Entertainment
Special concert marks launch of Danny Diamond’s fiddle album

Fiddle player Danny Diamond (of the group Mórga) will launch his latest album Fiddle Music with a concert in the City’s Crane Bar this Friday night,
The album features music inspired by legendary fiddlers such as Tommie Potts and Seán Keane, alongside influences from Nordic and American folk tunes, all set to unique drone-based accompaniment.
The Irish Times gave Fiddle Music a five-star review in which critic Siobhán Long described his playing as ‘ambitious and authoritative’ and acclaimed the album as a ‘definite contender for CD of the year’.
In September Fiddle Music was chosen as Album of the Month on TradConnect.com, with reviewer Tony Lawless describing Danny Diamond’s music as ‘visceral in its intensity and individuality’.
Danny is a founder-member of the group Mórga, which released an album and gigged extensively around Europe before a brief split in 2011. Mórga reformed in 2012 and released their second album, For the Sake of Auld Decency, in 2014. In addition to his work with Mórga, Danny released Danny & Aki – Music from the Irish, Nordic and American Traditionsin 2012. This collaboration with Finnish multi-instrumentalist Aki has been critically lauded and the duo are currently working with cellist Kevin Murphy as Slow Moving Clouds, an experimental acoustic trio drawing inspiration from Finnish and Irish music.
On Fiddle Music Danny performs material from the Irish traditional repertoire, showcasing tunes learned from family members, friends and older recordings. The CD also includes five of Danny’s compositions, inspired by Irish, Nordic and American folk traditions. The drone-based accompaniment is provided by fiddle, uilleann pipes, accordion and the nyckelharpa, a traditional Swedish instrument.
That approach, which was born of Danny’s desire to move beyond the usual instruments used in backing Irish music, gives the recording its unique character.
For the Galway launch of the album Danny will be joined by Aki (violoncello da petto), Ian Lynch (uilleann pipes), Anna Lethert (sean-nós dance) and other guest musicians.
Admission is €10/concession: €8. Admission and the Fiddle Music CD is €15. Doors are 9pm.
CITY TRIBUNE
Artists encouraged to enjoy great outdoors at weekend of plein-air painting in Kinvara

A weekend of plein-air painting will take place in Kinvara in early June. The not-for-profit community arts event is being organised by members of the Kinvara Area Visual Artists (KAVA) group and will be led by experienced artists and teachers
Over the Bank Holiday weekend, participants will gather to explore the beauty and culture of the village and surrounding areas, including Thoor Ballylee and the Burren.
The tutors are Steve Browning, Geraldine Walsh, Róisín Curé and Mavis Gormally, who will provide seven full-day workshops in three different locations.
These are suitable for artists who work in oil, acrylic or watercolour. There will also be an exhibition space where participants can show work completed over the weekend. People can also engage in informal paint-outs and enjoy social activities and local attractions.
Steve Browning’s workshops in oils and acrylics will take place in Kinvara Village and the Burren. Steve, who is originally from the UK, initially worked as an art director in London and Dublin. He began painting at weekends, before becoming a fulltime artist. His work has been shown in London, at the Royal Hibernian Academy, and the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts in Belfast. It’s in collections in the UK, USA and Ireland. He has won prizes at the Dublin Plein Air Festival and Wexford’s Art in the Open Festival and has also been a finalist in the prestigious Plein Air Magazine of America’s annual art competition for three years in a row, winning the best acrylic painting award in 2022.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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CITY TRIBUNE
Classical treat on menu at Station House Theatre

Grammy-nominated Ukrainian-British violist Maxim Rysanov, multi-award-winning Russian violinist Nikita Boriso-Glebsky and rising cello star Dóra Kokas from Hungary will be in concert in Clifden’s Station House Theatre next Tuesday, March 21, at 8pm.
Their show is part of a national tour of Ireland, presented by Music Network.
They will perform Mozart’s only string trio, Beethoven’s Trio in G major and a work by Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova which aims to highlight the unity of sound that a string trio can create. A new commission, written by award-winning Irish composer Ed Bennett for Music Network, will complete the programme.
Maxim Rysanov has a worldwide reputation as a violist and conductor, often combining both roles in concerts. He has featured on stage with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Mariinsky in St Petersburg, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Moscow Philharmonic, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
CITY TRIBUNE
Celebrating St Patrick with music and song at Druid

Arts Week with Judy Murphy
Oranmore-based soprano Helen Hancock will lead a night of music and song by composers including Schubert, Schumann, and Strauss this Saturday, March 18, for St Patrick’s Weekend.
The concert, entitled The Lark in the Clear Air will also feature a host of Irish tunes. It takes place in Druid’s Mick Lally Theatre on Saturday, starting at 8pm when Helen will be accompanied by Italian pianist Annalisa Monticelli and American clarinettist, Berginald Rash
The programme will feature Schubert’s Shepherd on a Rock and Arnold Cooke’s Songs of Innocence, both written for soprano, clarinet, and piano.
Shepherd on a Rock was composed in 1828, during the last months of Schubert’s life, and explores themes of longing, the arrival of spring, and journeying to the beloved. Cooke’s Songs of Innocence was inspired by the poetry of 19th century English poet and artist, William Blake.
Themes of nature and the cycle of life will be further explored in Strauss’s and Clara Schumann’s songs for soprano and piano, including Die Stille Lotosblume and Zueignung.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.