Dónal Lunny gathers traditional musicians for St. Patrick’s Weekend concert at the National Concert Hall
Christy Moore, Bono and Mark Knopfler have all crossed his path … he is Donal Lunny. On Sunday 16th of March, Donal Lunny of LAPD, Planxty, Moving Hearts and Bothy Band fame joins a host of Irish musicians to perform as part of the St. Patrick’s weekend at The National Concert Hall. Joining him will be the acclaimed Irish fiddler Zoë Conway, the prodigious Padraig Rynne on concertinas, Breton flautist Sylvain Barou and the renowned singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andy Irvine.
A gifted guitar and bouzouki player, Lunny is a house-hold name in the traditional and folk music scene and has been at the forefront of the evolution of Irish traditional music for more than 35 years.
He formed Emmet Spiceland in the late sixties and went on to co-found Planxty (1971-1973), and Mulligan Records in’73 producing 17 albums for the label. His next involvement was with Bothy Band (1975-’79), the most exciting and dynamic band of the traditional revival. In ‘82 along with Christy Moore he formed Moving Hearts.
Donal continued to work as a freelance producer. He has composed music for theatre as well as TV dramas and documentaries for RTÉ, Channel 4 including Bringing it all Back Home for BBC; documentary series charting the influence of Irish music throughout the world.
He has also written scores for films including ‘This is My Father’ and more recently has become more involved in contemporary music. He is a much sought after producer, producing albums for Kate Bush, Paul Brady, Elvis Costello, Mark Knopfler, Rod Steward, Zoe, Indigo Girls, Clannad, Maire Brennan and Baab Maal. IN ‘95 he produced the internationally acclaimed album for EMI ‘Common Ground’ featuring Kate Bush, Sinead O’Connor, Sharon Shannon, Brian Kennedy, Christy Moore and Elvis Costello, to name a few.
Although currently living in Okinawa, Japan, Lunny continues to contribute tirelessly to contemporary music in Ireland, touring with Zoë Conway and Mairtín O’Connor, and LAPD who performed at the National Concert Hall’s Summer@NCH Festival just last year.
Tickets for Donal Lunny at the National Concert Hall are €25, €30, €35 and are available on Tel: 01 417 00 00 or www.nch.ie. [10% discount for groups of ten or more. 20% discount for Friends of the National Concert Hall].
