Donegal Fiddle Week to attract players from all over the world

Donegal Fiddle Week always fulfils its promise and it's sure to be no different next week as
fiddlers and fiddle enthusiasts from across the world will converge on Glencolmcille this weekend for the beginning of the 38th annual Donegal Fiddle Summer School.

The school is organised by the Donegal fiddle organisation Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí and runs officially from Monday to Friday (July 31-August 4).

Rab Cherry of Cairdeas said many of the best-known Donegal fiddlers will be teaching and playing during the week, and there will be fiddle students and visiting players from far and near.

He said: “We’re expecting fiddle players from all over Donegal and the rest of Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Wales, USA, Japan, and Tasmania in Australia. And we’ll have also the usual wide age range of students, from eight to 80.”

Visiting fiddlers include Bob Spates from Washington DC, who has played with everyone from Aretha Franklin to Pete Seeger; Anna Lisberg from Copenhagen, very familiar with the Donegal style of fiddling; and Scottish player Donald Stewart. Those booked in to check out one of Ireland’s leading fiddle traditions also include Judy Rust from the US, a former professional singer in opera.

The week features fiddle classes, concerts, talks, dancing, and lots of informal traditional music sessions in the two pubs in Cashel village in Glen, Roarty’s and the Glen Head. Likely to draw a lot of attention will be the launch on Friday of two CDs from the fiddler and composer Seamus Gibson, his first releases.

Rab said the Donegal Fiddle School will have 10 graded classes to suit all levels, from absolute beginner to advanced. The teaching team includes many of the finest players in the Donegal tradition – John Byrne (Glen), Stephen Gallagher (Kilcar), Derek McGinley (Meenaneary), Sinead Kennedy (Dunshaughlin/Meenaneary), Clare Friel (Glasgow/Annagry), Martin McGinley (Ramelton), Ciaran Ó Maonaigh (Gaoth Dobhair), Ellie Níc Fhionnghaile (Glen), Conor Caldwell (Belfast/Carrick), Mick Brown (Teelin), Oisin Duffy (Moville), and Nia Ní Bheirn (Carraig Finn).

The classes run from Monday to Friday, 10am – 4pm. Anyone interested in attending and who hasn’t already booked can e-mail: donegalfiddlemusic@gmail.com or find out more from Rab at (086) 3409 019. Fiddle students can also simply turn up at Cashel NS at 10am on Monday, when Conor Caldwell and Martin McGinley will be sorting out the classes.

Conor, who lectures on traditional music, will also give a talk at Oideas Gael next Wednesday (August 2) at 4.30pm. It’s about tunes in the Donegal fiddle repertoire which came from weird and wonderful places – research featured in the ‘Irish Times’ recently.

The strong links between Donegal fiddlers and the Scottish tradition will be marked by a presentation from Scottish guitarist and artist Dave Jackson on the ‘Seven Waves’ project, a visual art and music installation first hosted on Orkney. Dave’s presentation is at Oideas Gael at 4.30pm next Tuesday (August 1). Letterkenny-based traditional musician Paul Harrigan, who composed music for the ‘Seven Waves’, will perform one of those original pieces with his sister Roisin Harrigan on fiddle and her daughter Ella, also on fiddle.

Paul, Roisin and Ella will also perform at the Tuesday night concert at the Folk Village at 9pm, with Derek McGinley and others.

Next Thursday (August 3) is dancing day at Fiddle Week. Dance teachers Ann Connagan and Connie McKelvey will show the fiddle students and anyone else interested how to dance to the tunes, provided by Peter Campbell (Glenties) and Aidan O’Donnell (Dunkineely). The day at Halla Mhuire will end with a public dance to a live fiddle band at 9pm.

The closing Friday night concert at Halla Mhuire at 9pm will feature Seamus Gibson, Donald Stewart (Scotland), Sinéad and Catriona Kennedy and other guests.

Seamus Gibson launches solo fiddle CDs

A highlight of Fiddle Week in Glencolmcille this year will be the launch of two highly-anticipated CDs from one of the outstanding Donegal fiddlers, Seamus Gibson.

A St Johnston man now living in Letterkenny, Seamus is a nephew of the renowned fiddler Tommy Peoples (1948-2018). These are his first solo CDs. There’s a live recording called ‘Fly By Night’ featuring concert performances by Seamus and his long-time playing partner Dermot Toland on guitar. The second CD is ‘The Dropper Bell’ featuring Seamus accompanied by Altan’s bouzouki player Ciarán Curran and Derry guitarist Ciaran O’Kane.

Seamus will play in the Friday night (August 4) concert at Halla Mhuire in Glencolmcille, which starts at 9pm. His new CDs will be available for sale at the door.