Harpers to celebrate Lá Fhéile Bríde at event in Offaly church

Cruit Éireann/Harp Ireland in collaboration with Birr Festival of Music is delighted to present a concert of Irish Harp music to mark the feast of St Brigid and the Festival of Imbolc at St Brendan’s Church of Ireland in Birr on Sunday February 12th at 7.30pm.

Featuring world renowned harpers Siobhán Armstrong on Early Irish Harp, Triona Marshall on Irish Harp with composer and accordionist Martin Tourish, the concert also brings together more than 50 young harpers gathered from all over Ireland including harpers from Wexford, Laois, Louth and Mayo. The Music Generation Harp Collective will perform Cláirseoireacht, a work especially composed for them by Sligo-based harper-composer Michael Rooney.

“St Brendan’s Church of Ireland Church, Birr is delighted to host this exciting Harp concert in its two-hundred-year-old church as a celebration of St Brigid. Many have remarked on the wonderful acoustics in the church, so we are looking forward to an exceptional concert”, said Michael Hanna one of the concert organisers and secretary to the Trench Trust, which supports and promotes music in Birr and the surrounding areas. “Patrick and Julia Trench were great lovers of the harp, which Patrick played all his life. We warmly welcome Harp Ireland to Birr, and especially the artists and ensembles who will perform”.

Heralding the coming of Spring and new life, the theme of the concert focuses on Imbolc or rebirth and marks the significant resurgence of interest in harping in Ireland in the past ten years. It combines the old and the new. Siobhán Armstrong’s early harp performance harks back to the ancient harping tradition, while Triona Marshall and Martin Tourish’s sparkling duo and the more contemporary overview of harping in Michael Rooney’s composition provides an insight to the future direction of harping.

“ Cruit Éireann|Harp Ireland is delighted to be performing here in Birr” said Lauren O’Neill, Harp Ireland’s newly appointed CEO. “We were established to promote and develop the harp in Ireland, and it is wonderful to see St Brigid’s philosophy of empowerment emerging through the passing of the tradition to our younger harpers. Our thanks to The Arts Council for its support”.