Very few tickets remaining ….this will give you a flavour, Stephen Rea & myself at the launch of TradFest. We’ll be joined on Sunday by Mick O'BrienAoife Ní BhriainMichelle MulcahyWest Ocean String Quartet & an outstanding singer in Cillian de Fréin.
/artist-lineup/ocean-child/
Delighted & honoured to be part of The Irish Cultural Centre 30 years celebration November 8/9. London premiere with two performances of Ocean Child with Stephen Rea West Ocean String Quartet Louise MulcahyMichelle Mulcahy - Irish Embassy London@ Aoife Ní BhriainNiamh CrowleyKenneth RiceTradFestBelfast TradFestProinsias Ní GhráinneBBC Radio 3BBC Radio UlsterBBC GaeilgeStiúideo CuanSouth Wind BlowsUlster OrchestraMuireann Nic AmhlaoibhFéile Liam O’FlynnAltanMary DillonLondonIrish MusicSchoolLondon-Irish CamerataLondon ScórLiam O'ConnorIrish Traditional Music Archive / Taisce Cheol Dúchais ÉireannBBC PromsLiz DohertyTG4
Delighted to be having the world premiere of my orchestration of Port na bPúcaí by Ulster Orchestra as part of BBC Proms this evening. Live broadcast from Ulster Hall on BBC Radio 3 9pm.
Tonight on BBC Radio Ulster @9pm there’s a live recording of Ocean Child, a work commissioned by TradFest & Fingal County Council. West Ocean String QuartetLouise MulcahyMaria Ryan. Performed last January it features the peerless Stephen Rea & treble Mathew Indikuzhy.
Score preparation underway for two very important concerts in the Lark, Balbriggan this week, as part of TradFest 2025.
Friday 24th - Ocean Child, a moving tale in words & music featuring Stephen Rea, West Ocean String Quartet, Louise Mulcahy, Geraldine O’Doherty & Mathew Indikuzhy.
Then for Saturday 25th, I have scored 14 new arrangements for four legends - & all TG4 Gradam winners - Matt Molloy, Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, Paddy Glackin & Derek + a string orchestra.
Looking forward to celebrating Stephen Rea with words & music.
TradFest Fingal County CouncilEvents in Fingal@thelarkdublin Louise MulcahyGradam Ceoil TG4RTÉ lyric fm
West Ocean String Quartet in rehearsal for our upcoming (& almost sold-out) concert in An Grianan Theatre, Earagail Arts Festival, on 20th July. To help us celebrate our 25th anniversary we’ll have truly special guests in Stephen Rea, Maighread Ni Dhomhnaill & Jack Warnock. A mighty evening in the offing. Seamus McGuire Kenneth Rice Niamh Crowley
Just announced! Hollywood star Stephen Rea to perform with the West Ocean String Quartet.
Oscar nominated actor Stephen Rea will be joining the West Ocean String Quartet for their celebratory 25th anniversary concert here at An Grianán Theatre during July’s Earagail Arts Festival. Other very special guests for this anniversary gala are trad legend Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill and folk music star Jack Warnock.
Since 1999 the quartet of Seamus McGuire and Niamh Crowley on violin, Kenneth Rice on viola and Neil Martin on cello have shared a fascinating journey of musical experimentation and collaboration.
Within the quartet, the worlds of traditional Irish and classical music meet and combine effortlessly. At the quartet’s core is its happy disregard for musical boundaries and its willingness to fearlessly navigate the space between musical genres. This has been central to the emergence of the quartet’s highly distinctive voice.
Over the years, they have shared stages and studios with some of the very finest including Christy Moore, Liam O’Flynn, Stephen Rea, Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, Matt Molloy, Iarla Ó Lionáird and Brian Kennedy to name just a few.
Says this WOSQ on their anniversary concert: “Donegal is central to the quartet’s way of going and we are delighted to celebrate our 25th anniversary in Letterkenny. To mark this, we will have some very special guests on stage with us for that concert.“
📆 Sat 20 July at 8pm
🎟️ Book now - link in bio
#wildatlanticway #govisitdonegal #angrianan #donegal
To mark 25 years together as a quartet, West Ocean String Quartet play Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris this Friday, 15th March. 5 albums & a 1/4 century on…..Whodathunkit? Niamh CrowleyKenneth RiceSeamus McGuire
Finishing off an arrangement of Port na bPúcaí, the air that inspired Seamus Heaney to write his epic poem The Given Note. Ruth Mc Ginley Aria String Quartet Commissioned by BBC Radio Ulster Classical Connections. Live performance, with the rather marvellous John Toal hosting, on Oct 22 from Seamus Heaney HomePlace. Tickets free…
/l.php?u=%2Fticketbooth%2Fshows%2F873639601%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3TDVmKwhZBICwlSZ35FfKRCb3BM3Otmrzv0KWg8DezUWqEBkEI_FeC-mU&h=AT1RjeRP0b8hHs2BZKHBOjBBctbsR0L55jshmxbSz-U114s8Ui9TFzNtv0ifOWDTkx1aGl_cMpDn4PSTDAs7_0OdATLaeWKNx24KhGGBKZxpRDtt8IQU9plmUlxC3okj9UBRmnFKrrLB7C2Tb8Hh2_V-QQ&__tn__=-UK*F
Looking very much forward to two performances next week of “Sweeney”, a song cycle I composed based on Seamus Heaney’s Sweeney Astray. Kilkenny Arts Festival concert Wed 16th is sold out, but some tickets remain for Tue 15th lunchtime in National Concert Hall Dublin. A joy as ever to collaborate with Iarla O'lionaird, Ciarán Hinds, David Brophy & the glorious musicians of RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
A rare & exciting week ahead - three Irish premiere performances of dall’ombra, a violin concerto I wrote off the back of Arts Council of Northern Ireland honouring me with a MIA a few years ago. My daughter Maebh will be soloist along with St Andrews Chamber Orchestra… Tue 28th Feb St Peter’s, Drogheda/Wed 1st March Christ Church, Derry/Thur 2nd March Fisherwick, Belfast. All perfs @7.30pm .
Then over the weekend of 3rd-5th March, five performances in the Elmwood Hall Belfast of Nobody/Somebody, a new opera commissioned from Northern Ireland Opera with libretto by Finn Kennedy, composed by myself.
And over this coming weekend, 25/26 Feb, tickled pink to be teaching trad cello for Belfast TradFest. Nothing like a busy week of collaborations.
