*Paul Dooley and Kseniya Rusnak.
JUST THE TWO a new series of traditional and folk music concerts, curated by Paula Carroll is headed for glór this autumn.
Four pairs will perform every second Thursday night from September into October, beginning on Thursday September 1st and concluding on October 13th with an 8pm start time.
Ennistymon based Paul Dooley and Kyiv’s Kseniya Rusnak who is now living in Lisdoonvarna are the first act to take to the stage. Paul is one of the leading exponents of the Irish harp in its historical form and style, using a metal-strung harp, playing with the fingernails and achieving the distinctive medieval sound that metal strings bring. He has studied the construction of medieval Irish harps and has built several harps.
Kseniya plays harp and bandura – a type of lute or zither which is considered the national musical instrument of Ukraine. A classical as well as folk musician, she taught at the Kyiv Conservatory of Music before her departure from Ukraine. She began her collaboration with Paul Dooley earlier this year and wowed audiences at the Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay this July.
Elaine Hogan a harper from Ennis and Ballynacally fiddle player Sheila Garry team up on September 15th. Both women are graduates of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. Elaine has produced three albums to date while Sheila has appeared on several albums, most notably her collaboration with Elaine on the acclaimed ‘The Shores of Lough Breda’.
For the penultimate concert, it’s a Miltown Malbay double act with the collaboration of Therese McInerney, a fiddle player and singer with flute and whistle player, Marian Curtin. A presenter with Clare FM and Tipp FM, Therese has been on the production teams of several music series on TG4 and RTÉ. Her second studio album ‘The Youth That Belonged To Miltown’ is a collaboration with Marian for whom it was her first album.
Seamus Ó Flatharta and Caoimhe Ní Fhlatharta, a young brother and sister duo from An Áird Mhóir, in Connemara exploded on the Irish music scene in 2020 with their unique renditions of the sean nós song canon of their native area. They bring the series to a close on October 13th in what will be their first appearance at glór.
Feakle based Paula told The Clare Echo of the series, “It explores the power of the pair in traditional music and song. If the solo voice is where we find the authentic expression of traditional music, then the duo is where we see musical communication at its most creative. When two musicians really understand each other, we witness an almost indescribable ‘flow’ between them. For this series we have invited musicians to perform for us and to try to describe that process”.
