MUSIC Westport Arts Festival celebrates Irish/Spanish heritage

Spanish and Irish heritage celebrated in special concert


Henry McGlade

A very special evening indeed is planned for Holy Trinity Church this Saturday evening, October 2,  at 8.30pm as part of Westport Arts Festival. Some of Ireland’s premier musicians are coming together to produce a magnificant concert of Irish traditional songs and tunes mixed with Spanish folk music. These are songs that tell the tale of rebellion and uprising, passion and devotion from 1798 to 1916.
Traditional Irish masters Johnny McCarthy and Pat Crowley have joined with soprano Emma Kate Tobia and classical guitarist Jerry Creedon to produce a show that will lift the heart with powerful stories of our heritage and its intersection with that of our Spanish neighbours.
On the set list are such well-loved songs as ‘Róisín Dubh’, ‘Óró Sé Do Bheath ‘Bhaile’, ‘The Spanish Lady’, ‘MnΡ na hEireann’ along with folk songs such as ‘Cancion’, ‘El Pano Moruno’ and many more.
All of these pieces have been arranged by the musicians specifically for these concerts, and their combined expertise adds a unique flavour to the music.
Singer Emma-Kate Tobia hails from Westport and now lives in Kinsale, Co Cork.
A classically trained soprano, she melds her pure lyrical voice with the timeless melodies of her Irish heritage. She is a multiple-award-winning artist who has a real grΡ for Irish songs, which is reflected in her Debut CD, ‘Aisling na nGael’ (‘An Irish Dream’). The CD is a combination of classical and traditional songs mostly sung as Gaeilge. Her second album, which she is recording this year,  will include some new, unrecorded songs by some of Irelands finest songwriters written especially for her.
To book tickets (€15 each) for this or any other show in the Westport Arts Festival, email booking@westportartsfestival.com or call 087 4120176. See news pages for more coverage of the festival, and for a full programme of events visit www.westportartsfestival.org.