The 15 finalists who will compete for the Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal 2014 will be announced on Peadar Ó Riada’s Cuireadh chun Ceoil programme on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta on Friday 5 December at 7 pm.

The programme will be broadcast live from the Mills Inn in Baile Bhuirne for the Éigse Dhiarmuidín festival, with live music and song from, among others, Nell Ní Chróinín, Seán Ó Liatháin agus Conchubhar Ó Luasa.

The judges for this year’s contest, which is for fiddle, are Seán Keane from Dublin, Connie O’Connell from Cork and Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, from Donegal.
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www.musicnetwork.ie

Music Network today unveiled its Spring Season 2015 with an exceptional line-up of talented Irish and international musicians that will tour to twenty towns and villages across seventeen counties from January to May. The season spans an eclectic range of styles from Irish trad, Nordic jazz and solo piano like you’ve never heard it before, to the inspired pairing of classical mandolin with accordion, and rootsy Americana.

Describing what’s on offer, Music Network CEO Sharon Rollston explains, “We kick off Spring 2015 with Irish vocal legends Maura O’Connell and Karan Casey who share the spotlight in what promises to be a really special tour, aided and abetted by the singular talents of Ed Boyd on guitar and piano accordionist Martin Tourish. Early booking is highly recommended! February offers up a slice of Nordic noir as jazz trio Phronesis, one of the most exhilarating outfits on the European circuit, bring their intelligent and imaginative sound to the stage with its intricate bass lines, hypnotic grooves and spiralling piano patterns.”
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The Tides that Bind / Fánaíocht is a new album from Connemara singer songwriter Seán Ó hÉanaigh, featuring traditional songs in English, Irish and Scots Gàidhlig, as well as some original compositions.

Seán is from Connemara, and can boast an enviable musical pedigree as the nephew of legendary sean-nós singer Joe Heaney.

Seán has been playing and composing music since he was young.  He was a member of well-known Galway band Roudledum, which played throughout the west in the 80s.  He then formed the band Éinniú in 1990 and they released an album of the same name in 1992 on the Cló Iar-Chonnacht label (CIC).  The album featured mainly Seán’s own compositions, many of which became Irish-language hits, including the popular song ‘Conamara’.  The Tides that Bind / Fánaíocht is his first album since then.
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www.itma.ie

The four existing DVDs of highlights from the series Come West along the Road have now been re-published by RTÉ in a box set.

Songs from singers in Irish and English; jigs, reels, hornpipes and airs from solo musicians and groups; step dances and set dances from exhibition and social dancers – this four-DVD collection from the television archives of RTÉ, the Irish national broadcaster, contains twelve hours of outstanding performances from across the rich spectrum of Irish traditional music.

It is available to visitors to the Irish Traditional Music Archive or from the RTÉ shop.

Susan Hughes – Exhibition of Musicians of Ireland

www.shudesigns.com

Susan Hughes graduated from Belfast Art College in 2006. For the past two years she has worked full time as an artist attending residencies in Norway and Ireland. As a fiddle player she has been honoured to play tunes over the years with many of the musicians she has painted. As she draws their faces, hands and instruments she aims to capture some of their spirit with her ink and brush.
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www.scoilgheimhridh.com.

The inaugural Scoil Gheimhridh Ghaoth Dobhair will be launched on Rónán Beo @3 on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, live from St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, in Dublin, on Tuesday 11 November at 3 pm.

Scoil Gheimhridh Ghaoth Dobhair will take place in northwest Donegal from 27 December to 1 January.  In its first year under its new organisers, Comharchumann Forbartha Ghaoth Dobhair, the School will continue the original vision of the Frankie Kennedy Winter School: to pass on, through sharing knowledge and nurturing talent, the joys of Irish traditional music, with special place given to the music and songs of the Donegal Gaeltacht. (more…)