Thursday 29 May Opening Night
East Clare Balfolk Collective
Hall - 5.30 - 7.30pm
€10, €8 with with wristband
East Clare Balfolk Collective presents a Balfolk workshop teaching circle dances and couple dances from the European tradition, such as Circle circassien, Chapeloise, Scottish, An Dro and Mazurka. Come join us for a fun, community orientated workshop where Ilaria and Marion will facilitate the dances accompanied by live music from Jonathan Spazzi (flute), Martin Tully (accordion), Eoin O'Briain (pipes).
This is a beginner friendly workshop open to all aged 12+
Opening Night Programme
St Caimin’s Church of Ireland, Mountshannon V94 YX60
8pm
Duration: 2h
Free with wristband
Enter St Caimin’s Church Of Ireland with the beautiful greeting voices of the Lough Derg Singers. Award-winning author Donal Ryan will then officially open Mountshannon Arts festival 2025. We will end the evening in music with innovative Genie Ensemble.
- Ramps
Lough Derg Singers
The Lough Derg Singers started in the beginning of the Millennium, when a few people who loved to sing, gathered together once a week, in a tiny room in Whitegate.
Numbers in our group are always fluctuating. Folks requiring reading glasses has increased, whilst the teeth and hair [and some say brain cells] have decreased. The one constant is our love of singing, and especially our love of singing together.
Our repertoire consists of Church music, Madrigals, rounds and folk music from around the world.
We sing mainly in four voices, although this can sometimes sound more like fourteen. The [hard at times] process of getting us from fourteen to four is left to our choirmaster, Froukje Powell, [MA in Community music]
We sing for fun, and for the pleasure of creating something beautiful as a group, which brings great moments of fulfilment and joy
We are always looking for new members. If you are interested, contact Froukje on 0877501200
Donal Ryan
Donal Ryan, from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, has published seven number one-bestselling novels and a short story collection. He has won several awards for his fiction, including the European Union Prize for Literature, the Guardian First Book Award and six Irish Book Awards, and has been shortlisted for several more, including the Costa/Nero Book Award and the Dublin International Literary Award. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2013 for his debut novel, The Spinning Heart, and again in 2018, for his fourth novel, From A Low and Quiet Sea. The Spinning Heart was voted Irish Book of the Decade in 2016. In 2021 Donal became the first Irish writer to be awarded the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature. His work has been adapted for stage and screen and translated into over twenty languages. Donal has lectured in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick since 2014 and lives in Castletroy with his wife Anne Marie and their two children.
Genie Ensemble
The Genie Ensemble was formed in 2022 by a group of musicians from different countries. They met while doing their Masters in Classical String Performance at the University Of Limerick under the guidance of The Irish Chamber Orchestra and immediately developed a connection of playing together and creating something different than an ordinary classical string quartet. The vibrant and diverse atmosphere of the Irish World Academy inspired them to create and merge classical music with different styles of music including their own cultural music. Today, The Genie Ensemble is a team of musicians inspired with the creative spirit of merging and fusing different styles of music together hence they call themselves “Genie”.
You can follow us on Facebook/Instagram under the name “Genie Ensemble”.
Musicians for the evening:
Alice Abreu: Alice is a Portuguese violinist and multidisciplinary artist. Although her main academic training was in classical music she was heavily influenced by other genres and plays diverse styles. She was recently nominated as UCH Rising Star in 2024, having had a solo performance in the University Concert Hall, and going live on radio at LyricFM. She has been playing internationally whether in chamber music groups or orchestras and has already recorded in several albums of different projects.
Kaito Rodrigues : Kaito Rodrigues is a Brazilian violist and arranger, now based in Limerick. Mainly classically trained, he worked as a performer for orchestras and small ensembles in different cities in Brazil. As an arranger, his works also include popular Brazilian songs and classical Latin composers performed by string ensembles, voice and percussion. Recently graduated at the Irish World Academy in the University of Limerick he continues to perform with a variety of styles going from early music, jazz and traditional music from both Ireland and Brazil.
Aditya Mukherji: Also known as Adi. He grew up in Calcutta and lived in Bombay,India. He completed all of his musical grade examinations in violin and participated in various masterclasses,workshops and festivals in India and abroad. Due to the lack of a classical music conservatoire back at home, his dream was to go to the west and get a Masters degree in music and the dream came true in 2018 when he was awarded a full scholarship to pursue a Masters in Classical String Performance at The University Of Limerick studying under Katherine Hunka from the Irish Chamber Orchestra. During his time in India he ran a regular teaching practise and was a part of the local orchestras. His time in Ireland got him involved in various local community orchestras and he even played a couple of times with The National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin. He loves exploring and merging different styles of cultural music forms. Apart from music, he enjoys learning Argentinian Tango and West African Drumming and Dancing.
Deirdre Cussen: Deirdre is a freelance cellist and teacher from Co.Limerick. She started her musical journey at both Newcastle West & Limerick School of Music, and went on to study cello at the Royal Irish Academy under Aisling Drury Byrne. She teaches cello and piano and works as a freelance cellist all over Ireland playing mainly with Orchestras and String Quartets. She is open to playing all genres music from classical to folk, rock and pop.