LÁ NA CRUITE | HARP DAY 2021

Lá na Cruite, Harp Day 2021 takes place on Saturday 16th October where harpers all over the world will celebrate Ireland’s 1,000-year-old harping tradition. Harp Day 2021 combines live events and online broadcasts on Facebook (facebook.com/cruiteireann) and on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/c/HarpIreland). See https://www.harpireland.ie/harp-day-2021-schedule/ for the full schedule of live and online events.

This year’s theme is HARPS ALIVE; our response to the beauty of the world around us over the past 18 months, when we paused to listen and to look around; hearing bird song, getting out and about, walking on our beautiful hills and coastal areas, and relating to nature with fresh eyes.

Our 'Harpers’ Call' will feature videos from harpers in Ireland and all over the world, in their favourite outdoor settings: on hills, beside lakes, on the coast, in forests and even in their own back gardens.

Our highlights this year include :

● Our Humans of the Harp series is our take on the Humans of New York photoblog and book of street portraits and interviews collected on the streets of New York City. It aims to build momentum for Lá na Cruite | Harp Day by highlighting some of Cruit Éireann | Harp Ireland’s most familiar faces and hearing their stories. it is featuring on our social media platforms in the run up to Lá na Cruite | Harp Day.

● A CÉHI commission for harp and aerialist where pioneering harper Aisling Ennis joins with aerialist Emily Love to present a work of startling beauty called An Ghiorria (The Hare).

● A collaboration with Music Generation Cork teams Louth harper Donncha Hughes with a group of vibrant young rap artists from the Kabin − a 21st century interpretation of the ancient relationship between the harper and the poet.

● The intrepid Music Generation Louth harp ensemble, led by Deirdre Ní Bhuachalla, set sail on Carlingford Lough with 7 harps and fiddle player (Zoe Conway and John McIntyre, guitar) to perform Ómós do Shéamuis, composed in memory of Seamus Heaney.

● Harp Trios and harp duos take to the stage in Belfast and Derry showing the harp’s ever-growing popularity in the north.

● All the way from the US comes the Monarch Project; an ambitious pre-recorded project from harpers there, inspired by the Monarch butterfly’s tripartite, migratory-life cycle and composed by award-winning early harper, Ann Heyman and arranged by harper Marta Cook.

● An emerging voice on the Irish and international scene, singer and songwriter Seán Lyons joins forces with Clare harper Aisling Lyons, also fast making a name for herself in the harping world.

● The Alpine Garden at Sligo’s Lissadell House inspires a special performance of harper Michael Rooney’s Lissadell: A suite of music commemorating and reflecting on the significant legacy of Constance Markievicz, one of the Gore-Booth sisters, immortalised in the poem by WB Yeats.

● Prepare to have your curiosity whetted when you see art and technology collide at a performance of early harp, modern Irish Harp and laser harp in the harmonious setting of UCD’s Evolution Garden showing the development of the harping tradition over the past 1000 years with the spotlight on the laser harp; a collaboration between Intel, UCD Explore and Harp Ireland.

● Our partners at the US Somerset Harp Festival, led by Kathy Di Angelo are planning to join with us in a play-along anchored by Irish harpers Cormac De Barra, Gráinne Hambly and Billy Jackson in Ireland and well-known American harpers.

● The Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) marks Lá na Cruite Harp Day with a specially commissioned illustrated documentary about the collection of renowned harper, Gráinne Yeats and its unfolding riches.

● Our not to be missed spectacular online finale concert, 'Harps from all Corners', stars our most renowned harpers who never fail to captivate audiences.