member Patti Ogden for saying that the group itself has a “renewed energy” since the name change in 2013, but after 75 years is still committed to bringing in the “absolute best” in live artists.

Flathead Valley LIVE joined with a national community entertainment booking group, LIVE on Stage, about five years ago, after trying to book artists on its own for a few years, something Wood said was “really hard.” She said the board is very happy with the LIVE partnership. The board holds a booking meeting every year, and can choose from among about 30 artists from numerous genres. 

“It’s difficult to choose, they’re all so good,” she said. “We try to figure out what our audiences really want to see and have a variety.”

The focus is less on classical music than it once was, Wood said. They’re hoping to get back to the days in the late 1980s and early ’90s, Wood said, when “we honestly had standing room only. There are 796 seats in the Flathead High auditorium and we would love to fill up all those seats.”

Wood said that though single tickets to the shows might not seem cheap — with tickets to the Gothard Sisters costing $30 for adults — each concert is a real value when bought as a season membership. 

Next year’s season features violinist Wai Mizutani,; pianist Matt Hershkowitz; SAXsational with Rob Verdi; and the fiddle/guitar duo of Alex DePue and Miguel De Hoyos. 

A purchase of a season ticket for the 2014-15 season admits the buyer to the Gothard Sisters for free, bringing down the price per show even more. Season tickets are $65 for adults, $55 for seniors, $35 for students and $150 for a family if purchased by May 15. Ticket prices go up $10 after May 15.

Visit www.flatheadvalleyliveonstage.org

For more information, call Betsy at 752-0605 or Danlynne at 756-6357.