Nuala joins NYC Bloomsday virtual concert
Dundalk flute player Nuala Kennedy is set to appear in a virtual marathon of James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses, hosted by the New York venue Symphony Space. The event will take place on Bloomsday, on June 16, the date on which the book’s protagonist Leopold Bloom made his epic journey across Dublin.
Bloomsday on Broadway is an annual Symphony Space tradition and this year marks its 39th edition. But since the event can’t be held in person because of the COVID-19 crisis, this year’s line-up of acclaimed actors and authors will read Ulysses on the Symphony Space YouTube page.
Nuala, who now lives in Ennis, Co Clare explains how the event came about: ‘When I lived in New York I used to play music with Caitlin Warbelow who is an ace Irish style fiddler originally from Alaska now performing on Broadway. We teamed up for a few events, including the Off-Broadway play Sleep No More and the Lord Mayor Bill de Blasio’s St Patrick’s Breakfast at Gracie Mansion in NYC. ‘
Nuala also helped Caitlin’s show and her partner, pianist and musical director Chris Ranney set up Tune Supply (www.tune.supply), an online hub for traditional music. She did a few performances for her, one of which features in the Bloomsday concert.
That was a month ago when Nuala was just setting up for home recording. With he two little ones Lochlann (3) and Líadan (2) running around , she hid out in her downstairs loo to sing ‘Love’s Old Sweet Song’ in honour of James Joyce. ‘So I locked the door, sang the song into my phone, and sent it on to my friend the wonderful Armagh pianist Caoimhín Vallely.’
Nuala reveals that she didn’t realise that the Bloomsday concert would also feature some famous actors and authors including Stephen Colbert, Claire Danes, Cynthia Nixon, Brian Cox, Zach Grenier, Donna Lynne Champlin, Hugh Dancy, Kate Mulgrew, Peter Francis James,
Mia Dillon, Malachy McCourt, Colum McCann, Juliana Canfield, Denis O’Hare, Fiona Shaw, Dan Stevens, and Kristen Vangsness. It was quite the suprise!
As all her touring work was cancelled or postponed, Nuala has been busy doing some more online performances including a live broadcast for ‘Ireland Performs’ from Culture Ireland which was really exiting. ‘ These performance opportunities keep me going, keep me playing and I am grateful to have the chance to do that.’
She has helped organise a ‘virtual session’ special for Tune Supply featuring the music of our wee county, Lú Abú! Hosted by fiddler Gerry O’ Connor, the guests include Nuala, Zoe Conway and John MacIntyre and Áine McGeeney with Colm Phelan. It will go live on June 9th and be available to watch on the Tune Supply Youtube channel.
‘My final event will be a 45 minute concert on June 12 It is a commission from the Sofia Center for the Performing Arts in Sacramento, California and is going to be in three sections, the last of which will feature my husband A. J. Roach who is a singer from the Appalachian mountains in Virginia, USA.’
The concert can be heard on www. bstreettheatre.org