Next week, the harp takes centre stage in one of Galway’s most atmospheric settings when Harps in Castles brings music and storytelling to Claregalway Castle from 7:30pm to 9:30pm, on Thursday, 25 September.
Harp Ireland present the evening featuring harpists Kathleen Loughnane, Catriona Cannon, and Cormac Cannon, alongside Old Irish Scholar Prof Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha.
As well as some of the music composed by the great Irish harpers, tradition has given us much information about their lives, in fascinating and colourful detail, in a record that stretches from early medieval to modern times.
Harpers had a unique position in cultural life: their ranks included school-trained harpers and amateurs, lords and commons, men and women, Catholics, Protestants and free thinkers, young and old. Máirín will introduce some of this wonderful material, in Irish and English, acting as a kind of reacaire to the musicians.
Kathleen Loughnane is celebrated for her evocative arrangements of traditional Irish music and her pioneering research into historic Irish harper composers. A founding member of Dordán, she has toured internationally and released six acclaimed albums.
Catriona Cannon, harper and archivist, blends her classical training with a wide range of influences, having toured Europe with reggae band Intinn and collaborated across genres.
Cormac Cannon, uilleann piper and whistle player, carries forward the piping traditions of the West with soulful ornamentation, rhythmic lift, and a deep reverence for the old style.
Adding a powerful voice of scholarship and poetry, Prof. Emerita Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha (University of Galway ), will recite on the night.
The concert follows on from the Irish Harping: Legacy and Living Traditions Symposium taking place at the University of Galway on Thursday, 25 September.
Tickets are available now via Eventbrite, and advance booking is recommended due to limited capacity. https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/harps-in-castles-tickets-1667869766369
