2022 Evening Concerts

Blas is proud to present the following performances as part of our public concert series. Tickets are now available for purchase! (Note: Admission is free to all registered Blas students.)

MAIGHREAD AND TRÍONA NÍ DHOMHNAILL

Wednesday 22nd June 2022, 8pm

Theatre 1, Irish World Academy

Tickets: €15 / conc. €12

Sisters Maighread and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill belong to a renowned singing family originally from the Donegal Gaeltacht. The unique style and repertoire of traditional singing they represent so gloriously, comes down to them through generations of the Ó Domhnaill family. Added to this is their distinctive unison and harmonic interpretations of Donegal songs and their fluent and accomplished singing to instrumental accompaniment.

Tríona (who was a member of one of the most influential groups in contemporary Irish traditional music, The Bothy Band) is a skilled keyboard player of piano, clavinet and harpsichord and also a composer and arranger of traditional material. With their brother, the late Mícheál, a fine singer and instrumental player, they formed the seminal traditional group, Skara Brae in the late 1960s. It was through this group and its one recording, now a classic, that the regional songs of their native Donegal were introduced to a wide audience both in Ireland and abroad.

In 1999, the two sisters recorded the album Idir an Dá Sholas with Donal Lunny. A few years later they combined their talents with two other Donegal women Moya Brennan (of Clannad) and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (of Altan) to make an album under the title T with the Maggies. This concert will feature Maighread and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill as a duo. Their live performances are unforgettable heart-rending events. The sound of their solo and combined voices is indescribable but lingers in the memory forever.

Tickets: maighreadandtrionablas.eventbrite.ie

GOITSE

Thursday 30th June 2022, 9pm (doors 8:30pm)

Warehouse, Dolans, Limerick

Tickets: €20 / conc. €15

The popular and multi-award-winning quintet Goitse was forged in the white-hot creative crucible of Limerick’s Irish World Academy. Named Live Ireland’s “Traditional Group of the Year”, Chicago Irish American News’ “Group of the Year”, as well as winning the prestigious “Freiburger International Leiter 2016” award in Germany, Goitse have become a leader of the new generation of traditional Irish ensembles.

Goitse has released four critically acclaimed recordings and maintains a year round touring schedule that includes performances throughout Ireland and the UK, Germany, France and the United States. Their distinctive sound lies in the quality of their own compositions interspersed with traditional tunes from the countryside of Ireland and abroad, which make each performance unique. Laying the foundations for the music are World and All-Ireland Bodhrán champion Colm Phelan and Conal O’Kane, who is fast making a name for himself as one of the finest guitarists of his generation. The gripping rhythm section sets a powerful drive for the music while the sweet, charismatic voice of Áine McGeeney draws audiences into a song the way few performers can. Multi-instrumentalist Alan Reid features mainly on banjo and bouzouki, drawing from an extensive knowledge of archival collections of Irish music in his own compositions. Accordion and piano player Danny Collins holds All-Ireland titles on multiple instruments and is known for his driving and danceable rhythm. Together, the quintet Goitse makes what Irish Music Magazine calls “Music that’s brimming with energy and creative zeal.”

This event is generously supported by funding from the Limerick City and County Council.