Howard Crosby, Affinití bring ‘A Celtic Christmas Concert’ to Richland

Howard Crosby first heard the Irish trio Affinití a few years back.

Crosby was performing at the National Concert Hall in Dublin as part of the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s 200th anniversary celebration, and the group took the stage after him.

“I said, ‘I’m so glad we went first,’ ” he recalled. “They would have been a tough act to follow.”

Crosby, from Walla Walla, the nephew of legendary entertainer Bing Crosby, has become a champion of the trio’s music — and also a collaborator.

On Dec. 9, he and Affinití will bring A Celtic Christmas Concert to the Uptown Theatre in Richland.

The show will raise money for the Arts Center Task Force, which aims to bring a performing arts center to the Mid-Columbia.

Tickets now are sold out.

Affinití includes soprano Emer Barry, Aisling Ennis on harp and Mary McCague on violin. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kevin Cullen has described the group as “the essence of Irish art ... informed as much by the Chieftains as Chopin, as indebted to Mary Coughlan as to Mary Black and Mary J. Blige, full of soul and sass and sophistication as well as exquisite technique.”

Crosby said the trio is fun to watch — full of talent and stage presence.

They won’t be alone in performing. Crosby also will take to the microphone, performing with Affinití and on his own.

One song he is sure to sing is White Christmas, the beloved tune made famous by his uncle.

“Audiences always want to hear (that song),” Crosby said.

Although he and his Uncle Bing were close, their bond centered more on a love of golf, not music. Howard Crosby didn’t start singing seriously until he was in his 20s, when he tried out for a church choir.

It’s now a cherished part of his life. The draw is “the music itself. (My accompanist) and I have as much fun rehearsing in the basement as we do on stage. The music itself is so much fun,” Crosby said.

He loves his uncle’s canon of American standards. And his voice often is likened to Bing’s, although Howard demurs that his uncle is in a league of his own.

“He’s a legend. There’s never been anyone else like him,” Howard Crosby said.

Howard shared a touching story about his uncle and White Christmas: On the way to a golf course years ago, Howard asked Bing about the toughest moment in his career.

Bing said it was a USO show in France in December 1944. He performed for thousands of GIs, and struggled to keep it together as he sang of yearning for the beauty and simplicity of Christmas’ past.

Not long after, many of those same soldiers lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge.

At the Richland show, Howard Crosby promises a night of good music and holiday cheer.

The women of Affinití are “incredibly talented as performers,” Crosby said. “Anyone who comes to the show will have a good time.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Howard Crosby, Affinití bring ‘A Celtic Christmas Concert’ to Richland."