An Irish Music Camp Like No Other
A tonic for the times -- spend three relaxing days in a comfortable, scenic setting saturating yourself in traditional Irish music with a community of motivated students and gifted teachers.  The 7th annual O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat will be held October 29-31, 2010 at the Hoblitzelle Camp and Conference Center in Midlothian, Texas, about 30 minutes south of Dallas. 

Looking for Sponsors, Contributors
Our retreat requires outside financial help to cover our costs. There are a number of ways you can support the retreat, so if you're interested, please go to our SUPPORT page. For all those students and sponsors who have contributed in the past, our hearty thanks!

EMAIL RETREAT UPDATES
If you are not on our email list to receive updates about the retreat, send an email to retreat@irishtradmusic.org requesting you be added. If you would like to review the updates that have already be sent, go to UPDATES. Our list is not shared with anyone else, and you will not get endless emails from us. We send out emails only when we have something important to send you.

Welcome to Home Site of the

O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat!

Please mark your calendars for our next retreat:

October 29-31, 2010
Hoblitzelle Camp & Conference Center
Midlothian, Texas

The 7th annual O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat will be held October 29-31, 2010 at the Hoblitzelle Camp andConference Center in Midlothian, Texas, about 30 minutes south of Dallas.  Classes will be offered in fiddle, flute, whistle, guitar (standard, dropped-D & DADGAD), piano, bodhran, harp, uilleann pipes, buttonaccordion (C#/D & B/C), piano accordion, concertina, tenor banjo, bouzouki, mandolin and Gaelic singing. Enrichment classes teaching Irish music history or exploring Irish music today will also be offered. 

An exceptional lineup of instructors will teach including such great musicians as Michael Black (singing), Kevin Burke (fiddle), Tom Creegan (uilleann pipes), Grainne Hambly (harp), Oisin Mac Diarmada (fiddle), Darren Maloney (tenor banjo), Sean McElwain (guitar), John McEvoy (fiddle), John Nolan (button accordion), and John Wynne (flute). They will be joined by other respected teachers from throughout the U.S. including Anna Colliton (bodhran), Ken Fleming (mandolin), Kendall Rogers (piano), Mark Kenneth (piano accordion), Daniel Lowery (whistle), Gordon McLeod (fiddle), Jeff Moore (guitar), Larre Reeves (flute & whistle),Eric Ryan-Johnson (fiddle), and Chris Smith (bouzouki). 

The retreat will officially begin on Thursday night, October 28, 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.  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.

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 and Dallas Love Field Airport for $15 per trip per person.

Tuition is $200 and just $120 for youth 18 and under.  The age restrictions for our regular classes is 11 and older (see exception on the CLASSES page). A Kids FUN Camp is offered for ages 6-10 with seperate enrollment and pricing. Meals, lodging and shuttle service can be reserved separately.  A limited number of scholarships are available. 

Online enrollment will begin sometime in April. Because there are caps on class sizes, early enrollment is best.