Our Instructor Lineup

An exceptional lineup of guest instructors will teach including such great musicians as Liz Carroll (fiddle), Damien Connolly (button accordion B/C & C#/D), Dave Cory (tenor banjo), Kevin Crawford (flute), Jimmy Crowley (bouzouki), John Doyle (guitar), Rose Conway Flanagan (fiddle), Martin Hayes (fiddle), Louise Mulcahy (uilleann pipes), Michelle Mulcahy (harp), and Robbie O’Connell (singing).  They will be
joined by some of the region’s best players/teachers including Clare Cason (basic fiddle), Bill Cummings (basic fiddle), David Lovrien (tinwhistle & low whistles), Allison Hicks (piano), Jeff Moore (basic guitar), John Liestman (mandolin), and Mark Stone (bodhran).

Check out all of their bios at INSTRUCTORS.

About Our Classes

We offer two 90-minute classes each day in fiddle, flute, whistle, guitar, piano, bodhran, harp, uilleann pipes, button accordion (C#/D & B/C), tenor banjo, bouzouki, mandolin and singing. Enrichment classes teaching Irish music history or exploring Irish music today will also be offered each day.  Additionally, daily workshops presenting music theory, use of ABCs (cyber notation), learning by ear, and basic sound system operation will be available.  The age restrictions for our regular classes is 11 and older. Check out our classes at CLASSES and the schedules.

Other Activities

The retreat will officially begin on Thursday night, October 20th, with a “meet & greet” BBQ and bonfire. Classes start Friday morning and continue through Sunday late afternoon. Each evening there will be concerts by instructors and mini-concerts during meals with a “farewell” concert on Sunday evening at the Midlothian Conference Center. On the Saturday night program, there will be a “Texas Tune & Song Tussle” which features friendly competition among student ensembles that form at the retreat vying for “O’Diddley Awards.” Sessions will be plentiful and organized by levels with some instructor-led and others not.  And finally, there are horse rides offered on Saturday afternoon.

Lodging and Meals

A variety of lodging options on campus will be available from Thursday evening through Sunday night including cottages, motel rooms, dorm beds, RV spaces and tent camping.  Meals will be offered Thursday dinner through Monday breakfast for $8.50 each.  The retreat will offer a shuttle service to and from the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport for $15 per trip each way per person.  Check out our lodging choices and pricing at LODGING.

Changes for 2011

Program for Kids Under 11
We had to drop the Kids Camp program for ages 6-10 last year because of lack of interest, so this year, we will encourage families with young children to gather informally at the camp.  We will announce a location in the coming months that will be suitable, although if the weather is nice, outdoors is probably the best option.

Restrictions on Enrolling in Classes for More than One Instrument
We realize that some of our students are multi-instrumentalists and want to enroll in classes in more than one instrument.  However, for those classes that are in high demand, we will not permit students to take them part-time when there are students wanting to participate full-time in those classes. If your enrollment choices effect others in this way, expect an email from our Registrar to discuss your options.

Three-Day Tuition Only
Similar to the previous discussion about restricting part-time attendance of multiple classes, we will no longer offer one or two-day tuition because such partial attendance would take up class slots for students who would attend all three days.  It is also more difficult for our instructors to teach students who may miss one or more days of their classes.  Because our classes are progressive, it's important to attend all three days if possible. 

No Schedule Change for a Change
For the very first time since we began the retreat, there will be no change in the schedule of classes, meals and concerts.  Now that's a change everyone should like.

When you go to our website, there is a tab at the top menu that is labeled "Register."  We highly recommend that you review all of the key pages on the website before clicking on that link.  The enrollment process is all done online.  We are very lucky to have someone like Glenn Standefer who designed our software and his updated it to make it as user friendly as possible.  After setting up your account, it's simply a matter of adding students (you will need to add yourself), and selecting your classes, meals and lodging.

If you encounter any problems, contact our Registrar Rick Roberts at enroll@oflahertyretreat.org. 

If you have kids who would like to learn to play Irish music, please consider our summer youth camp.  Here are the details:

Here are some of the important details to help you plan:

Dates: July 11-12, 2011

Location: St. Alcuin Montessori School, 6144 Churchill Way, Dallas, TX 75230-1804

Ages: 6-17

Tuition: One day - $60, Two days - $95 first child per family, siblings $75

Classes: Fiddle, guitar, flute, whistle, piano, mandolin/bouzouki/tenor banjo, bodhran and a special music program for the younger students called "Fun with Irish Music"

Registration: Online enrollment is now open. Click on the Register tab on the Youth Camp home page.

More Information: If you would like to ask questions about the camp, send us an email at youthcamp@oflahertyretreat.org or call Clare Cason at (903) 364-5185 or Gordon McLeod at (972) 530-0757.       .