Tag Archives: Harp

MOUNTSHANNON Arts will to host a Harp Concert with a difference this Saturday October 22 when Erin Durrett and Christina Tourin join together to present ‘Songs of Hildegard and the Early Saints’ with Blossom Harps and guest harpers from America. Internationally renowned harp educator, Christina Tourin is one of the most accomplished harpists of her generation, delighting audiences with her performances worldwide. Soprano Erin Durrett, who loves music of all times, genres, and cultures, has a special passion for scared chant and is Director of Music Ministries at The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit on Vashon Island.  Blossom Harps is directed by Lizzie Affolter who initiated the Blossom Harp Festival in Tuamgraney in 2016. The hugely popular event has since become renamed the Tuamgraney Harp Festival. Hildegard of Bingen was a saint, composer and poet and it’s only recently that her songs, writings and remarkable life and visions have been rediscovered. She was born over 900 years ago and …

MUSIC has proven to be a universal language for a collaboration that is fusing Ukrainian and Irish tradition.  Kseniya Rusnack fled her home after war reached the Ukrainian capital. She now lives in Lisdoonvarna, where her talent for music has drawn her into the thriving trad scene in the area. Alongside leading Irish harper, Ennistymon-based, Paul Dooley, Kseniya performed at the Willie Clancy Summer School and, recently, wowed audiences at Glór in Ennis.  Kseniya, who was born in the Cherkasy region in central Ukraine, is a musician and singer. She credits, the  bandura, a Ukrainian stringed folk instrument, with opening up the world of music to her. The outbreak of war saw Kseniya flee the capital, Kyiv, with her mother, her five-year-old son and a few precious possessions, including her bandura.  “Since the beginning of hostilities, we left Kyiv to visit relatives in Cherkasy region,” she said. “We have been in Ukraine for a month because we believed that everything …

TO MARK Lá na Cruite, Harp Day on Saturday, County Clare harper Aisling Lyons will be performing with Elaine Hogan, Cathy Potter, Alisha McMahon and Eithne Walsh in Ennis, at St Columba’s Church and at glór. Harps will chime worldwide to mark Ireland’s 1000-year old harping tradition, and harpers and people interested in the harp are invited to join in celebrating Ireland’s 1,000-year-old tradition on National Harp Day, Saturday (October 17). 2020 is the fourth year that Cruit Éireann, Harp Ireland has co-ordinated this event at home and farther afield in honour of our national instrument.  It will feature harps sounding loudly from dawn to dusk in iconic locations throughout Ireland, north and south and from as far away as Sydney, across the US, New Zealand and Japan. Closer to home, harpers in France, Italy, Switzerland and the UK join us to celebrate our vibrant harping tradition. This year due to Covid 19 restrictions, Cruit Éireann will feature the best of Irish harping online and their Harpers’ Call; where they invite harpers all over the world to …