Folk centre: A musical gathering

Having told you in the last issue that I don’t get out much, I did in fact venture into the Big Smoke shortly before this edition went to press, intrepidly making my way to the heart of Merrion Square to attend the Arts Council’s official presentation of its report ‘Towards a Policy for the Traditional Arts’ to Minister John O’Donoghue. It’s quite a tome and is going to take some digesting, so a full discussion of its contents is going to have to wait until the next instalment. In the meantime, here’s all the ska about the launch.
Given that the event took place the day before Bertie’s Cabinet reshuffle, there was a lot of sotto-voce speculation as to whether this might be one of O’Donoghue’s final appearances as Minister for the Arts. In her reply to his speech (the contents of which I won’t bore you), Arts Council chair Olive Braiden alluded coyly to the fact that his future was still hanging in the balance: “If you leave,” she told him, “you’ll be leaving in the best tradition of the theatre – with the people wanting more.” As we now know, of course, he adhered to another tradition of the theatre and came back for an encore.
Of the five-person Special Committee on the Traditional Arts, which was charged with making the recommendations outlined in the report, only one was present – the ever-ebullient Philip King, who proved himself to be a loyal reader of this column by bounding over to me and saying “Sarah, I want to take you to lunch, like Larry Bass!” Alas, he didn’t follow through on this generous offer. He did however give me a rapid-fire précis of his madcap schedule. Briefly, he’s produced a new traditional music programme called ‘Sé Mo Laoch’, which can currently be seen on TG4 every Sunday; and he’s also made a six-part series called ‘The Raw Bar’, looking at the state of traditional music both inside and outside Ireland, this is due to air sometime in the New Year and is hosted by fiddler Dermot McLaughlin, who was also at the launch – not surprising, given that Dermot used to work for the Arts Council before moving to his current post as chief executive of Temple Bar Properties. Also on Philip’s agenda at the moment are a film about John McGahern, directed by Pat Collins, and a new series of Other Voices – Songs From A Room.
Two committee members notable by their absence were Una Ó Murchú and Micheál Ó hEidhin, who the previous week had emailed a press release entitled ‘Traditional Arts Report – A Flawed Document’ to assorted members of the media, pointing out that they had produced their own Minority Report (and here was I thinking it was a fillum starring Tom Cruise) which was not accepted by the Arts Council for consideration. More on that next time round.
Anyway, back to the party. Playing away for the delectation of the glitterati present were Altan members Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh and Ciarán Tourish, along with guitarist Paul Doyle and Mairead’s nephew, fiddler Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, whose superb debut CD will be launched at the Cobblestone on October 13.
Plenty of other high-profile musicians were there as well, including Paul Brady, Maighread and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, Liam O’Connor (who’s just back from providing the entertainment at the opening ceremonies of the Ryder Cup in Detroit) and his father Mick O’Connor, Sean Potts and Seán Keane of the Chieftains, Paddy Glackin and Niall Ó Callanáin. Tom Sherlock, who manages the careers of a mightily impressive stable of musicians, filled me in on the latest doings of some of his charges: Altan are putting the finishing touches and final overdubs on a new album, due out in the near future; Seamus Begley & Jim Murray are in the middle of a 27-date tour of Sweden; Karan Casey is appearing at the Festival de l’Île de France in Paris, along with Cran and Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill; the aforementioned Ní Dhomhnaill sisters are busy with festivals at home (including the Westport Arts Festival and the Open House Festival in Belfast) and Liam O’Flynn is performing ‘The Brendan Voyage’ with the National Symphony Orchestra in Bantry and Mallow on October 12 and 13, before heading up to Belfast to premier a new composition by Neil Martin.
Which leads me neatly to my next topic. The piece I’ve just mentioned is called ‘No Tongue Can Tell’, and it was inspired by the short life Neil’s maternal grandparents had together, which sadly ended when his grandfather died in 1935, leaving his grandmother to raise five children (including Neil’s mother, who was born some months after her father’s death) alone. The title comes from a line in the song ‘Lord Franklin’ – in some versions of which Lady Franklin is pregnant whilst searching for her husband. Commissioned by the Belfast Festival at Queen’s with funds provided by the Lottery Unit of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, ‘No Tongue Can Tell’ will have its world premiere at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, on October 22, as part of the festival’s opening concert, with Liam O’Flynn and the Ulster Orchestra under the baton of David Brophy. Tickets are available from the festival box office on 048 90 972626 or online at .
Between that and all the Arts Council hoo-ha, I’ve nearly forgotten to tell you about the TG4 National Traditional Music Awards for 2004, the winners of which were announced at a reception in Cruise’s Bar in Ennis on September 24. Drum roll, please. Gradam Ceoil (Musician of the Year) goes to the aforementioned fiddler Seán Keane of Chieftains fame, who will receive a cheque for €4,000 as part of his prize. The Ceoltóir Óg na Bliana (Young Musician of the Year), 18-year-old Clare-born concertina player Edel Fox, receives a cheque for €2,000, while the three other recipients – accordionist Tony MacMahon, Gradam Saoil (Hall of Fame), Richie Dwyer, Cumadóir na Bliana (Composer) and Rosie Stewart, Amhránaí na Bliana (Singer) – get €1,000 each. All five awardees receive specially commissioned pieces by sculptor John Coll. The awards will be officially presented at a Gala Awards Ceremony and Concert in the University Concert Hall, Limerick, on Sunday, November 28, which in turn will be recorded for broadcast on TG4 on November 30. Tickets can be obtained by contacting the University Concert Hall on 061 331549 or via .
Finally, if you’ve picked up this magazine early, you might still have time to hotfoot it over to Strokestown for the second annual Féile Frank McGann from October 7-10. Performers include Joe Burke and Anne Conroy Burke, Seamus Begley & Jim Murray, Four Men & A Dog and the Tulla Céilí Band, not to mention a talk by Paddy Ryan on ‘Traditional Music of Roscommon – A Brief History’, a bus tour of local attractions, workshops, sessions and a storytelling recital by Vincent Pierce. A new CD featuring twelve Roscommon flute players, recorded earlier this year, will also be launched during the Féile. Further details are available from .