Clancy Brothers Music Festival Events

Thursday 12th June 2008

The Ormonde Castle

Join us at  The Ormonde Castle for an enchanting evening of music and song in the presence of solo harpist Siobhan Armstrong and Sean Nos singer Roision Elsafty.

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Roision Elsafty: Roisin comes from Connemara in the west of Ireland. She has sung since childhood, inspired by her mother, Treasa Ni Cheannabhain-Elsafty. Teresa taught her amhran ar an sean-nos or old Style singing and Roisin has gone on to teach this in her own right. This is the age old art of traditional Irish singing, in a solo a capella style. Sean-Nos songs can be very ancient and have been handed down through the generations and from district to district.

She has travelled vastly throughout Europe performing and has built up many friendships and worked on collaborations with the likes of Donal Lunny and the RTE Concert Orchestra and collaborations with the solo harpist Siobhan Armstrong.

Roision's first solo recording, Ma Bhionn Tu Liom Bi Liom was released to wide acclaim in 2007.

Siobhan Armstrong: Siobhan's father comes from Thurles,she was born in Dublin, where as a child she studied modern Irish harp, piano and voice; she also sang with coral groups and cathedral choirs from an early age. She received her honours degree in musicology at Trinity College Dublin in 1987 when she was invited to travel to Germany to establish a harp class at the Schule fur Musik, theatre and tanz in Stuttgart. She has traveled widley around the world performing at some renowned venues because of her great talent. She now resides in Carrick-on-Suir.

She is one of very few harpists around the world that play harps from earlier centuries, she plays a copy of the medieval Trinity College Harp - the national emblem of Ireland strung in Brass and 18-carat gold.

Her new Solo recording on this instrument  - Clairseach na hEireann/ The Harp of Ireland - was released in December 2004.