The String Sisters.

Between 26 June and 1 July Derry city and towns in County Donegal will play host to, for its first time in Ireland, the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention. Over two hundred events will showcase the music and dance traditions of Ireland, Scotland, Shetland, Orkney, England, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Galicia, Canada and the United States. Performers, academics, teachers and enthusiasts from a range of traditions all over the world will be offered six days of events including talks, lectures, workshops, masterclasses, concerts, tours, a trade fair, and premier performances of a series of new works specially commissioned by NAFCo Donegal Derry.

The concert programme includes performances by among others the Chieftains, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill, Frikar (Norway), Tommy Peoples, Zoe Conway, Nollaig Ní Chathasaigh, Lau (Scotland), 4 Men and A Dog, Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas (Canada), Fidil, Liz Carroll (USA), Pierre Schryer (Canada), the Henry Girls, Oh My Darling (Canada), Chris Stout and Catriona McKay (Scotland).

The 2012 Conference Convenor is fiddle player Dr. Liz Doherty, lecturer in traditional music at University of Ulster. Along with Liz Carroll, Liz Knowles, Catriona MacDonald, Annbjorg Lien, Doherty herself will perform as part of the occasional ensemble, the String Sisters, at An Grianán Theatre on Friday, 29 June, in an event called Women of the Fiddle. They perform with a Scottish-Norwegian rhythm section consisting of David Milligan, James Mackintosh, Conrad Ivitsky and Tore Bruvell. The concert also features the Wrigleys from Orkney, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan (England/Australia) and Andrea Beaton, Janine Randall, Dawn and Margie Beaton (Cape Breton, Canada).

nafco2012.com