CON CERTS
Sonnets
for the Cradle
Laoise O’Brien (director & recorders), Lorna Donlon (art), Brendan Long (baritone), Siobhán Armstrong (harps), Sarah Groser (bass viol), Eamon Sweeney (5-course guitar), Francesco Turrisi (percussion), Bob Kelly (actor), Ben Rawlins (sound), Peter Canning (lights)
Friday, May 10, 8:00 pm An Taibhdhearc Inspired by the fairy tales collected by the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Anderson, Giambattista Basile and Charles Perrault, this concert takes a look at the dark side of fairy tales. We are used to the modern re-tellings where everyone lives happily ever after – but in the original stories, things weren’t so rosy! Often the themes of abandonment, loss, neglect and impossible challenges are answered by cleverness, humour and hope. But not always - Little Red Riding Hood is gobbled by the wolf (to warn young women to beware of all types of wolves!). This multi-media concert illustrates these grim(m) fairy tales with a surprising variety of music, from ageless nursery rhymes and anonymous Nordic, Arabic and Irish tunes to compositions by Adam de la Halle, John Dowland, François Couperin, and Purcell, not forgetting baroque ballads and dances. A magical journey through the history and symbolism of centuries-old tales using music, art and craft. Laoise O'Brien has a growing reputation as a virtuosic performer and imaginative concert programmer. She studied recorder at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam having completed an undergraduate degree on modern flute at the College of Music in Dublin. She also holds a Masters degree in Performance and Musicology from NUI Maynooth. Laoise enjoys both solo and ensemble playing and performs repertoire from the 12th to the 18th centuries. She has performed with all the major early music groups in Ireland and with international ensembles. She appears regularly in concert series and festivals throughout Ireland and Europe. Lorna Donlon is a textile artist living and working in Kilkenny. Her main interest is in tapestry weaving. In recent years Lorna has worked collaboratively with musician Laoise O 'Brien. For her, the process of responding visually to music, and texts is one which is constantly interesting and surprising, and makes the business of making a piece of work a constant voyage of discovery!