All Deborah Brower wanted was to bring traditional Irish music to Howard County.
What she received was a practical education in concert promotion with a tuition of more than $1,000.
Her two-month effort will come to fruition tonight when Dordan, a female trio from Connemara, Ireland, will perform at the 110-seat Little Theatre on the Corner in Ellicott City.
Dordan is composed of Kathleen Loughnane, harp, Dearbhaill Standun, fiddle and playing the Irish tin whistle, Mary Bergin, who Ms. Brower said, is "one of the most brilliant Irish whistle players around."
The group, which won the traditional music award at this year's ** Irish National Entertainment Awards, will play both traditional Irish and baroque music.
Ms. Bower, 39, worked for House of Musical Traditions in Takoma Park and lives in the Clarys Forest neighborhood of Columbia with her husband Neal and son Robbie. She said Robbie once told her, "The one way to make a small fortune in Irish music is to start with a large one."
Ms. Bower is living up to her son's maxim. Despite producing two earlier concerts, this one is proving to be the most difficult.
She had to deal with the eviction of the proprietors of Lewis & Carroll's Comics & Cards -- who rented the theater at Main Street and Old Columbia Pike -- and had to negotiate with the agent for the landlord.
"On Aug. 10, I went in to hang my great big poster that I was so proud of and they said, 'We need to talk. We've been evicted and have to get out by 10 a.m. tomorrow. Sorry,'" she said.
After that shock, Ms. Brower contacted the agent for the property and reached an agreement to rent the space for a one-night show. But she still had to get insurance for the performance, plus lighting and a sound system and a sound technician.
She also found out that an investor in the performance scaled back his share from around 60 percent to zero. Ms. Brower's investment in the production began to grow from an initial estimate of around $350 to four-digits.
"Part of the reason I'm taking a bath on this is to make a name for myself in Ireland so they know I'm here and can trust me," she said.
Philippe Varlet, a historian of Irish music who is a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, said that there is some difference between Irish-American music and traditional Irish music.
