A cross-cultural performance between a Mozambique youth orchestra and Irish group is set to bring a "magic" twist to a traditional music festival in Clare.
The 38th Feakle Festival, which takes place in the east Clare village, brings together musicians, dancers, singers, and enthusiasts from all over Ireland and beyond. It opens today and will run until Monday.
Tomorrow will see east Africa meet east Clare during a combined performance from the Cnoc na Gaoithe Cultural Group and the Xiquitsi Mozambique Youth Orchestra.
Kika Materula, the founder and musical director of the Xiquitsi Mozambique Youth Orchestra, said the event will combine Irish and Mozambican culture with art and music.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Materula said the orchestra has given many young people in Mozambique the tools and capacity to be a professional musician, as well as being part of an important social project.
The group, which has been preparing since last year, will perform Irish music, including Amhrán na bhFiann, and will also perform Mozambican songs.
Listen: Cross-cultural music fusion at Feakle International Music Festival
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Ms Materula said that music has no borders, and that musically, it has been a huge experience for those who travelled to Ireland from Mozambique.
Describing the experience as "magic", she added that she hoped to bring the experience back to Mozambique and share it with her colleagues.
On learning Irish music, she said there were different rhythms and ways of playing but they began with sheet music and are now improvising and learning new rhythms.
Breda McNamara of the Cnoc na Gaoithe Cultural Group said that things have really taken off since last year, and that Mozambican classical music and Irish traditional music merge very well.
She said the Irish performers will be playing east Clare music which the Mozambique orchestra will back, in what she said will be a "fabulous collaboration".
Ms McNamara said a ten-day trip to Mozambique by the Cnoc na Gaoithe Cultural Group earlier this year, was supported by the Irish Embassy, and the Mozambique and South African ambassadors were instrumental in bringing them over.
She said that on their return, the group wanted a platform to showcase their collaboration with the Xiquitsi Mozambique Youth Orchestra, and asked the director of the Feakle Festival for the opportunity.
Ms McNamara said it is a huge festival and the small village punches way above its weight.
She described all the musicians involved in the project as "talented", adding that the group had "nailed" Amhrán na bhFiann.
"I don't think I've ever heard it sung so well," she said.
