Indiana University East will host duo multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Four Shillings Short. They will perform “Around the World in 30 Instruments” from 3:30-5 p.m. Thursday, January 12, 2012 in Vivian Auditorium, located in Whitewater Hall. This event is sponsored by Mindful Explorations, courtesy of the William H. and Jean R. Reller Endowment.

The event is free and open to the public.

The husband-wife duo of Aodh Og O’Tuama, from Cork, Ireland, and Christy Martin, from San Diego, Calif., have toured the United States and Ireland since 1997. They play a vast array of musical styles on over 30 international instruments.

The performance will include music from Ireland, Scotland, England, Medieval and Renaissance Europe, the Americas and India on over 30 different instruments including hammered dulcimer, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, Medieval and Renaissance woodwinds, recorders, tinwhistles, banjo, North Indian sitar, bowed psaltery, the charango from Bolivia, bodhran, doumbek, spoons and vocals in English, Gaelic, Spanish and Sanskrit.

O’Tuama and Martin will introduce each instrument, talk about its history and follow with a demonstration in the form of a song or instrumental piece so the audience may experience traditional folk and world music.

“I want to encourage anyone who loves traditional music to attend this performance. I guarantee that you’ll be tapping your toes some of the time and sitting completely still at others—absorbed in the beautiful sounds of many instruments you’ve never heard before. They are both awesome musicians,” said Lee Ann Adams, reading specialist and First-Year Seminar peer mentor coordinator. “Having heard Christy and Aodh Og twice before, I am so glad that Mindful Explorations is bringing their educational and entertaining performance to IU East and the Richmond community. I really love the way they introduce each instrument and song with a brief story that adds so much to the enjoyment of the music. You come away feeling like you’ve had a vacation to far-away places—especially when you hear the sitar.”

Og O’Tuama grew up in a family of poets, musicians and writers.  He received his degree in music from University College Cork, Ireland, and received a fellowship from Stanford University in California in Medieval and Renaissance performance. He plays tinwhistles, Medieval and Renaissance woodwinds, recorders, doumbek (from Morocco), bowed psaltery, spoons and sings both in English and Gaelic.

Martin grew up in a family of musicians and dancers. From the age of 15, she studied the North Indian sitar for 10 years as a student of master Sitarist Ravi Shankar. She began playing the hammered dulcimer in her 20s and has studied with Maggie Sansone, Dan Duggan, Cliff Moses, Robin Petrie, Tony Elman and Glen Morgan. In addition she plays mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, banjo, guitar, bodhran (Irish frame drum), charango, bowed psaltery and sings in English, Irish, Spanish and Sanskrit.