Arts & Culture

CLIMATE Actions Now has announced a series of free concerts in Clare to showcase Irish, African and British artists. The first one will be on Friday, August 26, at Teach Ceoil in Ennistymon, from 2.30-5pm, while there will be a second at the same venue from 8pm to 10.30pm. Then on Sunday, August 28 there will be another at Moy Community Hall starting at 8pm. The line-up will include the Davies Brothers from Kilshanny, Violveine from Corofin and Moy, Planxty Óg from Ennis, Niall Morrissey from New Quay, Ronan Lewis from Moy, Mohamed Adam who is relocating to Lahinch from Dublin and Tinta Tribe from South Africa and Mozambique. These acts will be showcasing new works and their existing repertoire before bringing their show to the Climate Actions Now stage at The Electric Picnic in Laois in early September. Robert Stephenson CAN Founder/ CEO said, “We are delighted to present this exciting innovative project with the support of Clare Arts …

MALBAY Studios, which is run by Martin, Anne and Seán O’Malley, will be the recipient of the 2022 MÓRglór award.  MÓRglór is an acknowledgement and celebration by glór of the wealth of artistic talent within the county, all of whom provide a vital stimulus for the growth and development of Clare’s unique culture. This annual award, named after Clare’s cultural ambassador and visionary, Muiris Ó Rocháin, is curated by glór in partnership with Dr Tim Collins as producer of the event, and who coordinated the original concert in 2013. An anonymous panel of traditional arts practitioners and experts, assembled by glór, selects an awardee, fitting with the objectives and spirit of MÓRglór. With the vista of the Atlantic as a backdrop, Malbay Studios is an integral part of the musical landscape of Clare. Under the careful and patient stewardship of Martin O’Malley, Malbay Studios has a reputation of distinction in recording, production and mastering since its establishment in 1997. It …

CLARE children who love to be in the spotlight could be in with a chance of performing in the ever popular panto in University Concert Hall, Limerick. This year’s Christmas show will be Peter Pan and auditions are being held for the children’s dance chorus along with the roles of John and Michael Darling. The University Concert Hall and Robert C Kelly Panto is now in its tenth year and has grown to become one of the most eagerly anticipated shows in the country. Johnny Ward, Fair City favourite and grand finalist of RTÉ’s 2019 Dancing with the Stars, will cast as the infamous Captain Hook in this year’s production. Joining Johnny on stage will be long time UCH panto favourites Richie Hayes and Limerick’s own Myles Breen. “If your child loves panto, loves to dance and would love to share the stage with some iconic Irish performers, then the UCH Panto Kids’ audition is for them,” said a spokesperson …

LOCAL artist  Dympna Bonfield will launch a new exhibition of her work this September in glór. The exhibition, titled Reflections will run upstairs in glór gallery until Saturday, October 1. The exhibition comprises 25 vibrant paintings inspired by the unique landscape of Clare and will be launched on Thursday, September 1 at 6.30pm by Joe Lynch. Dympna exhibits work both nationally and internationally. After spending many years living and working in Dublin she returned west, to her native County Clare. Much of her recent work can be seen to reflect this move, and draws inspiration from the surrounding landscape resulting in a new found freedom of expression that reflects the essential character and culture of the west of Ireland. This exhibition takes us on a wonderful, winding road of seashores, surf and sea-swells, of soft bog cotton, of furze, of stony Burren, of childhood, of sand, of home, of friends, of solitude. From an early age Dympna Bonfield was interested …

LITERATURE lovers will flock to North Clare on the last weekend in August as Ennistymon once again becomes a Book Town.  For the eleventh year, the bustling town will become a reader’s paradise, with book shops popping up in vacant premises and taking over the Courthouse Gallery and Teach Cheoil.  On offer at stalls and shops will be new, used and antiquarian books, fiction and nonfiction, for all age groups, including rare County Clare items, GAA histories, children’s books, and literary and light reads.  “This year, our challenge has been to find empty shop units and that’s a great testament to how Ennistymon has flourished in recent years,” said organising committee member, Jon Heddon. “Over the years, we’ve had seven or eight units annually that we would have used. Now, those premises have come back into use and it’s just great to see that. “We will still be able to accommodate all of our regular booksellers, from all over Ireland, …

THE WORK of the legendary David Attenborough has inspired a new visual art exhibition that will open in Kinvara on Friday, September 2 at the Courthouse.  Entitled, ‘In the Beginning’, the show is a selection of artwork by former Chairperson of Kinvara Area Visual Arts (KAVA), Pam Fleming. The colourful exhibition is accompanied by a collection of poetry by local authors. “The inspiration for this show owes gratitude to that champion of the natural world, Sir David Attenborough,” Pam said. “Watching his very early TV shows, set in Madagascar, as a child instilled an appreciation of the animal kingdom in me and many others who watched spellbound. The title of the exhibition ‘In the Beginning’ refers to the bible and the giving therein to humankind, domination over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and over all the wild animals on the earth.” Pam added that she has been very conscious of the biodiversity crisis in producing …

The Irish Chamber Orchestra has announced its autumn/winter season and it includes a trip to Ennis in December for a concert in glór. The performance entitled Breith, will celebrate the multifarious contributions of Clare men and women during this revolutionary period of Irish History. The orchestra along with Tim Collins and guests will present this ambitious programme of original music, song, dance, poetry, and drama on Saturday December 10 at glór. Elsewhere, the ICO present a rich body of diverse works with a variety of top-class soloists with performances around the country as well as its main base at University Concert Hall, Limerick. On Sunday September 4, the orchestra performs under the direction of Desmond Earley with organist Tristan Russcher and the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin for a Handel celebration. This performance is part of the Dun Laoghaire Organ Concert Series as ICO showcase Handel’s choral anthem The Ways of Zion do Mourn alongside two Organ Concertos at Dun Laoghaire Organ Concert Series. The following week, Katherine Hunka directs ICO in Shostakovich, Frost and Glass featuring Fiachra Garvey performing Shostakovich’s infectious Piano Concerto No.1, with solo trumpet …

GLÓR has appointed 17-year-old Sean Shannon as its first Young Associate Artist. Through its Associate Artists programme glór aims to support artists in practical ways, enabling connections between artists, audiences and communities throughout Clare, and facilitating the creation of new work inspired by Clare’s unique culture and landscape. Sean received his initial piano lessons from Meaghan Dineen through the Music Generation programme. He is currently studying with Tatiana Timofeeva, and in September he will commence a Bachelor in Music Performance on an entrance scholarship at the Royal Irish Academy of Music under Professor Réamonn Keary. In 2018 he performed for President Michael D. Higgins at Clarecare charity’s 50th anniversary celebration, and at the age of 14 he gave his debut solo recital at Glór in 2019. Last year  he featured on RTÉ’s Nationwide. Sean has also successfully participated in numerous national piano competitions, most recently the Feis Ceoil and previously received a scholarship funded by Maoin Cheoil an Chláir/Limerick School …