Galway Early Music Festival 2016 Programme

GALWAY EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL

MAY 12 - 15, 2016

Play, Lady, Play

Galway Early Music celebrates its 21st birthday with an exciting international programme, exploring women as composers, musicians, patrons, and inspiration in medieval, renaissance and baroque European Music.

PROGRAMME & TICKETS www.galwayearlymusic.com, Opus II & at the door

Galway Early Music would like to thank its sponsors and friends, without whose support the Festival would not happen.

SUPPORTED

BY

MEDIA SPONSORS

PRINT PARTNER GOLD PATRONS Tom & Mary Grealy

Kimberly LoPrete

SILVER PATRONS Michael & Clare Cuddy Riana & Pat O’Dwyer

Seán & Lois Tobin Janet Vinnell

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO St Nicholas Collegiate Church Vestry Connacht Tribune for The Connacht Print Works Opus II for ticket sales and piano Tom & Mary Grealy for sponsoring the Good Ladies of Galway

GALWAY EARLY MUSIC supports Galway for European Capital of Culture Galway Early Music is a member of REMA - The European Early Music Network

Galway Early Music

@gwy_earlymusic

WELCOME TO THE

21st GALWAY EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL! The concerts and events this year place women firmly to the fore in many different ways. Discover baroque gender-bending mezzosoprano opera roles, the music of a 15th-century artistocratic female musician and patron, 12th-century female troubadors, and Green Ladies daring to play gemshorns!

Exhibitions, workshops, and family events each approach the theme from unexpected angles.

Join us as we proudly call:

PLAY, LADY, PLAy!

FESTIVAL ARTWORK BY PENNY MAC BETH Exhibition throughout the Festival in The Connacht Printworks

CONCERT GREEN SHOOTS A GARDEN OF MUSICAL DELIGHTS Early Music for Young Musicians The Gregory Walkers Laoise O’Brien, recorders; Malachy Robinson, viol; Eamon Sweeney, baroque guitars, lute

St Nicholas Schola Choristers Athenry Music School Thursday, May 12, 8:00 pm St Nicholas Collegiate Church €15 / €12 concession / €6 student

The Gregory Walkers invite the first participants in a new Galway Early Music project: Early Music for Young Musicians to join them in concert.

Members of the Gregory Walkers have given workshops and worked with young musicians from Athenry Music School and with the choristers of the St Nicholas Schola Cantorum.These young performers join the Gregory Walkers in a concert of medieval and renaissance dance and vocal music.

A wonderful chance for Galway’s young musicians to work with some of Ireland’s internationally acclaimed early musicians.

CONCERT WITCHES, BITCHES & BRITCHES Gender Bending in Baroque Opera Sharon Carty, mezzo-soprano Claire Duff, violin; Anita Vedres, violin Lisa Dowdall, viola; Aoife Nic Athlaoich, cello David Adams, harpsichord/direction

Friday, May 13, 8:00 pm Aula Maxima, NUI Galway

€18 / €14 concession / €6 student The expression “Witches, bitches and britches” is one description (sometimes pejorative given that these archetypes are often secondary roles) given to the roles typically sung on stage by mezzosopranos. This programme is a slightly tongue-in-cheek take on that, as in baroque opera the eponymous heroes were almost always sung by a castrato, which means that mezzos (and countertenors) now have a wealth of incredible, heroic (or sometimes anti-heroic) characters to embody and sing on stage. The programme features the well-known virtuosic aria Son qual nave ch’agitata, written for the famous castrato, Farinelli, by his brother Riccardo Broschi, as well as some other beautiful trouser-role arias by composers such as Nicolas Porpora (who was Farinelli’s teacher), Vivaldi and Handel, along with music from Marc Antoine Charpentier’s beautiful setting of the Greek tragedy Medea - a witch who, as revenge for her husband’s infidelity, butchers their two children after murdering his new lover (You could say she ticks two of the three categories in the programme title!) - and some other Handel anti-heroines.

A MUSIC FOR GALWAY shared event

CONCERT GREEN LADIES This Emerald Isle meets the Green & Pleasant land THE GOOD LADIES OF GALWAY Penny Mac Beth, recorders, gemshorns; Katharine Mac Mághnuis, recorders, fiddle, gemshorn; Maura Ó Cróinín, recorders, gemshorn, harps; Ann Priestley Smith, recorders, gemshorn, keyboards, psaltery

Saturday, May 14, 4:00 pm The Connacht Print Works

€15 / €12 concession / €6 student Ranging from 13th-century celebrations of Maytime in its green abundance to the elegant yearnings of Renaissance courtiers and onwards to traditional folk songs which express both the frustrations and rewards of being female, ‘Green Ladies’ is a programme which both embraces androcentric stereotypes and overturns them with a generous dose of good humour.

In reference to our May Festival, Green Ladies are to be found celebrating the spring, acting as temptresses to unrequited lovers, and getting taken for a ride by unscrupulous male lotharios. It is worth remembering that the narratives in the lyrics and readings you will hear are not the voices of real women, but spoken on their behalf by men who either idealised or denigrated them.

They are offered up for your entertainment and to demonstrate the greater freedoms female musicians enjoy in the modern world where we can play what we like and perform freely in the town square without being branded as prostitutes!

Join us after the concert for drinks and chat!

CONCERT TROBAR ET JOGLAR ALLA FRANCESCA Brigitte Lesne, voice, psaltery-harp; Pierre Hamon, recorders, flutes, pipes, bagpipes; Vivabiancaluna Biffi, voice, fiddle; Bruno Caillet, percussion

Saturday, May 14, 8:30 pm St Joseph’s Church, Presentation Rd €18 / €14 concession / €6 student

Trobar, as an expression of the ideal of fin’amor, refined love, brings together the values which in the course of the twelfth century became the prerogative of the principal southern-French courts, as a means of countering the brutality of day-to-day relationships.

The theme of love is central – love betrayed, love that has gone cold, love that drives the lover mad to the point of uttering desperate words and composing unheard-of melodies to express love’s sufferings.

To compose and sing was the troubadour’s joy. Jongleurs and jongleresses – the profession was practised by women also – were well received by the public when they were able to spice up their performance of poetry with rhythms and melodies.

In this magical concert, songs by Bernard de Ventadour, Comtesse de Die, Jaufre Rudel, and others (including Anon.) are interspersed with virtuosic instrumental improvisations.

Supported by

CONCERT LADY OF SORROWS Helen Hassett, soprano; Jacob Herringman, lute; Sarah Groser, viol; Andrew Robinson, viol; Malachy Robinson, bass viol; Laoise O’Brien, recorders; Patrick Goyvaerts and Debbie Wright, actors

Sunday, May 15, 4:00 pm Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane

€15 / €12 concession / €6 student Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands (1480-1530) was one of the most powerful women of her time, and, as a great patron of the arts, was surrounded by the greatest composers of the time. She, herself, played several instruments and sang. However, her life was filled with a succession of tragedies. The mark of her personal sufferings inspired the court poet Jean Lemaire to describe her as “the Lady of sorrows, ever sad and grieving”.

Not only will this programme include some of the finest music of the period including works by Josquin des Prez, Pierre de la Rue and Antoine Brumel, but it will also reveal the life of a very cultured and interesting woman who contributed greatly to art and history through her poetry, letters, and the music that was composed and played for her.

FAMILY CONCERT THE ISLE IS FULL OF NOISES THE GREGORY WALKERS Laoise O’Brien, recorders; Eamon Sweeney, baroque guitars Malachy Robinson, viol

Saturday, May 14, 12:00 pm The Connacht Print Works

400 years ago, in Shakespeare’s time, there were no women allowed on the stage. So, who played Juliet in Romeo & Juliet?

In this entertaining and interactive show, the Gregory Walkers present themselves as the kind of band that would have been heard in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. In a fastmoving narrative – with audience participation – they weave a story around the life of Shakespeare and the world he lived in, filled with adventure, wigs and . . . well, we don’t want to give everything away!

This is a fun show that will appeal to the whole family featuring authentic performances of 17 period tunes associated with Shakespeare’s plays.

In commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, with a nod and a smile to #WakingTheFeminists.

DAY-BY-DAY EXHIBITIONS in THE CONNACHT PRINT WORKS

21 Years of the Galway Early Music Festival Thurs & Fri, 2-4pm & Sat & Sun, 11am - 4pm

Green Ladies:Visual Art by Penny Mac Beth Thurs & Fri, 2-4pm & Sat & Sun, 11am - 4pm

Music Instrument Makers Exhibition Sat, 11am - 3pm

Thursday, May 12 Exhibitions on 2-4 pm in The Connacht Print Works 5:30 pm

Official Opening of the Festival The Connacht Print Works ALL WELCOME!

8:00 pm

Green Shoots: A Garden of Musical Delights The Gregory Walkers, with Athenry Music School & and St Nicholas Choristers St Nicholas Collegiate Church €15 / €12 concession / €6 Full-time student

Friday, May 13 Exhibitions on 2-4 pm in The Connacht Print Works 8:00 pm

Witches, Bitches & Britches: Gender Bending in Baroque Opera Sharon Carty, mezzo, & Irish Baroque Players Aula Maxima, NUI Galway €18 / €14 concession / €6 Full-time student

TICKET BOOKING Online: www.galwayearlymusic.com From 1 May: Opus II, High St. At door of concerts FESTIVAL TICKET: €65 / €50 concession

(includes all concerts) Full-time students: €6 ticket for each concert

Tickets for Witches, Bitches, and Britches also available at www.tht.ie

PROGRAMME Saturday, May 14 Exhibitions on 11-4 pm in The Connacht Print Works 12:00 pm

The Isle is Full of Noises The Gregory Walkers The Connacht Print Works

1:00 pm 2:00 pm

Demonstrations of instruments made by Instrument Exhibitors

The Connacht Print Works 2:00 pm 3:00 pm

Renaissance Dance Workshop

4:00 pm

Green Ladies: This Emerald Isle Meets the Green & Pleasant Land The Good Ladies of Galway The Connacht Print Works

With GEM dancers and musicians The Connacht Print Works

€15 / €12 concession / €6 Full-time student

8:30 pm Please note later time!

Trobar et Joglar Brigitte Lesne & Alla Francesca St Joseph’s Church, Presentation Rd

€18 / €14 concession / €6 Full-time student

Sunday, May 15 Exhibitions on 11-4 pm in The Print Works 1:00 pm

From Bridget O’Cathain to Charlotte Milligan Fox: Women in Early Irish Harping, 17th - 19th century

Siobhán Armstrong The Connacht Print Works 2:00 pm

Early Irish Harp Taster Workshop Siobhán Armstrong The Connacht Print Works

4:00 pm

Lady of Sorrows

Sarah Groser Ensemble Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane

€15 / €12 concession / €6 Full-time student

FREE EVENT ILLUSTRATED TALK FROM BRIDGET O’CATHAIN TO CHARLOTTE MILLIGAN FOX Women in Irish Harping, 17th-19th century SIOBHÁN ARMSTRONG The Historical Harp Society of Ireland and Middlesex University, London

Sunday, May 15, 1:00 pm The Connacht Print Works Modern harpists inherit the aura of the 18th-century queen, Marie Antoinette of France, playing her pedal harp, and 19th-century ladies playing in the salon: the harp is now generally perceived to be a feminine instrument. But increased knowledge of historical harping has evened out the picture, showing that medieval and early modern harping was a more masculine world: harpers in Ireland, Wales, Spain and elsewhere in Europe, that we know of, were more usually male. This is never more clear than in the Gaelic world, where the most famous 16th- to 18th-century harpers: Ruaidhrí Dall Ó Catháin, the Connellan brothers, Turlough Carolan and Arthur O’Neill were men. But the truth is less clear-cut: both men and women have always been involved in harping through the centuries.

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So who are the women that we know of in early Irish harping? They were students, teachers, performers and collectors. From indigenous travelling harpists to amateur aristocratic musicians to Anglo-Irish music collectors, women of all kinds played significant roles in the performance and preservation of early Irish harp music. This talk will bring some of these often very colourful characters back to life.

Tea, Coffee and Snacks available before the talk.

FREE EVENT & FREE WORKSHOP EARLY IRISH HARP TASTER WORKSHOP SIOBHÁN ARMSTRONG & THE HISTORICAL HARP SOCIETY OF IRELAND

Sunday, May 15, 2:00 pm The Connacht Print Works Come for the talk and stay for this workshop - a chance for everyone, already a harp player or not, to pick up the wirestrung early Irish harp and give it a try.

The early Irish harp was the instrumental pinnacle of courtly music in Ireland from before the year 1000 up to the period shortly after 1800, when it died out. With a resonating chamber usually carved from a single log – traditionally willow – and strung with wires of brass, silver or perhaps even gold, whose resonating strings were selectively damped, the extraordinary sweetness of this instrument was described in glowing terms by early writers.

Supported by The Historical Harp Society of Ireland

EXHIBITION INSTRUMENT MAKERS EXHIBITION Saturday, May 14, 11:00 - 3:00 pm The Connacht Print Works The making of a musical instrument is both an art and a craft. Sometimes we forget that without quality instruments, there can be no great music.

This exhibition highlights Irish artists and crafts people who make instruments, featuring historical and traditional instrument makers.

The makers will not only have finished instruments to show, they will also be showing instruments in progress and instrument plans.

INSTRUMENT DEMONSTRATIONS

Saturday, May 14, 1-2 pm Connacht Print Works

EXHIBITION GREEN LADIES A collection of new work commissioned by Galway Early Music for GEMF 2016 PENNY MAC BETH Thurs & Friday, May 12/13, 2:00 - 4:00 pm Saturday & Sunday, May 14/15 11:00 - 3:00 pm The Connacht Print Works Taking her inspiration from traditional folkloric motifs and from medieval miniature paintings and tapestries, MacBeth explores the enduring weaving together of the female form with the potent symbol of the tree of life. In a series of brilliantly colourful canvasses, mosaics and soft sculptures, the millefleurs and maidens of medieval moth and lady bird tapestries are fused with the sinuous foliate motifs and secessionist maidens of Art Nouveau to create a vibrant evocation of all that is floral and female.Versions of the tree of life are manifold and it may appear depicted as a half-goddess, a vase of flowers, a fountain or symbolised as a heart or with companion creatures.

In all cases, the tree – naturalistic or stylised – represents the abundance and fertility of the natural world which is still celebrated globally in a multitude of spring festivals and maying customs.

EXHIBITION

Thurs & Friday, May 12/13, 2:00 - 4:00 pm Sat & Sun May 14/15, 11:00 - 3:00 pm The Connacht Print Works A celebration of 21 years of amazing music, outstanding performers, music and fun on the streets, and a big thanks to all the organisers, volunteers, and audience members through-out the past twenty-one years.

Posters, programmes, costumes, videos, masks, musical instruments, press coverage, and photos reflect the excitement and wonderful atmosphere of festivals past.

FREE EVENT DANCE WORKSHOP Farandoles, Bransles & Pavanes for Everyone GEMF DANCERS & MUSICIANS Saturday, May 14, 2:00 pm The Connacht Print Works

Whether you’re a professional dancer or someone who believes they have two left feet, you’ll enjoy this taste of medieval & renaissance dance. The GEM dancers and musicians will introduce you to the foot-tapping tunes and simple steps of the farandole (the line dance of the medieval period), joyous Renaissance bransles that mimic horses and washerwomen, and the stately pavane, which opened the dancing at the court balls of the Renaissance.

In The Print Works, surrounded by memories of 21 years of The Galway Early Music Festival, let your feet take you back a few hundred years!

Venue Map

1. The Connacht Print Works 15 Market St, Galway 2. St Nicholas Collegiate Church Junction of Mainguard St & Lombard St

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3. St Joseph’s Church, Presentation Rd 24 Presentation Rd 4. Mick Lally Theatre Druid Lane 5. Aula Maxima, NUI Galway University Rd

A

S hor t history

Galway Early Music was founded when a group of Galway musicians travelled to Lismore, Co Waterford, for the Lismore Early Music Festival.

It was there that the idea was born: why not bring this rich and sometimes exotic music to the medieval city of Galway - what better venue? The first festival was in 1996 and this is our 21st!

Through the years the Festival has been proud to present such exciting ensembles and performers as Jordi Savall, Andrew Lawrence-King and The Harp Consort, Sequentia, Red Priest, Ensemble Unicorn, Siobhán Armstrong, The Irish Baroque Orchestra, Resurgam, Ensemble eX and many, many more. The Festival is known for its lively programming and its attention to the place of Irish music and musicians in the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque European music scene.

Galway Early Music is run by a voluntary committee and is a member of REMA, The European Early Music Network.

More Information www.galwayearlymusic.com tel. +353-(0)83-461 9039 e-mail: info@galwayearlymusic.com Galway Early Music

@gwy_earlymusic

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