The about 28-member Chelsea House Orchestra has entertained audiences in Chicago and Detroit, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as in front of the library and in the Chelsea Community Fair Parade with its “Celtic Music with a Kick.”
The group was founded by Jed Fritzemeier in 1996 with 10 students, according to the Chelsea House Orchestra’s website.
They’ve performed at the Alma Highland Games, St. Andrews Highland Games, Saline Celtic Festival, Scottish Society of Southwestern Michigan, Kalamazoo Irish Festival, and Edinboro, Pennsylvania Highland Games, as well as many varied festivals around the Midwest, according to the website.
The group is looking forward to a number of trips during the 2013-2014 school year, while serving as highly talented musical ambassadors for the Chelsea District Schools along the way.
During a presentation to the Board of Education Monday night, Fritzemeier talked about a number of recent performances and invitations the group has received including to the Feast of Haggis at the Chicago Intercontinental Ballroom in November.
The group recently recorded a new CD of their music as well, he said.
In fact, they performed a flash mob in Cleveland, which he said was really fun until “until we got kicked out.”
On Sept. 14, the group will perform during the MSU pregame on radio station WJR and head to the Fayette Opera House in Ohio to perform on Oct. 12. Students not only have an opportunity to perform Celtic and folk music, but also learn new instruments.
“I can’t stop doing this; stuff keeps coming up,” he said of invitations for the students to perform — including with nationally known Celtic musicians such as Barrage, Jerry Holland, Simon Mayor and Hilary James, Bowfire, and Pub Domain.
