The Bird Song Project
The Bird Song Project is a celebration of traditional songs about birds devised and produced by Michael Fortune and Aileen Lambert for the 2015 Bealtaine Festival. Throughout the month of May, thirty-three older traditional singers performed at five concerts across the country, whilst sixteen traditional singing circles, from Wexford to Derry, also participated by hosting their own ‘Bird Song’ night. A recent count confirmed that between the 1st and 31st of May 2015, over 500 traditional songs were sung in Ireland that featured birds in them, as a result of this project. Tonight five of these singers have come together to perform a once-off, unique concert as part of a double-bill with West Cork’s Starling Song Project. The five singers are Tim Dennehy, Máire Ní Chéileachair, Tim Lyons, Jackie Boyce and Maurice Leyden. This is a truly unmissable event and a must-see for all lovers of song.
The Starling Song Project
Liz Clark with Deirdre Archbold, Christine Deady and Paula K O’Brien
The Starling Song Project is a collaborative songwriting project with older people developed by Liz Clark through the Arts For Health Partnership Programme in eleven different healthcare settings across West Cork. Artists and participants share life and musical experiences, ideas and aspirations. Liz then introduces melody to the conversation and lyrics and musical compositions are formed. These songs celebrate a way of life that is disappearing, voiced by the people who experienced it. Tonight Liz is joined by three other singers on stage to bring four-part harmony and various instrumentation to these heart-felt pieces.