manx celtic music and dance

Celtic Harp Weekend

03 Sep 2015


All-IRELAND HARP CHAMPION FIANA NÍ CHONAILL MANX VISIT

Mactullagh Vannin is proud to present All Ireland Harp Champion Fiana Ní Chonaill in concert on Friday 25th September at St Paul’s Church, Ramsey at 7:30pm.

The concert ~ Kiaull Cruitçeraght will also feature a whole host of local young musicians including Share na Veg, and Amy Stoutt & Mera Royle. The majority of the concert will feature Manx and Irish Traditional music on the Celtic harp (Claarsagh), so harp lovers will be in for a real treat! Tickets on the door ~ Adults £5, Under 16s £3.

In addition to Friday’s concert, Fiana will be visiting local schools to demonstrate the harp and the similarities between Manx and Irish traditional music.

On Saturday 26th September there’s a chance for local musicians to drop in on the lunchtime event Kiaull as Bee, a ‘Food & Folk’ traditional music session, at the Mitre Hotel, Ramsey, 12 – 2pm. All welcome. Free event, just order your food at the bar!

The ‘Food & Folk’ will be followed by a harp workshop ~ Keirdlann Cruitçeraght by Fiana in the function room of the Mitre Hotel from 2 – 4pm. The workshop is aimed at all levels, just bring your harp with you! Free admission but there will be an opportunity to give a donation to help cover costs.

At 7:30 – 10pm there will be a family ceili at Sulby Community Hall with the Tarroo Marroo Ceili Band and Fiana will be guesting with the band and playing her own sets also. Tickets on the door ~ Adults £5, Under 16s £3 and bring your own refreshments. Suitable for all ages and all welcome!

Fiana Ní Chonaill - Performer & Teacher

Fiana hails from Castleconnell, Co Limerick. She comes from a family which has been involved in Irish music for three generations and was reared in a household immersed in the Irish music tradition. Her grandmother is an instrument maker and her aunts include two all-Ireland winning harpists and an all-Ireland winning concertina player. Fiana started learning the harp at the age of 10, then went on to Limerick school of music in 2000 under the tutelage of the renowned harper Dr. Janet Harbison. Fiana became heavily involved with Comhaltas Ceoltóiri Éireann at the age of 15, where she competed through the years, right up to senior level. Her achievements include numerous All-Ireland medals as well as achieving first place in the Harp Slow Airs competition in 2012. Fiana has won numerous prizes at local harp festivals, including those in Keadue and Granard and the senior title at the O’Carolan Harp festival in Nobber, Co. Meath in 2009. Her own students are now beginning to gain recognition through competition which includes the winning of All-Ireland medals at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann as well as other local competitions. She has also given workshops both in Ireland and abroad. These include workshops for the Blossom Harp School, based between Co. Clare and Co. Galway, The Transpennine Harps society and Glasgow Harp society which are both branches of the Clársach Society. Fiana completed her BA in Irish Music and Dance in 2012 with a First Class Honours degree at the University of Limerick. She went onto graduate from Newcastle University in the UK with an Mmus in Musicology in 2013, and she is about to commence a PhD at the University of Limerick in Music and Tourism. kiaull manninagh jiu 09/15 culture vannin Highlights of her career to date include performing for former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, The Emperor and Empress of Japan and other state officials and dignitaries as well as performing in front of 50,000 people as part of the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square, London in 2014.

Having toured extensively throughout Europe and the US, Fiana is very much looking forward to adding the Isle of Man to her portfolio of countries, and says ~ “I want to extend a sincere thank you to Peddyr Cubberley for inviting me to visit the Isle of Man. I am excited to follow in the footsteps of some of the great harpers who have visited before me including Mary O’ Hara, Gráinne Yeats, Róisín Ní Shé, Cormac de Barra, Gráinne Hambly and Máire Ní Chathasaigh. I look forward to sharing my experience of the Irish harp and Ireland’s traditional music with you, through the concert, workshop, session, ceili, and school visits that are organised. Furthermore I am excited to experience and engage with the music and culture of Mann, with the hope of creating a potential ongoing link between both countries and our young harpers.”

Fiana has recently completed the Comhaltas TTCT teaching Diploma as well as their Adjudicators training course. She continues to teach and perform; bringing this wealth of experience of the tradition to her own students and audiences alike.

Organiser for Mactullagh Vannin, Peddyr Cubberley says ~ “We’re very excited to have Fiana agree to visit us as she brings with her a wealth of skill and experience which will benefit our own young harpers greatly, as well as being a real treat for music lovers alike, especially fans of the harp. I am in no doubt that she will compliment the sterling work already being done by others to teach and encourage our younger musicians. It is hoped that a cultural exchange can be reinstated between Mann and Ireland once again, after an absence of such a thing for far too long!”

Mactullagh Vannin is a Manx tradional music band that was founded in 1984 by Sue-Ling Jaques, Mai-Ying Lee-Ellis, David Collister, John Corlett and Peddyr Cubberley. Firmly established as one of Mann’s most important traditional music ensembles, whose members hail from the cultural revival of the 1970s, Mactullagh Vannin have been hugely influential having laid down the foundations that many Manx bands have since built upon. The group have a strong ethos of loyalty to the tradition from which their music comes and yet still bring a fresh, inspiring approach to their performances.

For further information, please contact Peddyr Cubberley at Peddyr@manx.net

Mactullagh Vannin ~ www.facebook. com/groups/231299359610

Fiana Ní Chonaill ~ http://www.fianaharpmusic.com

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