Wandsworth Arts Festival performance and premiere
On Friday 17th May, I performed with my trio at Battersea Mess and Music Hall as part of the Wandsworth Arts Festival in South London. I performed alongside other artists in an evening billed as ‘a platform for contemporary activity, staging new art, performance and multi- disciplinary collaborations.’There was live participatory art from students at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, exploratory jazz-folk from Ukranian singer Olesya Zdorovetska and performances from Jazz band ‘Human Resource System’ and the London-based ‘Clout Theatre Company’. I performed a 30-minute set composed largely of traditional and contemporary Manx Gaelic songs. Additionally I premiered a new song written for me by my friend Stef Conner – a composer who was a former arranger and pianist/vocalist for Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (now known as The Unthanks).
The other members of my trio are double-bassist Vanessa McWilliam and guitarist Dave Pearce. I have been performing with the two musicians for a number of years; they accompanied my final recital of Gaelic songs while I was studying music at University.
Also featuring on some of the tracks was Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, a talented flautist and sean nos singer who will be representing Ireland with his band at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient 2013.