The Bloom of Youth 2006

Click on a date to listen to the show.

Programme 1: Saturday 24th June
The series begins with Dublin fiddle player Dermot Burke, a 2nd year student in Trinity College and a young man whose fiddle playing is steeped in the tradition.

The second guest on the programme is flute player, June McCormack, originally from Co. Sligo and now studying a Masters degree in the university of Limerick. June is widely acknowleged as one of the finest flute players of her generation.

Programme 2: Saturday 1st July
Tonight's Bloom of Youth features, Seána Davey, an outstanding young Harpist from Co. Meath and a student in Maynooth college. Seána is from a well known musical family, all of whom are accomplished musicians.

Fiddle player Lizzy Doe is from Cambridge in England and is currently studying at the university of Limerick. She is an interesting young lady in that she has no Irish roots but loves the music and is a very influenced by the Donegal tradition.She also plays the uileann pipes and composes tunes.

Programme 3: Saturday 8th July 
On the Bloom of Youth tonight, Kieran meets Roscommom singer Christina Pearse who sang on Ceili House recently and is a member of the South Roscommon singers circle.

The second guest on tonight's programme is Dublin Uileann piper, Mikey Smith who's regarded as a vetern of the instrument although he's still only in his mid twenties. He's also a very fine whistle player.

Programme 4: Saturday 15th July
Sharon O Leary is from west Clare and has just finished a music degree in DIT. She's one of the great young concertina players who's influences are wide ranging.

She talks to Kieran about her tastes in music and plays some of her favourite tunes.

The second guest on tonight's Bloom of Youth is Eilis ni Chonghaile, a young student teacher from Co. Meath and a champion sean nós singer at both the Fleadh and the Oireachtas. Eilis is from Ráth Cairn and is hugely influenced by the local singing tradition. 

Programme 5: Saturday 22nd July
Tonight on the Bloom of Youth we focus on Co. Mayo with two outstanding young musicians. Accordian player Fiachna O Mongáin is from the western part of the county and has his own style of playing based on the the great Joe Cooley. Fiachna is a graduate of UCG.
Our second guest is Shane Mulchrone, a 3rd year dentistry student in UCC and  a terriffic tenor banjo player from the Bofield area of Mayo, just outside Ballina.
 
Programme 6: Saturday 29th July
It's a mixture of Galway and Tyrone on tonight's Bloom of Youth with  uileann piper, Cormack Cannon from Co. Galway and now living in Edinburgh. The second guest is Aidan O Neill from Omagh Co. Tyrone and on tonight's programme Aidan plays the tin whistle and concertina. He's an All-Ireland champion on both instruments.

Programme 7: Saturday 5th August
Tonight's Bloom of Youth is from Co. Galway with the highly talented sean nos singer Ciaran O Concannon who sings some of his favourites and Ciaran has a very refreshing view of the art of Sean Nós singing.

The second guest on tonight's programme is the exciting and energetic fiddler Malachy Bourke who lists Frankie Gavin as one of his main influences and credits Frankie for starting him off on the fiddle
 
Programme 8: Saturday 12th August
Ulster is celebrated on tonight's Bloom of Youth with the gifted  Donegal piano  Accordian player Martin Tourish who is studying for a music degree in Trinity College and DIT. The second guest is Tyrone singer Cathal Lynch who was influenced by the singing of Paddy Tunney and Geordie Hannah and others.
 
Programme 9: Saturday 19th August
The final programme of this series brings together two of the finest young exponents of traditional music on their respective instruments. From Dublin, the button accordian player Janine Redmond plays a selection of her favourites, including the Slopes of Benbulben which was written by her musical mentor, the Sligo box player, John Regan. Janine has won many All Ireland titles and is a student at St. Pat's in Drumcondra.

Our second and final guest on the series is Michael Harrison from Nenagh Co. Tipperary. One of the great young fiddlers who enjoys his music, Michael is the grandson of the legendary Aggie White from east Galway. Michael is also a student in St. Pat's in Drumcondra in Dublin.