News
Tommy Sands in Reno - 09-20-2010
Reno, Nev.: Nevada Humanities and Sierra Arts present Irish musician Tommy Sands and His Irish Band, October 6, 2010, at 7:30 p.m., Nightingale Concert Hall, Church Fine Arts Complex, UNR Campus, 1664 North Virginia St., Reno. Join Tommy Sands, his daughter Moya Sands (fiddle/vocals/bodhran/whistle), and son Fionan Sands (mandolin/banjo) as they weave a rich fabric of traditional and contemporary Irish music and powerful stories from Sands’ lifelong career as a renowned peace activist. Concert tickets are $10 per person and available at Sundance Bookstore at 1155 West Fourth Street, Reno, Sierra Arts at 17 South Virginia Street, Reno, and at the door (cash or check only) the evening of the performance. For more information contact Nevada Humanities at (775) 784-6587 or visit nevadahumanities.org.
As a singer, songwriter, and social activist, Tommy Sands has achieved legendary status in his own lifetime. From the pioneering days with the highly influential Sands Family, bringing Irish Music from New York's Carnegie Hall to Moscow's Olympic Stadium, he has developed into one of the most powerful songwriters and performers in Ireland today. His songwriting, which draws the admiration of Nobel Poet Laureate Seamus Heaney and father of folk music Pete Seeger, prompts "Sing Out" to regard him as "the most powerful songwriter in Ireland, if not the rest of the world.” Sands’ most recent album, “Let the Circle Be Wide,” was named 2009 Album of the Year by the national radio program Celtic Connections.
Sands has developed a deep relationship with fans of Irish music in Reno. In addition to his long-standing work with Reno’s diverse communities, in May 2002 Sands received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Nevada, Reno, for his outstanding work as musician and ambassador for peace and understanding, and May 18 was pronounced "Tommy Sands Day in Reno.”
In addition to the October 6 concert, Tommy Sands and his family will participate in Voyages Toward Peace and Human Rights, an interfaith program in which Sands will talk about his recent tour of Palestine and Israel and lead a discussion. This event, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 7:00 p.m., at the Northern Nevada Muslim Community Center, 1857 Oddie Blvd., Sparks. The Sands family will also make outreach presentations at Spanish Springs High School, UNR, and the Jan Evans Juvenile Justice Center during their Reno visit.
The Reno visit of Tommy Sands and his Irish Band is made possible with generous support from the College of Liberal Arts Hilliard Endowment in the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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