BRATTLEBORO -- The New England Youth Theater will host rising-star Nuala Kennedy Band -- led by an Irish singer and flute/whistle player whose music springs from the traditional music of Ireland and Scotland -- Saturday, Sept. 8, at 7:30 p.m. Kennedy's band includes fiddler Dana Lyn and guitarist Kyle Sanna.

Kennedy, who grew up in Dundalk, County Louth on the East coast of Ireland, discovered traditional music at an early age when her father introduced her to her first whistle teacher, according to supplied material. At 12, she picked up the wooden flute, joined a local ceilidh band and began winning awards by age 13.

By 18, she moved to Scotland to study at Edinburgh College of Art, and her musical horizons widened as her instrumental prowess deepened and her repertoire expanded to include both Scottish and Irish tunes. Irish expatriate flutist and whistle player, Cathal McConnel, in particular, had a major influence on her playing as a musical mentor. Eventually, she began touring widely in Europe, Canada, and Australia with her first band, Fine Friday.

A year spent in Inverness, the Highlands of Scotland, studying intensively the Scots Gaelic musical traditions led her to produce her first solo CD, "The New Shoes," about which The Irish Times wrote: "Unhurried yet freewheeling, loose-limbed yet disciplined, (Kennedy's) voice is a natural, earthy instrument entirely in concert with her woody flute lines ... an exceptional interpreter of the tradition..."

The concert in Brattleboro is part of a tour intended to promote her third CD, "Noble Stranger." The New England Youth Theater is located at 100 Flat St. in Brattleboro. Tickets are $18 in advance and for seniors and $21 at the door. Tickets are available online at BrattleboroTix.com and at Everyone's Books, 23 Elliot St. For information call 802-257-1571.