ASHFIELD — Maude’s Closet Concerts are returning to Ashfield Community Hall for the first time since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with a concert featuring world-renowned contemporary Celtic guitarists.

“It is exciting to be back in the swing of this,” said Dan Frank, organizer of Maude’s Closet Concerts.

Brattleboro, Vermont-based musicians Keith Murphy and Yann Falquet will share their music, which Frank describes as “pretty darn transcendent,” during a performance on Friday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. An event announcement describes the two as “masters of contemporary Celtic guitar, representing the compelling textures, harmonies and rhythms that the guitar has brought to traditional songs and instrumentals since the Celtic music revival in the 1970s.”

Frank said he has seen Murphy and Falquet perform separately and as a duo, and he was blown away by their performances. While making a list of acts he hoped to feature during the concert series’ revival, he said this duo was at the top of his list.

Maude’s Closet Concerts began more than 15 years ago when Frank, who is a private music teacher, was raising and home schooling his children in Ashfield. He found it hard to leave town to see live music; being a musician himself, he missed the experience. He decided to bring his favorite acts to town to share live music with residents.

Frank noted the name “Maude’s Closet Concerts” is a reference to the 1971 film “Harold and Maude,” in which Maude has a closet with many instruments in it. She gives a banjo to Harold, which marks his transition from being a passive character to an active one in his own life. Frank’s former store was also called Maude’s Music, and the concert series was an offshoot of that venture.

“I have been up in the area for years,” Frank said. “It is something the community enjoys and it allows people from outside the community a chance to come in.”

The series has been a huge success, Frank said, bringing mainly traditional Québécois, Irish and Scottish music to Ashfield.

Tickets for the April 28 show featuring Murphy and Falquet are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at bit.ly/3KVTsyL or in person at Ashfield Hardware, World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield and Broadside Bookshop in Northampton. Discounts are available for students and children.

“I’m glad to be back doing this,” Frank said. “The more people come to the event, the better.”

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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