Concert returns to the Irish Cultural Centre

Tonight’s performance featuring music of Irish composer Turloch Carolan follows positive response to the spring event

A reprise concert featuring the music of Irish composer Turloch Carolan is today at 8 p. m. at the Irish Cultural Centre in Charlottetown.

Featured performers are Rob Drew, guitar, Nancy Clement, flute and whistles, and Roy Johnstone, violin, viola and mandola.

“We’re doing a reprise concert since it’s another opportunity to share our love of Carolan’s music. We had such a positive response to our spring concert, with many who missed it asking when are we doing it again?” said Johnstone.

The three musicians teamed up for the first Carolan concert this past spring. Clement began her classical music studies at age nine and later fell in love with Celtic music, playing Irish wooden flute, penny whistle and Celtic harp. She is just back from the Boxwood festival where she undertook some Klezmer and Irish flute studies.

Drew has been actively involved in P. E. I.’ s music community for the last 17 years, specializing in all aspects of guitar from classical and spanish to folk.

“Carolan’s music provides an opportunity to combine some of our classical training with Irish harp influenced traditional music. It makes for a wonderful blend as the Irish group, the Chieftains have shown,” he said.

Johnstone was honoured as a P. E. I. musical ambassador and has received many awards and accolades for both his dedication to preserving traditional music and his studio and sound track recordings. He performed in the Confederation Centre of the Arts’ production of Dear Johnny Deere this past summer.

A 17th century bard, Carolan was one of the most influential composers of Irish music of all time. Blinded by a bout of smallpox when he was 18 years of age, he became, as was the tradition, a travelling bard who composed music and songs for his patrons. Although there is evidence he was influenced by the renaissance and baroque periods of classical music, he had a gift for melody, and his compositions display an exceptional depth of beauty and passion.

For information, contact Terrence McGawhie at 5663273 or 675- 4803.