Clannad’s Moya Brennan to appear at 10th Masters of Tradition in Bantry
Clannad’s Moya Brennan, the Tulla Céilí Band, uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn and fiddler Martin Hayes will be just some of the traditional musicians performing at the 10th Masters of Tradition which runs from August 15 -19 in Bantry.
To mark the anniversary of this special festival, there will be a new series of late morning coffee concerts and masterclasses to complement the programme of evening performances in Bantry House and St Brendan’s Church.
Among those featuring in these coffee concerts in St Brendan’s Church will be guitarist and singer John Doyle and Lunasa flute player Kevin Crawford who are part of the new traditional music supergroup The Teetotallers. The Andalusian singer Carmen Ibanez-Berbel will perform songs with popular themes of Spanish and Latin American folklore alongside home-grown singers Maire Ní Chéileachair, John Flanagan and Len Graham.
There are still tickets available for all performances, including the opening and closing concerts which feature the acclaimed Clare fiddler Martin Hayes, who is also the Artistic Director of the Masters of Tradition. He will be joined by Chicago guitarist Dennis Cahill, fiddlers Toner Quinn and Malachy Bourke and others.
Grammy winning singer and member of Clannad which garnered 15 million record sales worldwide, Moya Brennan appears on Saturday night in Bantry House with harpist Cormac DeBarra and Väsen. This Swedish trio has gathered glowing reviews for its phenomenal musical interplay which makes every performance unique.
Throughout the week there will also be a chance to catch the Festival’s resident dancer Stephanie Keane, a special harp concert featuring Ireland’s finest harpists, the Tulla Céilí Band making their Bantry House debut in an unmissable late night concert, hugely talented guitarist Steve Cooney joining the legendary piper Liam O’Flynn and sean-nós singer John Flanagan in St Brendan’s Church, the exciting new trio of traditional legends The Teetotallers and much more.
In the Maritime Hotel each morning, there will be masterclasses in which advanced students are tutored by fiddlers Séamus Connolly and Toner Quinn, Kevin Crawford and Moya Brennan. These students have already been selected but these masterclasses are open to the public who wish to attend as observers and promise to be highly informative and entertaining.
The idea for this unique festival evolved from Artistic Director Martin Hayes’ call to create a “quiet and intimate space” where the heart of traditional music could be exposed. The concept has evolved over the years to produce this event that encompasses a simpler, less cluttered performance format and involving some of the very best Irish musicians sharing their take on traditional music.
Martin Hayes says, ” I have attended almost all of the performances each year of this festival and every time I leave Bantry, I do so with a renewed faith in the strength of this music. Within this subtle setting..our music reveals sophistication and artfulness and its inherent virtuosity of thought.”
The Masters of Tradition is generously supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and Failte Ireland .
Tickets are available online at www.westcorkmusic.ie or by ringing West Cork Music on 027 52788.
