THE 17TH Galway Early Music Festival runs from Thursday May 17 to Sunday 20 and this year’s festivities will open with a concert by the Cois Cladiagh Choir.
The concert takes place at St Nicholas Collegiate Church on Thursday May 17 at 8pm and as well as marking the opening of the festival, it also marks the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the Cois Cladiagh Choir.
On the night the choir will perform contemporary and early choral music exploring the theme of this year’s Galway Early Music festival: ‘Social Harmony, when Tradition and High Art Meet’.
Festival highlights
Apart from the Cois Cladiagh concert, other festival events will be 1,000 years of Bagpipe in France, a concert exploring the role of the instant within French music by Francois Lazarevitch on Friday May 18 at 1pm in The Chapel of the Poor Clares.
Francois Lazarevitch and Les Musicians de Saint Julien will perform Le Berger Poet/The Shepherd Poet at St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church that same day 8.30pm. The concert will feature a selection of 18th century French pastoral music for flute, musette, and hurdy-gurdy.
On Saturday 19, Barnaby Brown will give a performance into the ancient Scottish music in the Galway City Museum with Historical Music of Scotland: Bagpipes and Triple Pipes at 2pm. Barnaby also takes part in this week’s Proust Questionnaire.
This will be followed by The Harp Consort with the world’s foremost solo historical harpist Andrew Lawrence-King, for a concert in St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church at 8pm. Entitled Fantasía y Folías, the show will feature music from Spain and early Spanish-American music.
Early Irish harpist Siobhán Armstrong and Coracle will perform the concert Interlace & The Otherworld featuring music by Barnaby Brown and Scots-Gaelic singer Griogair Labhruidh in Aughnanure Castle in Oughterard.
Family event and film
Families can look forward to The Musicians of Breman at The King’s Head at 11am on Saturday 19. The show combines theatre, storytelling, and music in describing the adventures of four old and worn out animals who decide to make music that is the unexpected results of this decision. On Sunday The Musicians of Breman will take place at Aughnanure Castle.
On Sunday 20 there will be a screening of Master & Commander - The far side of the World at The Huston School of Film & Digital Media, Earl’s Island. A light lunch will be included in this historical affair which is adapted from the naval novels by Patrick O’Brien.
For the full programme of events and ticket prices see www.galwayearlymusic.com or check Facebook and Twitter.
