Host of music lined up for Forge at Gort Festival

Music is becoming a major part of the third annual Forge at Gort Festival and further details have been revealed this week for the 2010 festival, which takes place next month.
The programme for the writers’ festival has been extended and now features Clare-based violinist Yuki Nishioka and harper Paul Dooley, among others.
Yuki will accompany the Clare Three-Legged Stool Writers’ Group in a reading as part of the festival, organised by The Western Writers’ Centre – Ionad Scríbhneoirí Chaitlín Maude.
Yuki and the Three-Legged Stool ­Writers’ Group will perform in
O’Grady’s Restaurant and Bar, Gort, at 4.30pm on Saturday, March 27. Admission is free.
Yuki has been playing classical violin since she was three and has competed at a national level in Japan. She was jointly awarded the Haydn prize for ensemble work with Mùm String Quartet.
After graduating from Aichi Provincial University of Fine Arts and Music, she became a member of Aichi Chamber Orchestra and played for a number of years as their lead violinist.
She has also worked as an extra for a wide variety of musical groups and orchestras, from classical and opera to ballet and musical.
In 2008, she encountered traditional Irish music in Galway. She is currently living in Ennis, learning the music which, she feels, changed her life.
Yuki is well-known in South Galway as she teaches music at Coole Music and last June she performed a recital at Holistic Meadow in Gort.
Renowned harpist Paul Dooley has also been confirmed for this year’s festival. Paul will perform on March 27 at 7pm in Gort Library, at the opening of a reading by poet Pádraig Ó Moráin. Admission to this event is also free.
Paul’s knowledge of harps is extensive. He studied the construction of medieval Irish harps in Dublin during the early 1980s and has built several harps.
He started his performing career on the metal-strung harp in 1986 and has appeared on numerous CD recordings and television soundtracks.
His repertoire consists mostly of ­traditional Irish dance music, including
jigs and reels, some of which he has
learned from recordings and printed
music but mostly learned from other musicians such as pipers, flute players and fiddlers.
Further details are available from westernwriters@eircom.net or from 087 2178138.