THE SPIRIT of Voice festival - a celebration of the human voice through song, story, poetry, and communication - takes place in Galway city from Thursday November 6 to Sunday November 9.
The festival will be officially opened tomorrow with the Telling Tales event in the Galway City Museum, which will be opened by the Mayor of Galway Cllr Padraig Conneely at 3pm. Telling Tales runs until Tuesday November 11.
The first main event takes place on Thursday November 6 when the classical soloist and voice teacher Michel Durham-Brandt [see this week’s Proust Questionnaire] sings at The Western Hotel, Prospect Hill, at 8pm. Tickets are €5.
Moya Brennan - the voice of Clannad - will be in concert at The Menlo Park Hotel on Friday 7 at 8pm. She will be giving a voice workshop in The Western Hotel on Saturday 8 at 11am.
Also on Saturday 7 but in The Western Hotel at 8pm, Murphy’s Law will take place, featuring Brendan Murphy, storyteller Claire Muireann Murphy, and singer-songwriter Sharon Murphy.
On Saturday 8, the great Sean Tyrrell [see interview this week] will perform his musical interpretation of The Midnight Court in The Crane Bar at 7pm.
The Edinburgh based female a cappella group The Wild Myrtles will play The Western Hotel on Saturday 8 at 9pm. Also playing is singer-songwriter Stacey Nolan. For tickets contact 087 - 278 8651.
The Spirit Centre at Riverwood House, 34 Nuns Island, will host two workshops throughout the festival. The first one - The Big Sing - takes place on Saturday 8 from 12 noon to 5pm and will feature Michel Durham-Brandt’s Introducing You To Your Voice class and a songwriting class with Galway’s Ruth Dillon.
The second set of workshops take place on Sunday 9 from 11am to 5.30pm and feature classes in the Alexander Technique with Federico Betti, The Business Of You with Lorna McDowell, and introduction to radio drama from Jonathan Keeble - the voice of Gareth Taylor in BBC Radio’s The Archers.
In The Western Hotel on Sunday at 4pm, Ram Singh is a Kundalini yoga musician and vocalist who will give a performance-singing workshop which is open to all.
To book places on any of the above classes phone 091 - 583800.
The festival comes to a close with the Cultural Voices concert in The Western Hotel on Sunday 9 at 8.30pm. Performing on the night will be Ewa Gigon, a classically trained multi instrumentalist who uses sample loop technology in her songs; Jeanette Mokoena is a South African singer who delivers an enticing mix of Gospel, blues, and reggae; and Seattle born, Galway based, singer-songwriter Niceol Blue.
For more information contact 087 - 278 8651. For tickets contact Zhivago, Shop Street, on 091 - 509960. See www.spiritofvoice.com
