The Shenandoah Conservatory Jazz Ensemble, was founded in the late 1950’s as one of the first collegiate jazz ensembles in the United States. They will bring a mixture of traditional and contemporary jazz works. This 20 piece jazz group are not to be missed.

UNA PALLISER
Recently described as ‘an extraordinary violinist’ by the UK’s Independent newspaper, Cork born Una Palliser’s haunting voice has been featured on the Specsaver’s ‘sheep’ advert for the last 4 years with her arrangement of ‘Mo Ghile Mear’.

Classically trained at Cork School of Music, a 1st class honours graduate of the Royal Academy of Music London, Una is best known for her unique versatility, mastering and combining classical, Irish traditional and Balkan styles. This led to an invite by Colombian artist Shakira to perform as the featured solo violinist on her 14 month stadium world tour where she also doubled as backing vocalist and multi instrumentalist.

Una has also featured as soloist with the Manchester Camerata Orchestra, Slovenian Symbolic Orchestra, on tours with Take That, Moby, Gnarls Barkley, Patrick Wolf, George Michael and is currently solo violinist with Leona Lewis. She was the recipient of the RAM Wolfson Trust award, Royal Philharmonia Martin Musical Scholarship, was a string finalist in RTE Musician of the Future Competition and has appeared on many film soundtracks including Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones. Una also sang with Elbow on Jools Holland’s ‘Later’ BBC show. Her band Una and the Balkan Bears made their debut at The Fiddle Fair, Baltimore in 2010 before embarking on an acclaimed Irish / UK tour including a sold out Ronnie Scott’s performance in London. She’s currently working on her solo debut album, due for release at the end of 2013.

“If you could bottle the joie de vivre that comes from the members of Trio Mediaeval you could probably sell it not just as a pick-me-up, but as some form of basic life-force.”

Michael Dervan, The Irish Times

Our next Concert takes place on Sunday 14 April, in the Church of Ireland, with the concert starting at 8pm. This will feature the wonderful Norwegian ensemble Trio Mediaeval. Made up of Anna Maria Friman, soprano, Berit Opheim, soprano and Catherine King, soprano, they have been described as “beguiling”, “intoxicating” and “mesmerizing” they have captivated audiences worldwide with a songbook spanning medieval music, traditional Norwegian ballads and contemporary works. The three unique voices blend together with seamless and unnerving accuracy, but for all the hauntingly pure harmonies and vocal finesse, the trio deliver songs from a bygone era with a tenderness that melts away the centuries.

Founded in Oslo in 1997, the group’s first album, Words of the Angel, immediately reached Billboard’s Top 10 Bestseller list, while Folk Songs, an intimate collection of Norwegian folk songs, won a Grammy nomination in 2008. While spreading the a capella gospel, the ensemble has performed in cathedrals, monasteries, farms, and industrial spaces as well as prestigious halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, London’s Wigmore Hall and the Vienna Konzerthaus.

Programme

A Worcester Ladymass (England C13/14) with Credo and Benedicamus Domino written especially for Trio Mediaeval by Gavin Bryars, and a selection of traditional Norwegian and Swedish folk songs.

We look forward to seeing you there, please spread the word.

• Church of Ireland
• 8pm, €12 / €10
• 095 21147 (Info only)
• Promoted by Clifden Arts Society

“The finest sean nós singer to be found anywhere in these islands today.” Hot Press

Join sean-nós singer Iarla O’Lionaird, considered by The Guardian to be one of the most dramatic voices in contemporary music, in what promises to be an atmospheric and unforgettable tour.

Whether floating over ancient rhythms or pulsing electronica, there’s no mistaking the sublime, utterly compelling vocal talents of Iarla Ó Lionáird. One of the most ambitious recording artists in Ireland today, Ó Lionáird has performed with groups as diverse as The Gloaming, Afro Celt Sound System, Gavin Bryars, Peter Gabriel and The Crash Ensemble, while reimagining Sean Nós crooning in his solo albums, most recently in his critically-acclaimed release Foxlight.

For this tour, Ó Lionáird is accompanied by Cleek Schrey’s unique style of fiddle playing, which fuses Irish stylings with the Old-time music of Virginia. Sharing Ó Lionáird’s pioneering spirit, Schrey has collaborated in recent years with old time fiddler Stephanie Coleman, percussive dance phenom Nic Gareiss, and the viol consort Sonnambula. Completing the line-up is All-Ireland champion piper and fellow New York resident Ivan Goff, who has performed in many theatrical productions as well as playing with Riverdance, Whirligig, Cathie Ryan and Lúnasa.

Iarla Ó Lionáird (voice), Cleek Schrey (fiddle), Ivan Goff (uilleann pipes)

Promoted by Clifden Arts Society

This will feature the great jazz group Get The Blessing. The group is made up of bassist Jim Barr, drummer Clive Deamer, saxophonist Jake McMurchie and trumpeter Pete Judge.

Get the Blessing (previously known as The Blessing) is a jazz rock quartet based in Bristol, England, active since 2000. They were formed when Jim Barr (bass) and Clive Deamer (drums), the rhythm section from the trip hop group Portishead, teamed up with Jake McMurchie (saxophone) and Pete Judge (trumpet) over their mutual appreciation of Ornette Coleman. To date, they have released three albums, their debut All is Yes won best album at the 2008 BBC Jazz Awards. Their most recent album, OC DC, was released in 2012.

“They are described as “The most original and exciting band on the British scene”” Jazzwise

““This is the kind of band who makes jazz fans out of people who don’t expect to be”” The Guardian

 “… mixes scorching rock with Ornette Coleman-like sax and much more besides to thrilling effect …” The Guardian

“…they may well be the most original and exciting band on the British scene at the moment.” – Jazzwise (review of Cheltenham Jazz Festival)

“GTB harness rock and jazz with uncompromising power” – Time Out

“…the band’s cool, stylish heat is irresistible.” – The Telegraph

Looking forward to seeing you there, please spread the word.

Breandan O’Scanaill

Clifden Arts Society

Beach Road, Clifden, Connemara, County Galway. 095 21148

Venue: Church of Ireland, 8pm.

Programme for tonight’s concert

I part.
L. van Beethoven. Sonata op 110
M.Ravel. Gaspard de la Nuit

II part.
F.Chopin. Barcarolle op 60
F.Chopin. Berceuse op 57
F.Liszt. Sonata b minor

Background

Born in Blagoveshchensk, a city in Russian Far East in July of 1992, Nikolay Khozyainov is emerging as one of the most promising new names of the next generation of pianists. He began to play the piano at the age of five. He studied at Central Musical School of the Moscow P.I.Tchaikovsky Conservatory (1999-2010). Nikolay studied with Yury Lisichenko.    Since 2005 he is a pupil of professor Mikhail Voskresensky. Nikolay is a student of Moscow Conservatory since 2010.

Nikolay was awarded:
-1st Prize and Special Prize for the best performance of “Rondo-Capriccioso” by F. Mendelssohn at the International Piano Competition “Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte”(Czech Republic, 2003),
-1st Prize at the IX International Carl Filtsch Piano Competition (Romania, 2004),
-2nd prize at the VI Moscow International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition for young pianists in Moscow, special prize “for the best performance of miniatures” (2008).

Nikolay Khozyainov was the youngest finalist of the XVI International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland (October 2010). His mature and sensitive artistry has impressed public, music lovers and observers. He got excellent critics as the very good interpreter of  Chopin`s music.

In 2012 Nikolay was awarded the 1st prize at the Dublin International Piano Competition 2012.
Nikolay has performed in renowned concert halls of Russia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Malaysia, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, France, USA and Japan.
In 2011 CD Accord released Khozyainov’s CD(worldwide distributor Naxos) consisting works by Chopin and Liszt.
In April 2012 Nikolay recorded CD with JVC Victor in Japan, it is going to be released in autumn 2012.

It was a rock show: The opening song served warning that just because The Saw Doctors are an Irish band didn’t mean this was going to be a night of acoustic Celtic music. The five-man band blasted onto stage with the straightforward rock of “Hazard,”  lead guitarist Leo Moran’s instrument humming and drummer Ricky O’Neill laying down a tight beat. In fact, while founding members Moran and singer/guitarist Davy Carton are the band’s focus, O’Neal, appropriately playing in a beater shirt, was the night’s unsung hero.

It was fun: It didn’t take the crowd of about 500 long to warm to the band. By the third song, “Tommy K” – Moran singing with his Irish accent and an organ and squeezebox adding more Celtic flavor as the song was played fast and loose — it was clear Penn’s Peak had been wise to make it a general admission show with plenty of open floor space. Nearly the entire crowd was out of their seats doing the goofy dance in which they form K’s with their arms and legs. Even deep into the show, “Macnas Parade,” “I’ll Be On My Way,” with its long instrumental start, and their Irish chart-topper “About You Now” all still were fun – and the latter fairly furious, as was much of the show: There was hardly a break between songs.

It was roots rock: “To Win Just Once” not only was country-flavored alt-rock, but great alt-rock at that. Carton’s voice soared like a siren, and the song’s layered vocals reminded of the best of Gin Blossoms. During the encore, a wonderful “Why Do I Always Want You” riff lifted straight from Marshall Crenshaw.

It was a garage band: Especially the very goo “Galway and Mayo,” with Moran shouting the lyrics and O’Neill beating at his best. “N17” sounded like a rollicking party band, and the crowd shouted back . “It Won’t Be Tonight” had driving, dangerous, surf rock guitar.

It was nostalgic: There was a melancholy to many of the songs, but in a good way, the wonder of reminiscence.  “Clare Island,” with its hot sax by Anthony “Anto” Thistlethwaite, was very much so. “Taking the Train” and “Indian Summer” were wistful. But The Saw Doctors also were nostalgic in their choices of songs. “Me Heart is Livin’ in the Sixties Still” was obvious, with its throwback lyrics about JFK. During the pop-punky “That’s What She Said Last Night,” they segued into The Shirelles’ 1960 hit “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.”  And they played “Downtown,” the 1964 song they recorded last year with her, adding reverb guitar and rocking it up a bit, with Carton shouting the lyrics. The crowd shouted along loudly, too.

It was romantic: “Share the Darkness,” played in a spotlight on a darkened stage, had warm harmonies and was very Asia-esque, with Moran’s steely, sonic guitar. “Friday Town” also was warm. “Red Cortina,” which opened the five-song, 20-minute encore, was sung a cappella doo-wop, with Carton singing a good lead.

It was Irish: While the concert avoided the trappings of being a Celtic show, it offered a great Irish battle cry in “Green and Red of Mayo,”  bathed in red and green lights, Carton singing in a growl. “Michael D Rocking in the Dail” was a punky tip of the hat to the Irish president. And speaking of its intensity, O’Neill pounded so hard on his kit that he broke his sticks.

It was punk: The Saw Doctors were founded as a punk band, and that spirit still very much lives. “Bless Me Father” was all the things that make punk great: fun, catchy and irreverent.  The penultimate song of the night – the band’s monster hit (still the biggest-selling single in Irish history) “I Usta Lover” barreled forward with punk power. And the closing “Hay Wrap” was even more punk, also fast and furious, with its Ramones-esque crowd chants of “Hey! Hey!”  and Moran swinging his guitar.

It was a time for tribute: That punk spirit didn’t stop the band from using the middle of “Hay Warp” to play The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer,” a tribute to that band’s singer Davy Jones, who died Wednesday at 66. Not only was it a great sentiment, but the crowd appeared to love it, singing along hardily.

It was great: With so many great songs, it was no surprise The Saw Doctors would offer a good show. But the real surprise was that the band, which has been around more than 25 years, would have been such a blast of freshness.

Allentown Morning Call

http://blogs.mcall.com/lehighvalleymusic/2012/03/the-saw-doctors-here-are-10-things-their-show-at-penns-peak-was-.html

REVIEWS

New York Times – Click here to read the full review

“As always with this remarkable company, the acting is of a quality to leave you dumbstruck with admiration.”

“visceral, precise and saturated with raw wit and honest feeling.”

The Daily Telegraph – 5 Stars ★★★★★ Read Full Review Here

“attendance should be obligatory”

“thanks to productions so faultless they’re no effort to sit through – even in one marathon day”

The Financial Times – 5 Stars ★★★★★ Read Full Review Here

“I can find no weak links in Druid’s production. The cast is talented; Francis O’Connor’s designs are unobtrusively stylish; and Garry Hynes directs with wisdom and feeling.”

“Murphy is, I suspect, the greatest dramatist writing in English.”

What’s On Stage.Com – 5 Stars ★★★★★ Read Full Review Here

“a high-five Hibernian highlight of the year so far, a fantastic tear-sodden blast of the very best in Irish theatre. Garry Hynes leads her Galway-based Druid company in triumph and despair, twin impostors of the Celtic dream and nightmare”

“These are snapshots of a nation’s history, fleshed out in scenes of intense theatricality in Garry Hynes’s superb productions”

The Guardian – 4 Stars ★★★★ Read Full Review Here

“richly rewarding event”

“staged by Hynes with a breathtaking poetic realism” (On Conversations on a Homecoming)

“Murphy’s viscerally powerful play” (On A Whistle in the Dark)

“I emerged astonished both by Murphy’s historical awareness and Druid’s ensemble vigour.”

The Times – 4 Stars ★★★★ Read Full Review Here

“Viewed in its entirety, DruidMurphy is truly epic, broad of scope, its insight profound, its clear-sightedness both cruel and compassionate. Remarkable.”

“Impeccably acted in meticulous, stirringly evocative productions by Druid’s founder Garry Hynes, the plays traverse time and oceans to present a kind of dramatic ballad of Ireland and Irishness, musical in its shifts of mood and rhythm, compelling in its complexity and its emotional force.”

The Irish Times – Read Full Review Here

“a riveting, shattering and deeply necessary journey.”

“Druid remind you that no one has articulated the legacy of dispossession as eloquently or unflinchingly as Murphy.”

“These plays may be seen separately, giving the density of thought and emotion in Murphy’s work time to unravel, but viewed together the works abound with rewarding echoes and insistent, pressing whispers, threaded through with striking visual motifs and the illuminating torch of extraordinary performers. Druid’s collaboration with Murphy is a staggering achievement and here it lets the plays speak to us as urgently as they ever did.”

The Irish Independent – Read Full Review Here

“It is a privilege to watch theatre of such indelible quality.”

“Under Hynes’ masterful direction, this is a remarkable theatrical achievement, in scope, vision and execution.”

The Stage – Read Full Review Here

“DruidMurphy presents a rare opportunity to survey a span of one writer’s works, namely Tom Murphy”

“Though the plays were conceived as separate entities, not as a trilogy, the boldness and brilliance of Druid’s cross-cast production grants them a stylistic unity, staged inside the same frame of corrugated iron sheeted walls but distinctly designed environments by Francis O’Connor that stretch from a pub and lounge to crop fields.”

The Sunday Independent – Read Full Review Here

“Tom Murphy, veteran genius of the Irish theatre, is still in the ascendant after this extraordinary, overwhelmingly magnificent undertaking.”

“The ensemble acting for the three pieces… is quite extraordinary.”

“There is no weak moment, no weak line, no weak movement.”

Irish Theatre Magazine – Read Full Review Here

““The great strength of Hynes’s direction is the manner in which she manages to marshal such intensity of thought and feeling across the three plays, communicated by an extraordinarily attuned and committed ensemble with such clarity and effect.”

GENERAL PRESS COVERAGE

The New York Times – Interview with Tom Murphy and Garry Hynes – 27.06.12

“Ms. Hynes is perhaps the ideal person to remind the world about Tom Murphy”

The Paris Review – Interview with Tom Murphy 09.07.12

“Sit in a theater for a Tom Murphy play and I can guarantee you one thing: you will come out of that theater rattled, and throttled, and staggered, in the best of all possible ways.”

“There’s nobody like him writing today.”

The Irish Times – 25 Things to Look forward to in 2012 – 31.12.11

“It begins with a faith so rigid that it cannot be eaten away by the Great Hunger. It continues in 1960s Coventry, where an uprooted Irish family is tearing itself apart. And it concludes in a Galway pub where reunited friends seek new beliefs in a disenchanted Ireland. The tragedy of famine, as Tom Murphy saw it, was that “a hungry and demoralised people become silent”. Starting in May, the restorative journey of DruidMurphy, a staging of Tom Murphy’s Famine, A Whistle in the Dark and Conversations on a Homecoming, which will tour Ireland, London and the US, is the story of a nation. Essential