RHIANNON GIDDENS, one of the most significant forces in contemporary American folk and traditional music, will be among those appearing in Galway Early Music Festival's Drive The Cold Winter Away event.
Giddens will appear as part of The H.I.P.S.T.E.R. Ensemble next week, just one of a number of events in this two day celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the city's festival of ancient, mediaeval, and baroque music.
Drive The Cold Winter Away will be streamed online on Wednesday December 16 and Thursday 17, and feature lunchtime and evening concerts from St Nicholas' Collegiate Church and Claregalway Castle, a multi-media talk on secular music, and outdoor events.
Events at St Nicholas'
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The lunchtime concerts will be broadcast from St Nicholas' at 1pm. On Wednesday 16, soprano Helen Hancock will be joined by organist Mark Duley, while on Thursday 17, soprano Aisling Kenny will be joined by historical harpist Siobhán Armstrong. The bells of St Nicholas' will ring out on the two days of the festival, while Lady Catherine's Lore will present a virtual tour of St Nicholas' belfry.
Live from Claregalway Castle
With concerts from Claregalway Castle are at 8pm. On Wednesday 16, The Gregory Walkers (Laoise O’Brien, Malachy Robinson, Eamon Sweeney ) with guest soprano Róisín O’Grady, will perform; on Thursday 17, The H.I.P.S.T.E.R. Ensemble of Wolodymyr Smishkewych, Rhiannon Giddens, Micheál “Moley” Ó Súilleabháin, Eamon Sweeney and Yonit Kosovske will perform mediaeval, Renaissance, traditional, and world music.
Talks and events
There are two mobile experiences to be enjoyed either in the city or at home: a Ghost Hunt through the city to search for Irish harper, Carolan's lost tune, or time travel back to 16th century Galway in A Musical Tour of Medieval Galway with Spanish Captain Moreno who has just docked in the city port.
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Dr Jacopo Bisagni from the Department of Ancient Classics, NUI, Galway, will give a multimedia talk about a small collection of secular tunes which were added to a 14th century manuscript, known as The King’s Manuscript or The King’s Songbook, by an unknown scribe. Viewers can participate in a Q&A after the talk.
"We've created a smaller bespoke festival to ensure that we don't let the occasion of our 25th birthday pass without a musical celebration," said Maura Ó Cróinín, chair and director of GEMF. "Our raison d'etre is to connect our music with the city's medieval origins, and we've centred the festival at the heart of medieval Galway, in St Nicholas Collegiate Church, which is also celebrating a significant anniversary in 2020 - its 700th!"
More details on programme events, tickets, and booking is via galwayearlymusic.com/festival-events; [email protected]; or call 083 - 4619039.
