Phoenixville concert by Simple Gifts features two women playing 10 instruments

PHOENIXVILLE — Two women plus 10 instruments equals one good time when Simple Gifts takes the stage at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 355 St. John’s Circle, on Sunday, March 16, starting at 4 p.m.

This award-winning band performs on an impressive array of instruments, including two violins, mandolin, hammered dulcimer, recorders, and guitar, plus some more unusual instruments like the bowed psaltery, baritone fiddle, banjolin, guitjo, and doumbek.

Simple Gifts presents a wide variety of ethnic folk music, including everything from lively Irish jigs and down-home American reels to hard-driving Klezmer freilachs, haunting Gypsy melodies, and exotic Balkan dance tunes. Throughout their performances, they put their distinctive stamp on traditional tunes, blending styles from diverse cultures with their American roots.

According to the Celtic Classic Festival in Bethlehem, Pa., “Few musicians can match the warmly personal stage presence Simple Gifts possesses.” It is obvious that these women love the music they play, and they know how to share their talents, their enthusiasm, and their sense of humor with the audience.

Linda Littleton and Karen Hirshon have performed as Simple Gifts since 1995. The duo was founded by Littleton in 1989 and has performed throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including appearances at the Smithsonian, Brooklyn Museum of Art, National Governors’ Convention, Longwood Gardens, National Theater, Whitaker Center, Hershey Theatre, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ontario Center for Performing Arts, and dozens of colleges and universities throughout the region.

Simple Gifts has opened for Natalie MacMaster, Tom Paxton, John McCutcheon, Robin and Linda Williams, Jay Unger and Molly Mason, and Boys of the Lough.

Visit the group’s website, www.simplegiftsmusic.com, to listen to performances.

Here’s a sampling of what critics have said about Simple Gifts:

“These women share a chemistry that infuses their music with energy, integrity, and joy. Theirs is a special gift.” — David W. Johnson, Boston Globe

“Listening to [Simple Gifts] is like sampling an international buffet … The number of instruments they pick up in a typical concert makes the group anything but simple. … [This is] acoustic music of the highest order.” —Will Lebzelter, Centre Daily Times

“Simple Gifts wowed our audience with a cultural and educational program that was fun, informative, and energetic.” —Teresia Bush, Smithsonian Institution

The Phoenixville event is part of the 2024-2025 concert series at St. John’s and is offered as musical outreach to the community. No tickets are required, but a free-will offering, with a suggested $10 donation, will be received.