Grammy Award-winning musicians Al Petteway and Amy White, along with multi-instrumentalist Robin Bullock, storytellers, dancers, and special guest musicians will take the stage at Diana Wortham Theatre for the annual “A Swannanoa Solstice” concert at 2 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, December 18. The event is being presented in association with The Swannanoa Gathering at the college.

This intimate concert will feature holiday songs old and new, religious and secular, joyful and poignant. The Washington Post described it as “... sprightly, sensuous, sunny, entrancing, and wonderfully evocative.” The holiday festivities begin in the theatre’s lobby before the performance with a caroling brass choir.

Special guests this year include Sheila Kay Adams (a world renowned Appalachian storyteller and traditional ballad singer), Steve Agan and E. J. Jones (award-winning highland bagpipers), The Twisty Cuffs (local Cape Breton- style step dancers), and Alex Reidinger (a young, virtuosic fiddler and harpist). The evening’s host will be Doug Orr, president emeritus of Warren Wilson College and the founder of Swannanoa Gathering.

Al Petteway and Amy White perform an exciting blend of original, traditional, contemporary Celtic- and Appalachian-influenced music. Their repertoire offers extensive instrumental work featuring acoustic guitars, mandolins, Celtic harp, piano, and world percussion as well as a fine touch of vocals. They have been Artists in Residence at Warren Wilson College and The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.

Their signature sound is heard often on public radio programs and in independent films including, most recently, the Ken Burns’ PBS documentary, The Dust Bowl.

Celtic/American string wizard Robin Bullock journeys to the heart and soul of Celtic and American traditions. He is a prolific composer and musician whose virtuosity on guitar, cittern, and mandolin blends the ancient melodies of the Celtic lands and their vigorous Appalachian descendants into one powerful musical vision.

The 17th-century harp tunes of legendary Irish bard Turlough O’Carolan, the spirited jigs and reels of rural Ireland, the haunting ballads of the southern Appalachians and evocative original compositions all find a musical common ground in Robin’s music, where lightening-fast finger work one moment is perfectly balanced with tender, quiet intimacy the next.

For more information and to purchase tickets (regular $35, senior $33, student $30, children $12) call the theatre’s box office at 828.257.4530 or visit dwtheatre.com. Student Rush tickets ($10 for students with valid ID) are sold the day of the show, based on availability.