Kilkishen man brings 25 guitars together

KILKISHEN conductor, director, classical guitarist, composer and folk musician Brendan Walsh will bring his Diversus Guitar Ensemble to Doolin and to the Millenium Theatre in Limerick next week in what promises to be a unique experience of collective guitar playing.

The Diversus Guitar Ensemble, made up of 25 guitarists from across the world, operates much like an orchestra and comprises of varying guitar instruments, including classical, soprano, acoustic bass and steel string guitars. While this diverse collection of instruments may be unique in itself so too is the group’s programme, which ranges from the classical to the pop.
The members of the ensemble, whose average age group is 27/28, include musicians from Clare, Australia, California, Serbia, Croatia, Cork and other parts of Europe.
The group is in its seventh year and has developed a reputation for its unique and surprising music programming.
Led by Kilkishen man, Brendan Walsh, the 25-strong group of musicians will take on a Joseph Haydn Symphony originally arranged for a full concert orchestra but which has been rearranged for the guitar ensemble. They will also take on French composer Claude Debussy’s Preludes. Debussy, is largely associated with piano compositions and is renowned for his piece Clair de Lune from his Suite Bergamasque.
Their programme of music will jump from there to the other extreme where they will play a classic Beetles song, A Day in the Life. The ensemble will be joined by special guest Georgia Cusack, a Dublin-based jazz singer. Georgia will also sing a song from Dublin singer songwriter Abigail Smith.
Meanwhile, violinist Zoe Conway wrote a couple trad tunes that were put to a number of budding young composers who have rearranged the tunes for the ensemble. While you will be able to clearly hear the trad tune, it will have elements of classical, jazz and pop influences.
Another unusual piece the Diversus Guitar Ensemble will perform will be a truly contemporary piece of music composed by Pierce Hogan, who has given the group a score without the conventional staves so each guitar will be tuned in different ways and will offer an extremely unusual musical piece.
Speaking to The Clare Champion, Brendan outlines how the Diversus Guitar Ensemble came into being.
“I’m a guitarist, classical, conductor, composer, folk musician. My father, Brendan Walsh Senior organises the Winter Music Weekend in Sixmilebridge and there would have always been Irish traditional music in our house. One of the reasons I decided to go from traditional music to classical music was really because I didn’t know where I was going. I would have listened pop and rock and I was always very impressed by the attitude and technical ability of classical musicians. When I studied it I realised the range it gave me. I went to study in Maynooth and from there, I went to Belgium, Switzerland and Germany,” he said.
While travelling, Brendan was exposed to similar types of collective guitar groups and saw the idea of a guitar orchestra or ensemble as something that would be very unique and that people back home would be glad of. Of course, he said he was particularly proud that a Clare person could put together such a unique group.
“Not all of the group are typically classically trained, we have a couple of guitarists playing rock or pop bands, jazz musicians, folk musicians, but all these guitarists have had some kind of classical training and can read music.
The group came to Glór last year and this year will play an informal performance in Hotel Doolin, at 6.30pm on Wednesday, November 4, which will be a dress rehearsal. The group will then perform their full programme of music on The Millenium Theatre stage at Limerick Institute of Technology on Friday, November 6 at 8pm.
Further information is available from The Millenium Theatre on 061 322322 or visit the group’s website on www.diversusguitarensemble.com.