EntertainingSligo
SLIGO CHORAL FESTIVAL
Now in its 29 th year, the International Choral Festival is one of the largest of its kind in Ireland and Choral music events will be taking place in venues and pop-up locations all across the town from 17 th19 th November.
The festival includes both competitive and non-competitive singing across a wide range of styles, ages and ensembles — from University and School choirs to Gospel and Barbershop choirs.
Outside of the competitions and formal concerts, the singing will also spill out onto the streets with the festival fringe events such as;
Acapella in the City, which takes places throughout Saturday, is a fun way for audiences to engage with choirs who will perform throughout Sligo town in pubs, restaurants, shopping centres, various stores and barber shops.
And the music will continue at the Festival Club, which will take place at the Sligo Park hotel from 10.30pm on Saturday. This is a chance for audiences to meet the competitors and for the singers to let their hair down.
On Sunday 19 th November, Sing Alleluia programme will see the choirs fill several churches around Sligo with their voices, enhancing various religious services. Eight churches across the town, including the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and St John’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, will see their services transformed through song.
Tickets to the Gala Concert (Friday can be purchased online at www.sligochoralfest.com and are available from the Tourist offices Sligo and nationwide and in Liber bookshop in Sligo town.
LANKUM
Lankum are a four-piece traditional folk group from Dublin, Ireland, who combine distinctive vocal harmonies with arrangements of uilleann pipes, whistles, concertina, accordion, fiddle and guitar. Their repertoire spans humorous Dublin music-hall ditties and street-songs, classic ballads from the Traveller tradition, traditional Irish and American dance tunes alongside their own original material.
Catch them at the Model Saturday 2nd December. Admission: €20 / €18 (conc.)
SLIGO FIDDLE PROJECT
Sligo traditional musicians filled the dance halls of New York in the 20’s and 30’s and made some of the most magnificent recordings of Irish music to date. On Sunday the 12 th of November, a celebration of the Sligo fiddle repertoire will take place at the Hawk’s Well Theatre. Traditional musician Oisín Mac Diarmada will bring together a number of the Sligo fiddle style’s finest exponents in this very special concert, which will also feature the newly formed Sligo Fiddle Ensemble.
The Sligo Fiddle Project has come about as a result of Oisín’s ‘ Time at the Well’ short term residency at the Hawk’s Well this Autumn, where his aim has been to create an educational structure to support the development of fiddle playing in the Sligo region. A series of weekend fiddle workshops led by Oisin have been taking place at the theatre and the Sligo Fiddle Project Concert will be undoubtedly feature this creative energy and enthusiasm for the genre.
A new publication of Sligo fiddle tunes by Daithí Gormley & Oisín will also be launched on the night, marking this as a particularly unique night of celebration of the Sligo fiddle.
Tickets are €18 with a special rate of €9 for under 18s for the Sligo Fiddle Project night. An additional €1 Renovation Fee will be added to all tickets. Tickets can be booked through the Hawk’s Well box office on 071 9161518 or www.hawkswell. com.
GERRY O’CONNOR AT WHISTLERS
Fiddle player Gerry O’Connor and box player Martin Quinn will be performing live at Whistlers, The Crescent Boyle this Thursday night, the 9 th of November at 8.30. Admission €15.
Gerry O’Connor grew up in the town of Dundalk, County Louth in a family of musicians, dancers and singers. Playing with Michael Coleman’s contemporary John Joe Gardiner in the 1970’s formed Gerry’s style of music, focussing on the fluid and ornamented lyrical fiddle playing of the great Sligo masters.
Martin comes from a family of musicians and raconteurs of traditional stories from the town land of Carricknagavna just outside the village of Mullaghabane in South Armagh. At an early age Martin was exposed to traditional Irish music through the singing of his mother Mary and also grandfather John Ned Quinn. Martin began his professional career as a musician in 1994, to date he has toured with various bands including Lá Lugh and Dorsa, performing and teaching workshops at major festivals in France, Norway, Finland, Italy,Switzerland, Britain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Romania, Spain, Japan and the USA. He has featured on TV and radio nationally and internationally and has contributed to Paul Bradley’s fine solo album “The Atlantic Roar” and has guested on Composer Josephine Keegan‘s double CD ‘Lifeswork’ contributing 2 tracks and also 2 tracks to Dundalk fiddler Gerry O’Connor’s CD ‘Journey Man’In 2003, Martin along with Angelina Carberry released their self titled CD. Martin currently performs with the Band Oirialla alongside Gerry O’Connor on Fiddle, Nuala Kennedy Flute and songs and Breton Guitarist Gilles Le Bigot. Oirialla launched their first CD in 2012 at the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton Island.