Portz Fellowship Presentation: Irish Rebel Songs: Spreading the Word

The 2012 Portz Fellowship was awarded to Christoper Wasko, a music education student at the University of Connecticut, for his project “Irish Rebel Songs: Spreading the Word.” During this session, Christopher will present his project, designed to expose a national audience of singers, conductors, and listeners to the distinctive musical style of Irish folk song as well as to the voice of the Irish population once repressed by the British regime. As a result of his efforts, Christopher intended to provide middle and high school choral directors with an in-depth description of the traditional Irish signing style to allow them to effectively instruct their singers on how to perform Irish folks songs in an authentic fashion and to provide the historical and cultural contexts of the songs to better inform their direction and performance. The project crossed the disciplines of history, education, and music. The Portz award is named for Dr. John and Mrs. Edythe Portz, pioneers in honors education whose support of imaginative ventures in undergraduate education has benefited college students in Maryland and throughout our nation.