Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, the Irish cultural centre in Derry, is to host a major new Irish music festival next year.

Taking place over 8 days, from 31 January to 7 February, the Derry International Irish Music Festival will feature artists from Ireland, Scotland, Los Angeles and Cape Breton. 

Among the principal events is a ‘Transatlantic Sessions’ concert on 5 February under the artistic directorship of Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas and with a house band that features Michael McGoldrick and John McCusker. Singer Cara Dillon, who is from Derry, is one of several artists who will perform in the concert and is also the festival’s patron. 

Commenting on the launch of the inaugural festival, she said:

It would be impossible for me to overstate how proud I am to be patron of the festival… A festival of this kind has been long overdue in our corner of the world and I look forward to promoting it far and wide for years to come.

On 2 February, sean-nós singer and composer Lorcán MacMathúna will present his new work 1916 – Visionaries and their Words, an audiovisual experience of music, song and archive imagery. The work was one of 16 works selected by the Arts Council in August for its 2016 Centenary Programme.

Scottish singer-songwriter Adam Holmes and his group The Embers, the traditional group Flook, Hebridean singer Kathleen MacInnes, Dublin folk singer Daoirí Farrell, and fiddlers Liz Doherty, Bríd Harper, Josie Nugent and Séamus McGuire, will also feature in the festival, as well as new groups such as Connla, Talisk, Athrú and Four Winds.

During the week, Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin will launch its newly completed music academy, Acadamh Ceoil Chaoimhín Uí Dhochartaigh, with a concert to include a performance of Neil Martin’s composition, 100 Fiddles at 55° North.

The festival also features the premiere of Sasquatch, a musical theatre show based on the work of writer Gabriel Rosenstock. 

The festival is funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Derry City & Strabane District Council through the Derry Legacy Fund, which was established following Derry’s UK City of Culture year in 2013.

For further details, visit  http://bit.ly/1NE1ZE6