Galway Early Music Festival 2019 Programme Brochure

GALWAY EARLY MUSIC 24-26 MAY ESTIVAL F 2019

A

SONG AND A

DANCE r

Medieval, Renaissance & Baroque music & dance in the heart of medieval Galway www.galwayearlymusic.com

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

Funded by

Media sPonsors

Print Partners

PartnershiPs

Patrons and Friends Kimberly Lo Prete Maura Walsh

Galway Early Music is a member of REMA - The European Early Music Network

www.galwayearlymusic.com

Galway Early Music

@gwy_earlymusic

Welcome to A Song and a Dance!

This year’s festival is sure to get your toes tapping! Our exciting programme is full of dance music to listen to, but there will also be chances to learn medieval and Renaissance dances from bransles to Playford dances. And when you need a break from the bransles and jigs, relax and listen to beautiful vocal music.

We welcome our old friends, The York Waits, back to Galway. They will delight you with their lively music in concert and around the town.

We are thrilled to be partnering with Music for Galway to welcome back Sharon Carty with her beautiful programme Suitcase Arias.

There is a great treat in store at our afternoon concerts with French ensemble Obsidienne & Compagnie and Yonit Kosovske’s ¡Fandango! ensemble.

And, of course, we have many free exhibitions, dance workshops, and an early Irish harp Discovery Day as well. This year we share some of our free events with a new heritage event, The Medieval Experience, organised by the Civic Trust and funded by Galway 2020 as part of the Small Towns, Big Ideas programme.

ENJOY THE FESTIVAL! “Great atmosphere, great music & lovely setting.”

“Galway has a tremendous buzz and the festival has terrific organisation Planned our Ireland trip so we could attend.”

“A small festival (that) manages to assemble a program of remarkably high international quality, and to generate a very friendly atmosphere with a lot of fun activities. It is definitely a festival to recommend.

CONCERT

¡Fandango!

FRIDAY 24 MAY 1:00 pm

Yonit Kosovske (harpsichord), Wolodymyr Smishkewych (voice & percussion), Yovanna Torres Blanco (dance), Redmond O’Toole (guitar)

Mick Lally Theatre Druid Lane Tickets: €15 / €10 / €6

Rhythmic, flamboyant, and bursting with passion, ¡Fandango! is an exciting and energetic concert programme that celebrates Spanish & Iberian instrumental music, song, and dance.

Presenting Baroque composers from Spain and Portugal Soler, Seixas, and Durón - as well as traditional song and dance from Mexico, ¡Fandango! engages the audience in powerful rhythms and elaborate virtuosity. Rooted in ancient traditions of Flamenco, Fandango, and Xácara, this programme takes imaginative flight through creative collaboration and inspiring improvisation.

CONCERT

In association with Music for Galway

Suitcase Arias Sharon Carty, mezzo-soprano Claire Duff, leader, Marja Gaynor, violin Lisa Dowdall, Viola, Margaret Dorris, 'Cello David Adams, Harpsichord

Arias by Riccardo Broschi (brother of Farinelli), Bertoni, Giacomelli as well as Handel “Suitcase arias” or “Arie di Baule” were given this name because famous singers throughout the 17th and 18th centuries brought them with them on their travels, and these arias were regularly “inserted” into operas by other composers as party pieces or into pasticcios with the work of several composers. This allowed singers to show off their talents with their favourite pieces, which were familiar to their ‘fan club’.

Experience a glorious evening of virtuosic song by outstanding mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty.

FRIDAY 24 MAY 8:00 pm

St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church Tickets: €20 / €18 / MfG €16 / €6

CONCERT

Chansons à danser SATURDAY 25 MAY 4:00 pm

Mick Lally Theatre Druid Lane Tickets: €15 / €10 / €6

Obsidienne et Compagnie Emmanuel Bonnardot (director, voice, vielle), Hélène Moreau (voice, psalterion), Florence Jacquemart (recorders, woodwind), Bernadette Jacquet (dance), Stéphane Quéant (dance) During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, dancing featured in all the various celebrations and gatherings which took place throughout the year. In this concert you’ll experience both the songs and the dances, from the virelais composed by Guillaume de Machaut (the great 14th-century poet and musician) to the world of the Bayeux Manuscript, the most popular manuscript from the early Renaissance.

Obsidienne sings back to life all the joy of this enchanting repertoire.

CONCERT

A Renaissance Revel Songs and Dance Music from Sixteenth-Century Europe

The York Waits with Deborah Catterall, singer Drawing on sources from England, Ireland, the Low Countries, France and Italy, the programme explores the many styles of courtly and more rustic dance music that could be heard at all social gatherings. Pavans, Almandes, Galliards, Basse Dances and Branles will be performed on the stirring combination of shawms, sackbuts and curtals, with the enchanting great consort of recorders providing a delicate contrast in tone. Bagpipes and hurdy gurdy reflect the love of drone instruments during this age, with fiddle, guitar, and pipe and tabor enlivening the music. The songs reflect the themes of love, drink and merriment, culminating in a celebration of Will Kemp, erstwhile fool at Shakespeare’s theatre, who performed a Morris dance from London to Norwich.

SATURDAY 25 MAY 8:00 pm

St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church Tickets: €18 / €14 / €6

CONCERT

The Dancing Master SUNDAY 26 MAY 5:00 pm

Meyrick Hotel Ballroom Eyre Square Tickets: €7 / children free

The Gregory Walkers & Kelsey Schuhle with Athenry Music School, GEM Adult Ensemble In earlier times music was accepted to generally have two uses – to be sung or danced to. Italian musicians were often considered decadent when, in the 16th and 17th centuries, they conceived of new musical forms to serve as vehicles purely for beautiful sounds.

The Gregory Walkers have always relished dance music and in this concert they will join forces with dancer Kelsey Schuhle, as well as the Athenry School of Music and the Galway Early Music Ensemble, to perform music from some of the earliest sources of dance music – Playford’s The Dancing Master, Thoinot Arbeau’s Orchesographie and Bunting’s Collection of Ancient Irish Music.

CONCERT

Dancing at the Crossroads Kelsey Schuhle – dance The Gregory Walkers: Laoise O’Brien – Recorder,

SUNDAY 26 MAY 9:00 pm

Malachy Robinson – Viol, Eamon Sweeney – Early Guitars/Lute Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries Ireland adopted some of the aspects of a cultural crossroads as foreign soldiers passed through Ireland, Irish soldiers returned from abroad, Continental musicians were attracted to Dublin’s growing metropolis, and Irish music was published and adapted for Baroque tastes.

In this concert the Gregory Walkers join forces with Irish dancer, Kelsey Schuhle, for a meeting of Baroque and Traditional music and dance from Ireland, England, France and Spain: Hornpipes, Chaconnes, Folías and more.

Mick Lally Theatre Druid Lane Tickets: €15 / €10 / €6

ASSOCIATE CONCERT

St Nicholas Schola Cantorum

COFFEE CONCERT Venite, Venite!

SATURDAY 25 MAY 11:00 am

St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church Tickets: €10 at the door

Victoria Fraser (soprano) Rosemary Heredos (soprano), Dr Yonit Kosovske (harpsichord) Come! Take a journey through time with exquisite songs from the 12th to the 17th century. In the beautiful setting of St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, come and enjoy medieval chant by Hildegard of Bingen along with songs from composers such as Buxtehude, Strozzi, and Monteverdi, including the latter’s gorgeous duet Venite, Venite. In affiliation with the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, the musicians on this programme include sopranos Victoria Fraser and Rosemary Heredos from the MA Ritual Chant and Song, and harpsichordist Dr Yonit Kosovske, Course Director of the MA Classical Strings Performance-Keyboard.

Relax with a cuppa and cake while you listen to music in the medieval acoustic of St Nicholas Collegiate Church.

Funds in aid of St Nicholas Schola Cantorum.

MUSIC ON THE STREETS

Music on the Streets There will be music wherever you turn in the Latin Quarter on Saturday, May 25! Shawms, pipes, recorders, harp, lute, and brass! The music starts at the Galway Medieval Experience in the Hall of the Red Earl, Druid Lane, and winds its way through the streets of the Latin Quarter.

Musicians include The York Waits, Michelle O'Connor (vielle, rebec), Jacopo Bisagni (pipes), Sylvia Crawford (fiddle) and Brenda Malloy (harp).

The Latin Quarter is in the centre of Galway’s medieval town. Take a walk around the area and find the marriage stones, curious carved animals and medieval windows.

Many businesses have conserved medieval stonework. And enjoy the music!

SATURDAY 25 MAY 11:00 am-3:00 pm

Throughout the Latin Quarter In conjunction with Galway Medieval Experience, May 25

WORKSHOP

Bransles and Farandoles A Medieval & Renaissance Dance Workshop SATURDAY 25 MAY 12:00 pm

Mick Lally Theatre, upstairs Druid Lane FREE EVENT In conjunction with Galway Medieval Experience, May 25

Lise Carrel, facilitator Jacopo Bisagni, pipes & flutes In this workshop we will be looking at the sources for medieval and Renaissance dance directly to decide how we will dance them. We will look at manuscript images, Renaissance dance treatises and modern traditional dances that have direct links to medieval dances.

Based on this information, Lise will teach medieval forms of dance such as the round dance (the carole) and the open-chain dance (the tresca). Moving into the Renaissance, Lise will teach some bransles, based on descriptions and music published by Thoinot Arbeau, and the formal processional dance, the pavane.

Jacopo will accompany the dances on bagpipes and flutes.

However, since the dancer’s voice was often the only instrument available in the Middle Ages, we will occasionally try and sing to our own dancing!

WORKSHOP

Playford Country Dance Felicity Maxwell, facilitator The York Waits, music In 1651, John Playford published a book entitled The English Dancing Master, which gave both the music and the figures of popular dances of the period. The book proved so successful that he and his successors published new editions with additional dances until c1728.

Playford’s book includes dances from England, Scotland and Ireland and Felicity will be teaching at least one from each area. These popular dances are the ancestors of our modern céilí dances, and this workshop will give you a chance to set, turn, and arm with gay abandon!

The York Waits provide the best of dance music, guaranteed to get your feet moving!

Open to all. No previous experience necessary.

SUNDAY 26 MAY 2:00 pm

Mick Lally Theatre upstairs Druid Lane Tickets: €5 at the door

TALK/RECITAL/WORKSHOP

Early Irish Harp Discovery Day SUNDAY 26 MAY 11:00 am: Talk 12:00 pm: Recital 1:00 pm: Workshop Mick Lally Theatre Druid Lane

Have you always wanted to play the harp? Would you like to know more about the history and traditions of Ireland’s iconic, ancient instrument? The Historical Harp Society of Ireland takes you on an exciting voyage of discovery!

LEARN (11:00 am) An illustrated talk on the fascinating history of the old Irish harp, given by a world expert in the field, Simon Chadwick. Free Event LISTEN (12:00 pm) Recital of solo harp music and harpers’ songs with Siobhán Armstrong, harp, and Eibhlís Ní Ríordáin, song. €15 / €10 / €6

PLAY (1:00 pm) And then it’s time to hand out the harps! This workshop is a beginners’ workshop under the gentle guidance of Sylvia Crawford. The HHSI has a unique collection of early Irish harps copied from originals in the National Museum of Ireland. These will be given to the small number of lucky participants who sign up in advance to take part in the hands-on workshop. There are only 8 places in the harp workshop, so book early! €15 / €10

EXHIBITION/DEMONSTRATION

Instrument Makers Exhibition We are proud to promote instrument makers in Ireland who specialise in early instruments such as lute, flute, harp and symphonium. Come along and see beautiful handmade instruments, talk to the makers, and hear what the instruments sound like.

SATURDAY 25 MAY 11:00 am -3:00 pm

CALLURA HARPS: Metal-strung historical harps handmade in Ireland by Irish harper, Paul Dooley

Galway City Museum Spanish Arch

ÉRIÚ HARPS: Historical harp maker Natalie Surina, based in Oughterard, Co Galway

LYONS VIOLINS: Dominic Lyons makes and repairs violins, violas and cellos. He is based in east Clare and makes his intstruments in the traditional Cremonese style using 14th century techniques.

PAUL DOYLE INSTRUMENTS: Galway Luthier specialising in guitars, mandolin, bouzouki and other historical members of this family.

VLAD SMISHKEWYCH: Limerick based international singer and Lyric FM radio presenter, Vlad also makes hurdy-gurdys and Symphoniums.

FREE EVENT In conjunction with Galway Medieval Experience, May 25

EXHIBITION/TALK

Music and Image Medieval Ireland circa 700 AD

SATURDAY 25 MAY 11:00 am-2:00 pm: Exhibition 2:00 pm: Talk Mechanics Institute Middle St FREE EVENT In conjunction with Galway Medieval Experience, May 25

Surviving musical instruments from the Early Medieval period are rare in Europe. Most of the evidence for musical instruments is found as images in early bibles or on stone carvings. However, Ireland is fortunate to proudly hold two very impressive musical instruments on the archaeological record dating to c. 700 AD. In this exhibition and talk, Ancient Music Ireland presents reproductions of these instruments, including a beating reed wind instrument made of yew called the ‘Bekan’ horn from Co. Mayo, and a pair of lip reed ‘Psalter horns’ from the River Erne, Co. Fermanagh, also made of yew wood. Both instrument types are adorned with spirals and bands of shining bronze. This glimpse into Early Medieval Ireland will show the complexity of how these wood wind instruments were made and how they were played. Using imagery from the ‘David Scene’ in the 8th-century Vespasian Psalter and related instruments from the earlier Iron Age found in Ireland, an intriguing window is opened into the otherwise largely unknown domain of music at this time in these islands.

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NEW, SECOND-HAND, DISCOUNTED AND ANTIQUARIAN Irish Winner - Independent Bookshop of the Year 2019

DAY BY DAY saturday 25 May

Friday 24 May 1:00 pm €15/ €10/€6

8:00 pm €20/ €18/ MfG €16 / €6

¡FANDANGO! Yonit Kosovske, Vlad Smishkewych, Redmond O’Toole, Yovanna Torres Blanco Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane SUITCASE ARIAS Sharon Carty, Baroque ensemble led

by Claire Duff St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church

FestiVaL tiCKet: €75 / €55

11:00 am €10 at door

11:00 am 3 pm Free Event

11:00 am 2 pm Free Event

11:00 am 3 pm

enjoy the full festival experience and immerse yourself in a weekend of glorious music! the Festival ticket covers entry to all ticketed concerts*.

Free Event

*this ticket does not cover ticketed workshops or the Coffee Morning.

Free Event

*events with asterisks are taking place in conjunction with Galway Civic trust as part of their Galway Medieval experience day on May 25th. this event is funded by Galway 2020 as part of the small towns big ideas programme.

For further details on Galway Civic trust’s Medieval experience day visit www.galwaycivictrust.ie or call 091-564946.

12:00 pm

2:00 pm Free Event

4:00 pm €15/€10/€6

8:00 pm €18/€14/€6

VENITE, VENITE St Nicholas Coffee Concert St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church MUSIC IN THE STREETS* The Latin Quarter MUSIC & IMAGE EXHIBITION* Ancient Music Ireland Mechanics Institute, Middle St. MUSIC INSTRUMENT MAKERS EXHIBITION* Galway City Museum BRANSLES AND FARANDOLES DANCE WORKSHOP* Lise Carrel and Jacopo Bisagni Mick Lally Theatre, upstairs MUSIC & IMAGE TALK* Ancient Music Ireland Mechanics Institute, Middle St. CHANSONS À DANSER Obsidienne & Compagnie Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane A RENAISSANCE REVEL The York Waits & Deborah Catterall St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church

PROGRAMME sunday 26 May 11:00 am Free Event

12:00 pm €15/€10/€6

1:00 pm Free Event

2:00 pm €5

5:00 pm €7 / children free

9:00 pm €15/€10/€6

EARLY IRISH HARP DISCOVERY DAY - TALK Simon Chadwick Mick Lally Theatre EARLY IRISH HARP DISCOVERY DAY - RECITAL Siobhán Armstrong & Eibhlís Ní Ríordáin Mick Lally Theatre

EARLY IRISH HARP DISCOVERY DAY - WORKSHOP Sylvia Crawford Mick Lally Theatre

PLAYFORD COUNTRY DANCE WORKSHOP Felicity Maxwell & The York Waits Mick Lally Theatre, upstairs

THE DANCING MASTER Local Groups Concert Meyrick Hotel Ballroom, Eyre Square

DANCING AT THE CROSSROADS The Gregory Walkers and Kelsey Schuhle Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane

tiCKet booKinG onLine www.galwayearlymusic.com/festival Phone Mick Lally theatre: +353 (0)91 568 660 Monday-Friday 10am - 5pm. (Visa, MasterCard and Visa debit are accepted) at the door tickets are available at the door of concerts. if our technology doesn't fail us, Visa, MasterCard and Visa debit can be used. however cash is faster and doesn't depend on internet availability!

ConCessions there is a special price of €6 for full-time students for Friday, saturday and the 9pm sunday concerts. Concessions apply to senior citizens (65+) and the unwaged.

GaLWay earLy MusiC ContaCts info@galwayearlymusic.com +353 (0)83 461 9039

about GaLWay earLy MusiC

Galway Early Music was founded when a group of Galway musicians travelled to the Lismore Early Music Festival in 1994. It was there that the idea was born: why not bring this rich and sometimes exotic music to the medieval city of Galway? Our first festival was in 1996 and has been held annually ever since.

Past festivals have featured outstanding international musicians and ensembles such as Jordi Savall, Andrew Lawrence-King & the Harp Consort, Red Priest, Ensemble Unicorn, Sequentia, François Lazarevitch and Alla Francesca, plus outstanding Irish artists such as Siobhán Armstrong, Malcolm Proud, The Gregory Walkers, Mark Duley and Resurgam Chamber Choir, amongst many others.

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.

www.galwayearlymusic.com / info@galwayearlymusic.com Facebook: Galway Early Music / Twitter: @gwy_earlymusic / +353 83 461 9039

thanK you!

Druid and Síomha Nee, manager of The Mick Lally Theatre, for support and online ticket sales; Michael Quinn of the Civic Trust for partnering many of our free events; all of our outstanding performers for the wonderful programmes they bring to the festival; and all our volunteers who cheerfully keep the show on the road!

GEMF STAFF 2019 FESTIVAL DIRECTOR: Maura Ó Cróinín PRODUCTION MANAGER: Niamh Moloughney VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR: Fintan Sweeney GRAPHIC DESIGN: Mojo Workin’ FESTIVAL IMAGE: Ionia Ní Chróinín GEM COMMITTEE: Maura Ó Cróinín, Jacopo Bisagni, Kimberly Lo Prete, Nicola Murphy, Natalie Surina, Lise Carrel, Gabi Baehrens

6. Meyrick Hotel

5. Galway City Museum

4. Mechanics Institute

3. St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church

2. Hall of the Red Earl

1. Mick Lally Theatre

VENUES

MA RITUAL CHANT AND SONG

Explore Gregorian chant and ritual song repertoires through personalised classes with expert scholars and international specialists.

www.irishworldacademy.ie