5 contemporary Irish traditional artists to watch

During September, the Irish Traditional Music Archive presents a national tour featuring artists from its popular archival series Drawing from the Well, kicking off with a formidable bill of traditional music, song and dance in the National Concert Hall, Dublin on Sunday September 11, 2022.

Ahead of their appearance at this weekend's Drawing From The Well spectacular, we showcase five exceptional young talents performing on the night, representing the rude health of Irish traditional culture...

LAOISE KELLY

Laoise Kelly from Westport, now living on Achill Island, Co.Mayo, is one of Ireland's leading traditional harpers. Laoise has pioneered a new style of driving instrument harp playing, combining the techniques of fingerpads in the bass and fingernails in the melody on a thirty-four gut strung Paddy Cafferky harp.

Laoise has performed and recorded with the foremost artists in Irish music from The Chieftains to Kate Bush. She represented Ireland at the World Harp Festival in Paraguay, has 3 critically acclaimed solo albums, and is the director of the Achill International Harp Festival.

In 2020 Laoise was awarded the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Musician of the year prize.

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EDWINA GUCKIAN

Dancer, choreographer, film maker, farmer and community activist Edwina Guckian is firmly rooted in her home county of Leitrim. Having grown up in a family of musicians and dancers and being influenced further by the locals of Roscommon and Leitrim her unique style of Sean Nós dancing developed from an early age. She is the artist director of Leitrim Dance Festival and Áirc Damhsa, a culture club for children and adults to celebrate Irish culture through music, song, dance, folklore and Gaeilge.

Recent work includes reviving the Mumming tradition through Sowing the Seed project which sees over 350 Leitrim people growing oats organically on their land and using the oats and straw sustainably. Most recently she was awarded the TG4 Gradam Comaine for her outstanding contribution to the traditional arts. Edwina is the artist in residency at St. Patrick's Campus DCU Drumcondra for 2022/23.

CORMAC BEGLEY

Cormac is a concertina player from west Kerry and he plays 13 concertinas that range from bass to piccolo register.

Music from his eponymous debut album and his acclaimed Bass concertina album B are a central feature of the award winning show Mám (directed by Micheal Keegan Dolan) and to Pat Collins' film, The Dance.

Cormac plays in a number of projects with musicians Liam O'Connor, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Martin Hayes and Liam Ó Maonlaí, Rushad Eggleston (cello), Lisa O’Neill and Ye Vagabonds. He has recorded with artists including Lankum, Stephen James Smith, Ré, Jack Talty, Ye Vagabonds and Lisa O'Neill.

He is the founder of Airt, a residential school in West-Kerry, and the award winning Tunes in the Church live concert series in Galway, and more recently, a new outdoor concert series throughout Ireland from his campervan, the 'Beauty’.

BRÍAN MAC GLOINN

Brían Mac Gloinn is a musician, song-writer and singer from Carlow. Best known for his collaboration with his brother Diarmuid in their band Ye Vagabonds, he has also recorded and performed with artists such as Glen Hansard, Lisa Hannigan, Cormac Begley, Anna Mieke, and Brigid Mae Power. His third album with Ye Vagabonds, Nine Waves, was released in May of this year.

Singing in English and Irish, Brían has a strong connection to the singing tradition of Ulster and his mother's native Arranmore Island, Co. Donegal. In 2020 he produced a blog and podcast on the singing tradition of the island for the ITMA’s Drawing From the Well series. He has also made a number of radio documentaries for RTÉ Lyric FM, including The Ballad of the Stolwijk Rescue, shortlisted for the Prix Italia and winner of a silver trophy for Best Music in the New York Radio Festivals in 2021.

AOIFE NÍ BHRIAIN

Born in Dublin, to a family of musicians, Aoife Ní Bhriain has established herself as one of the most versatile musicians of her generation. Thanks to her musical heritage combined with her classical studies she has collaborated and performed with musicians such as pianist Eliso Virsaladze, fiddle player Martin Hayes, Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and Oscar winning actor Tim Robbins.

She is a member of the avant garde string quintet Wooden Elephant as well as the Goodman Trio with whom she has explored the manuscripts of the music collected around Ireland in the 1800s by Canon James Goodman. Winner of the Bonn Óir Sean Uí Riada in 2010, Aoife has also won seven All Ireland titles as well as prizes in international violin and chamber music competitions.

Most recently, Aoife qualified for the semi-finals of the International Bach Competition 2022 in Leipzig and was awarded the Next Generation Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. Aoife has a particular interest in solo violin works and curated a performance on the solo violin works of J.S. Bach and the improvisations of acclaimed Dublin fiddle player and soloist Tommie Potts.

Drawing from the Well is at National Concert Hall, Dublin on Sunday September 11, 2022. The event features Laoise Kelly (harp), Conor Connolly (accordion), Cormac Begley (concertina), Jesse Smith (fiddle), Aoife Ní Bhriain (fiddle), Deirdre Hurley (flute), Mairéad Hurley (concertina), Aoife Granville (flute) and Steve Cooney (guitar), performing alongside singers Brían Mac Gloinn, Daoirí Farrell and Radie Peat, and dancers Edwina Guckian and Caitlín Nic Gabhann (concertina). The programme on the night will be interspersed with the spoken word by poets Vincent Woods and Moya Cannon, who will present the performances. Find out more here.

5 contemporary Irish traditional artists to watch

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