Arts Week with Judy Murphy

The Dragonfly project, featuring Headford cellist and singer Naomi Berrill and German viola player and singer Danusha Waskiewicz, will visit Galway next week as part of Music for Galway’s Season, Breathe

Dragonfly will perform at Ballinfoile Castlegar Neighbourhood Centre on Wednesday next, November 19, at 7.30pm, in what will be Music for Galway’s first time using this venue. The previous night, Tuesday, November, 18, they will be in Campbell’s Tavern, Headford, also at 7.30pm.

Danusha, a former member of the Berlin Philharmonic, and Naomi performed first performed under the name Dragonfly in 2021 at the Festival Trame Sonore in Italy. They were subsequently invited to take part at the Hindemith Competition in Munich.

They perform original compositions and innovative arrangements of classical and baroque composers – with both women singing as they play. They explained that this approach allowed them to shine a new light on well-known compositions and create a different experience for themselves and their audience.

Their Galway programme will include music by Bach, Dowland, Britten and Bartók, as well as traditional Irish melodies.

The concert in the Ballinfoile Castlegar Neighbourhood Centre (BCNC) is sponsored by Aerogen, which is helping Music for Galway to bring world-class classical musicians to new audiences.

Galway City Council is also supporting the event through the Creative Ireland scheme. So too is the Galway City Partnership, which is facilitating workshops that the duo will give to community singing groups in the city.

Three of the four singing groups are based in Ballinfoile, Ballybane and Westside, and the fourth is a Ukrainian choir, Harmony. All four will join Dragonfly onstage for the BCNC concert.

The CEO of Galway City Partnership, Linda Sice Brogan, described this collaboration as “a wonderful opportunity to bring the magic of music to the heart of the Ballinfoile community and to members of community groups supported by Galway City Partnership.

“The Partnership’s work is based on equality, inclusion and social justice and we know the power music has to bring people together”, she stated.

Naomi and Danusha are based in Italy, so MfG, wants to make the most of their visit here.

As part of this, Dragonfly will perform Music for Galway’s inaugural Out and About concert on November 18, in Croí House in the city.

The Out and About initiative is part of MfG’s policy of offering top-class performances to people who might find it difficult to attend in regular concerts, explained the CE of MFG Anna Lardi.

And, as part of the organisation’s Encore series, Dragonfly will perform in Campbell’s Tavern, Cloughanover, later on Tuesday evening. The popular venue has been the scene of several MfG Encores in recent years, with musicians and audiences relishing the relaxed atmosphere in Campbell’s.

“We are very excited about bringing Dragonfly to so many venues and grateful to our funders for the support to present such exciting musicians to a variety of audiences. Being able to include local voices makes it all the more rewarding,” said Anna Lardi.

Standard tickets for the concert at the Ballinfoile Castlegar Neighbourhood Centre are €20. The concession rate, for those over 66, is €18. Solidarity tickets, at €10, are available to children, full-time students, asylum seekers and to people in receipt of job seeker allowance and disability allowance. The MfG Friend rate is €16.

Tickets for Campbell’s Tavern cost €15, with concessions at €13.50/€7.50/€11.

All tickets can be purchased online at www.musicforgalway.ie or by phone, 091 705962.

Pictued: Dragonfly, made up of Headford cellist and singer Naomi Berrill and German viola player and singer Danusha Waskiewicz. They will perform two concerts in the city and one in Campbell’s Tavern, Cloughanover, next week, as well as hosting singing workshops in the city.