Belfast TradFest presents in association with Sound of Belfast Festival

Masterclass in Flute, Fiddle, Guitar & Traditional Singing with Barry Kerr, Laura Kerr, Donogh Hennessy & Méabh Meir

Date: Friday 17th Nov

Doors: 16:00 - 17:30

Tickets: £15

Venue: The Oh Yeah Music Centre,

Address: 15-21 Gordon St, Belfast BT1 2LG

The primary means of teaching and learning will be ‘by ear’ with an emphasis on assisting pupils to develop oral/aural skills in addition to instrumental competency and developing core repertoire. This workshop is designed for intermediate to advanced (minimum 2 years instrument experience) adults and children over 10 years of age.

Barry Kerr is one of Ireland’s most accomplished artists. As a highly regarded singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and painter he is extremely prolific in his creative output. Having recorded his first album at the age of seventeen he has gone on to tour the world as a solo artist and has been equally at home sharing the stage in the company of artists such as Cara Dillon, Dan Tyminski, Lumiere, Dervish and Steve Cooney.

Laura Kerr is a highly regarded fiddle player from Lurgan, Co. Armagh. In 2018 she released a widely acclaimed duet album, Castor Bay, with her brother Barry and has recorded as a guest musician on a long list of traditional Irish music albums. Laura’s driving northern fiddle style and her tasteful accompaniment of songs is testament to the musical household she grew up in where her parents’ family pub, The Céilí House, played patron to some of Ireland’s finest musicians. Whilst living in Dingle, Co Kerry for almost ten years, she was a member of Séamus Begley’s Síbín Orchestra and she has appeared on and indeed presented TV and Radio programmes on RTÉ, TG4 and BBC.

Donogh Hennessy is a guitarist, composer, music producer and studio engineer who has been working mostly with Irish traditional and folk music best known for his recorded and live work with artists like Lúnasa, Sharon Shannon, Lumiere & Seamus Begley.

Meabh Meir is a traditional singer from Belfast and member of four part harmony traditional vocal group Landless whose second album is due for release this year. Since moving home to Belfast from Dublin she has gravitated more towards songs and singers from her native Ulster and she now teaches traditional singing classes for Belfast Trad. She co-founded Belfast Singing Circle, Belfast city’s first open unaccompanied traditional singing circle. Landless have performed throughout Ireland and abroad, most recently at Tradition Now at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Belfast’s TradFest 2023, and Hartlepool Folk Festival 2023. Meabh’s recent solo performances include collaborations with Array Collective for their winning Turner Prize project, at Cavan Arts Festival 2023, and at the Ulster Museum, Belfast.