Celtic Band to Play Christmas Concert

A trio of modern-day minstrels will perform their own brand of Celtic music, along with some rare carols and songs from Celtic lands, during a family Christmas concert in December.

Golden Bough, a Celtic band that has performed throughout the world for 20 years, will celebrate the first Christmas of the 2000s by sharing a bit of Old World cheer in the Conejo Valley, said Carol Knowles, president of the Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library, the event sponsor.

The band’s music is drawn from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, French Brittany and even Galicia in Spain, she said.

“This concert is the perfect setting in which to enjoy Golden Bough’s music in celebration of the winter solstice and the New Year,” Knowles said.

Musicians Paul Espinoza, Margie Butler and Sue Draheim, who make up the trio, play several acoustic instruments, including the Celtic harp, penny-whistle, guitar, accordion, mandolin, mandola, violin, viola and a bodran, a hand-held drum particular to the Celtic culture.

Golden Bough derives its name from mistletoe, Knowles said.

“Long thought to be a source of mystical power, the mistletoe has become an integral part of our holiday celebration,” she said. “To ancient Celts, mistletoe, like holly and ivy, evoked this wonderful power.”

The concert begins at 2 p.m. Dec. 10 at the library, 1401 E. Janss Road. Tickets are $2 for Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library members, seniors and students and $5 for nonmembers. To make ticket reservations, call 477-3007.

For more information, visit Golden Bough’s Web site at https://www.goldenboughmusic.com and the Friends Web site at https://www.ftol.org.