Eliot Grasso, “Standing Room Only”
December 3, 2004
published on Goucher College’s Julia Rogers Library Website
Eliot Grasso, Goucher senior and acclaimed performer on the Uilleann pipes, has donated a copy of his debut album, Standing Room Only, to the library’s collection.
A music major with a concentration in arts administration, Grasso took up the uilleann pipes at the age of 11, after becoming obsessed with the ancient Irish instrument's unusual, bellows-driven sound. Considering the pipes’ reputation as a difficult instrument-famous uilleann piper Séamus Ennis once remarked that it takes seven years of practice, seven years of playing, and seven years of listening to master the art-Grasso’s long list of professional achievements is particularly impressive. He appeared on National Public Radio as one of eight finalists in “A Prairie Home Companion’s” “Talent from Twelve to Twenty” competition. In addition to his NPR appearance, Grasso has played the Kennedy Center multiple times, performed for the Irish ambassador, won several first place prizes at Ireland's prestigious Fleadh Cheoil competition.
From the cover notes:
“I first met Eliot Grasso in Achill Island, Co. Mayo in the west of Ireland in August 1999 at the island’s annual summer school, Scoil Acla. After hearing him play the pipes for just a short while I was immediately aware that I was in the presence of a master musician, despite the fact that he was still in his mid-teens. Although he had only been playing the pipes for a few years at that stage, his techniques and tone had developed to astonishing levels of excellence and richness and his repertoire was seemingly endless. This, combined with his intuitive sense of melodic and technical variation, makes him one of the most creative and dynamic musicians in the contemporary world of Irish traditional music.”
---Robbie Hannan
