Stay Tuned: Lessons and Carols

This is just about my favorite Fordham event of the year.

The Festival of Lessons and Carols features the Fordham choirs singing Christmas music that isn't blase. Tired of your local radio station's Christmas playlist already? I assure you, this is music of a different kind; it makes for a welcome change and a beautiful segue into the Christmas season. (Preview the magic by clicking the listening sample links at the bottom of this page.)

If you're within a reasonable commuting distance, I highly recommend attending! The concert is free, open to the public, and offers an intimate look at a Fordham tradition. Plus, I'll be there; this is my first year not singing in the Liturgical Choir, so I will be a giddy, first-time audience member!

The Festival has two performances: one at 8 pm on Saturday, December 4 in the Church of St. Paul the Apostle and the second at 3 pm on Sunday, December 5 in the Fordham University Church on the Rose Hill Campus. Seating is first-come first-served. In lieu of an admission fee, all are welcome to support Fordham Big Brothers/ Big Sisters annual toy drive by bringing an unwrapped, non violent gift for a child between the age of infant to 12 years old.

Oíche Mhór Ceol and Fordham's Cultural Clubs

Last night, Gaelic Society hosted their biggest event of the semester- the Irish Music And Dance Night or Oíche Mhór Ceol (Big Music Night). The event was held in Keating 3rd at 8pm.


There were many loaves of soda bread, cookies, candies, and other Irish snacks, as well as Barry's tea and coffee. It was free and open to the general public. The Fordham Irish dancers (including Fordham College Rose Hill students: Alexis Kedo, Kelly O’Brien, Ali Silverman, Sarah Sullivan, Colleen Taylor and Lincoln Center student Kyela Crow) choreographed three new routines which were performed in conjunction with the band.


The main attraction was the great New York Irish band, made up of Billy Keenan (vocals and guitar), John Reynolds (fiddle), John Nolan (accordion), and Keith Sammut (keyboard). These musicians have recorded tracks and won All-Ireland championships.


Gaelic Society is just one of the many cultural clubs on campus, which sponsor many events throughout the semester. These organizations include African Cultural Exchange, Armenian Society, Asian Cultural Exchange (ACE), ASILI, El Gritode Lares, Fordham University South Asian Entity (FUSE), Gaelic Society, Hellenic Society, The International Community of Fordham (ICF), Le Cercle Français, MECA (Middle Eastern Cultural Association), Muslim Students Association (MSA), FUPAC (Fordham University Philippine-American Club), Korean Student Association (KSA), Polish Cultural Exchange, Pope Dante Italian Society, PRIDE Alliance (for People Recognizing Identities and Differences for Equality), and the Ukrainian Society. Click here for further descriptions!

Fordham's Offbeat Music Opportunities

Fordham University offers many opportunities for those students who are musically inclined or just have a passion for music. Xavier Montecel has written a blog called Hello! Music at Fordham about the more mainstream musical clubs on campus. The music major is offered at both the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses. Additionally, students can get involved through the many singing clubs at Fordham: the five different choirs (University Choir, Liturgical Choir, Womens’ Choir, Gospel Choir and Folk Choir) and the three a'cappella groups (The Ramblers for men, the Satin Dolls for women, and the B-Sides).

Not every school can boast its own public radio station: WFUV (90.7 FM) is a listener-supported station that has been working out of Fordham University for almost sixty years and where roughly seventy students are employed. This radio station serves nearly 300,000 listeners weekly in the greater NY region and thousands more worldwide via the web. Check out their webpage at WFUV Public Radio From Fordham University for more information about the radio station and its opportunities.

In addition, WFUV broadcasts the most popular Irish music program in New York called Ceol na nGael, which was begun in 1974. Fordham students Colleen Taylor and Kerry Gallagher currently host this one-of-a-kind radio program. Colleen Taylor is very appreciative of her job at WFUV and grateful for the many opportunities that it has brought to her:

Working at Ceol na nGael and WFUV has been one of the best things to happen to me at Fordham. It has given me an opportunity for work study, but more importantly, WFUV has given me a taste of the real working world. I now know what the radio world looks like, how it works, and what kind of lifestyle it entails. I work side by side with professional radio DJs while sharing the music I love most with over 75,000 eager fans. The professionals at WFUV know I am a student, but they treat me like a true colleague.

With WFUV, I have experienced something even better than an internship. I have a real, professional radio job. I am a radio host like any other public radio disk jokey, and my workplace is located right across from my dorm. I have the easiest commute of anyone in New York! WFUV is one of the most prestigious public radio stations certainly in New York and across the nation, and yet it allows Fordham students to have on-air time, and in my case, to choose the music and host a four hour show. WFUV is one of the unique opportunities at Fordham that you won't find at another university.

Ceol na nGael, has allowed me to tie together my hobbies and interests, my education, and my job. Playing and discussing Irish music is something I absolutely love, and it also connects with my Irish Studies minor. And I get paid for it! It's almost too good to be true. I can plug my club's (Gaelic Society) events on air. Moreover, working at Ceol na nGael has lead to me to seek out other Irish cultural and academic outlets. I studied in Galway, learning Irish language, which I have now applied to Ceol na nGael. I speak Irish on air every now and again and discuss my study abroad experience.

Beyond specific jobs at the radio station itself, WFUV has provided some Fordham students with the opportunity to see studio shows and is always a source for the latest good music, which influenced other Fordham musical endeavors. In the spring of their freshman year, a few current Fordham juniors decided to create an online music magazine called The Inflatable Ferret . Working on the layout and format of the online magazine over the summer, the team released their first issue in September of 2009. Many Fordham students are involved with making this publication a reality: James Passarelli, Kathryn Freund, Bryant Kitching, James Emerson, Ainsley Thedinger and Aldo Juraidini, Steve Dickinson, Rachel Luba, Kevin Fitzgerald, Doug Knickrehm, Matt Manuszak, Taylor Catalana, and Steve Selde. The Inflatable Ferret’s contributors get the chance to have interviews with artists and then write reviews and articles, which are published in the PDF monthly release. Rodrigue's Coffee House, which is located on campus, has gotten some awesome bands to showcase at Fordham. One such showcase was with a New Jersey band Titus Andronicus, who had to perform in O'Keefe Commons to accomodate the large audience. Other interviews include the Brooklyn band called Bear in Heaven and eighty year old composer David Amram, whom Inflatable Ferret's founder James Passarelli had the chance to meet on a plane ride to New York.

Titus Andronicus in Fordham's O'Keefe Commons:

So, as evidenced by the many prospective chances at Fordham, students can most certainly be involved with the musical scene here without necessarily being musically inclined.