What's On

The Speks are a six-piece traditional Irish music band for children. They live on a mysterious Island off the coast of Co. Clare called Glasses Island where everybody wears glasses! The band members are Quince, Naymon, Tommo, Pete, Ed and Rafferty and they love singing and playing music for children.

The Speks have won a prestigious Parents' Choice music award in the US where their music has been described as "Riverdance for toddlers" and "grown up music for kids."

Enter a colouring competition to be in with a chance to win a Speks t-shirt, CD and book: download your entry here.  Make sure to get your entry in by Friday May 11th.

To find out more about The Speks, check out their website: www.thespeks.com

 

The future of our traditional music, singing and dance is always in the hands of the 'Aos Óg', the young generation. The Aos Óg Concert has always been a key event in the Fleadh Nua, which takes place in Ennis each year. This year, the concert will feature some of the best young traditional musicians, singers and dancers from Co. Clare and beyond.

The Máirtín O’Connor Band is a musical partnership of accordionist Máirtín O’Connor, fiddler and banjo player Cathal Hayden and guitarist and singer Séamie O’Dowd. Anchored by Galway man O’Connor’s dazzling button accordion, the astounding skill and virtuosity of all three musicians,will guarantee a vigorous and pulsating performance.

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh is a singer and multi-instrumentalist who has made many recordings, as a solo performer and with the band Danú.  Muireann has also recorded an exquisite album with Scottish singer, Julie Fowlis, exploring the music and singing traditions of the two Gaelic communities.  Liam Flanagan (North Cregg & Danú) on fiddle and guitarist Donal Clancy (Danú & Solas) will join Muireann for a beautiful mix of songs and music.

Mick & Michelle Mulcahy from Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick, have been entertaining audiences for many years, and with Michelle’s Louise, have released many albums. 

102 years in the business, the Kilfenora has gone from strength to strength since their centenary! From village parties in the early 1900s right down to their current international profile in the new millennium, each new generation slots seamlessly into the groove of their forebears.

The group can follow its roots back into the late 1800s. At the time, music was an important feature of life in rural Ireland. Kilfenora boasted a fine brass band, which gradually evolved into a dance band. Its story is the story of Irish music itself. From village parties in the early 1900s to bigger dances in the '30s, broadcasts in the '40s, commercial recordings in the '50s, foreign tours in the '60s right down to their current international profile they have set the bar for other ensembles.

For more information on Fleadh Nua events please click here.

Presented by glór and Clare Arts Office in association with Bealtaine.

The iconic Delia Murphy lives on through her songs, still played on Irish radio today and reissued on CDs. She continues to be cherished by all those who loved her singing and remember her from the innumerable occasions she graced the airwaves of Radio Éireann with her popular songs. She is not forgotten for her many recordings heard on gramophone and in dance halls throughout Ireland and the wonderful concerts she sang in, both at home and abroad.

Gerry Anderson will give an entertaining talk bringing you through Delia’s life and times. Márín O’Donovan adds a special dimension to the programme by singing some of Delia’s favourites, and Carmen Cullen, niece of Delia, adds some family reminiscences.

Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club is an eclectic, roots collective of musicians, friends and songs inspired in part by a musical circus troupe from Barcelona, the movie soundtracks of Quentin Tarantino and the music of New York artists Lou Reed, Marc Ribot and Willy DeVille (Mink DeVille).

The bands sound has been described as a mix of 'lounge lizard schmooze and mariachi passion' and 'punk latino'.

Featuring Denise Broderick, Gemma Byrnes, Nigel Dugdale, Ian McGlynn and the MTW Quartet.
Musical Director: Noel Lennon.

Music Theatre West presents a magical evening of music celebrating the many genres of musical theatre.  Audiences will be treated to the works of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim and the best of new work from Broadway and London’s West End.  This concert also features Listen to My Heart – The Songs of David Friedman. This sophisticated, funny and heartfelt theatrical review is a thrilling and sometimes painful journey into the human heart, brilliantly capturing the human spirit in all its forms.

Music Theatre West is a professional performance company formed by Noel Lennon in 2007. It works in all genres of music theatre - Opera/Operetta, Musical, Song Book and Song Cycle, bringing together the finest theatrical, vocal and instrumental practitioners to the concert stage.

The Clare Youth Service Mixtape project will showcase some of its young upcoming DJs, producers, rappers and beatboxers with a block-party styled outdoor concert.  The event will take place outside glór, with the young people giving demonstrations of their own unique approach towards electronic music.  It will also host some of the young street artists from the locality, who will be creating live graffiti on the boards provided. As with all CYS events, this is strictly a drug and alcohol free environment.

Performers include Kooki & ETG, Bubba J, fearandloating, Sam Lavery, DJ Souths, DJ EBM, mynameisjOhn, Evan Murphy, Joel and more.

Please contact jlillis@clareyouthservice.org for more information.

DÁN featuring Guidewires (Ireland), Kan (Scotland, England), Breton Quartet (France) and Alyth McCormack (Scotland), is a specially commissioned touring project that brings together some of the world’s most respected traditional and jazz musicians in a highly anticipated concert series.

Spearheading a new wave of traditional music DÁN is dedicated to an entirely new, suspense-charged relationship between the traditional and the modern. Brainchild of the highly accomplished Irish group Guidewires, the project brings together figureheads of the tradition to form an extraordinary ensemble for a musically charged experience that redefines brilliance. The impressive 14 member ensemble will present a programme of original, traditional, re-arranged and shared material, demonstrating the interconnectedness of music from the Celtic Fringe. Through a powerful fusion and an enchanting musical journey, DÁN will push tradition to the edge of its boundaries.