National Harp Day concert to take place in Dundalk

To celebrate this year’s Harp Day in Louth a concert will take place on Saturday 21st October in St Nicholas' Church of Ireland in Dundalk at 7.30pm

Young harpers from Music Generation Louth harp ensembles will collaborate with musicians from Nós Nua Youth Folk Orchestra and trio Alfi for this special concert to celebrate harp day in Co.Louth.

Two members of Alfi, Ryan McAuley & Fiachra Meek are from the Dundalk area along with Alannah Thornburgh, a harper from Mayo, who has arranged some music for all three acts to perform together, especially for the occasion.

ALFI

Multi-award winning trio Alfi is the collaborative project of musicians Fiachra Meek, Ryan McAuley and Alannah Thornburgh. Featuring an unusual line-up of harp, five string banjo and uilleann pipes, Alfi explores a combination of music and song sourced from the folk traditions of Ireland & America. 

Alfi released their debut album Say Old Man in July 2023 to great critical acclaim - ‘the album captures the organic, full-bodied spirit of their live shows, as well as the distinctive personalities of the players – and marks Alfi as a vital force in Ireland’s ever-diversifying folk scene’ (Hot Press). 

Nominated for ‘Best Emerging Folk Artist’ at the RTÉ Folk Awards, Alfi have also received numerous accolades including the ‘US Embassy Creative Minds Award’, The ‘Caoimhin O Dochartaigh Award’ at Imbolc International Music Festival and Molloy Award at “Birmingham TradFest”.

NÓS NUA

Nós Nua is a joint initiative of Music Generation Louth and Oriel Centre, Dundalk Gaol (Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann regional centre for the northeast). With members drawn from across counties Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Cavan and Armagh, the orchestra has been meeting regularly in Louth since October 2017 to rehearse and create unique, progressive arrangements of new and existing traditional repertoire.

To date performances include the Festival of Youth Orchestras in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, St. Patrick’s Festival, Dublin, and TV appearances on Fleadh TV 2018, 2019 & 2022, John Creedon’s Atlas of Ireland and most recently with Lisa Canny & guests on Up for the Match 2023.

They have recently wrapped a studio recording of Causeway in Black Mountain Studios. Causeway is a 40min suite of music composed with Mohsen Amini funded through the Arts Council’s Young Ensemble scheme and the creativity and collaboration fund, a partnership of Arts Council of Ireland, Music Generation and the Department of Education. This same fund also facilitated creative workshops this year with Dr Ryan Molloy where they composed 5 new tunes collectively known as The Selkie Set.

Nós Nua are directed by Kay Webster and Deirdre Ní Bhuachalla and will be conducted on the night by Sárán Mulligan.

MUSIC GENERATION LOUTH HARP ENSEMBLES

The Music Generation Louth Harp Ensemble, under the direction of Deirdre Ní Bhuachalla, brings young harpers of various musical backgrounds together to perform a repertoire of traditional Irish and popular music.

Formed in 2012, current members are aged from 10 to 20 years. Their video 'Harps at the Border', recorded in partnership with Harp Ireland, was chosen by the Department of Foreign Affairs to be broadcast across Irish Mission social media channels across the world for St. Patrick’s Day 2022. 

Earlier this year they performed at Edinburgh Harp Festival and last summer, they travelled to Cardiff to perform at the World Harp Congress.

The Ensemble performs annually at An Chúirt Chruitireachta, International Harp Festival, Féile na Tána and Music Generation Laois Tionól for Harp and Pipes.

They recently collaborated with some of Ulster’s harp ensembles as part of a Harp Ireland initiative to launch Lá na Cruite 2023. They are also members of the Music Generation Harp Collective, a collaboration of Music Generation Harp ensembles from Laois, Louth, Mayo & Waterford.

Other notable performances include performing for Vice President (Now President) of USA, Joe Biden in 2016, Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2018 & 2019, World Harp Congress in Cardiff 2022, Live on Fleadh TV 2018, National Lottery Awards on TV3, Ray D'arcy Show, RTÉ & with Máire Ní Chathasaigh at An Chúirt Chruitireachta in Termonfeckin 2019. 

Through their participation in a variety of projects, they collaborated with Catriona McKay, Michael Rooney, Joleen McLaughlin, Laoise Kelly and Máire Ní Chathasaigh in the past and are excited to premiere a new arrangement with Alfi, especially commissioned for this event for Lá na Cruite | Harp Day 2023.

Tickets for the night can be purchased here.