The National Concert Hall and the Irish Traditional Music Archive have announced a concert to celebrate the music of piper Liam O’Flynn, who died in 2018. ‘Drawing from the Well: The Liam O’Flynn Collection’ will take place on 15 March at the NCH and will feature a line-up of traditional musicians drawing on O’Flynn’s archive collection at ITMA.

The Liam O’Flynn collection represents the life and work of the musician, including his many collaborations with other musicians and artists, such as Seamus Heaney. It includes sound and video recordings, published books and periodicals, photographs, musical scores, letters, newspaper clippings, research notes, posters, flyers, and more. The collection was the focus of the first episode of ITMA’s online Drawing From the Well series, featuring piper and flute-player Louise Mulcahy. 

The concert in March will focus on the featured musicians’ connections with O’Flynn, including fiddle player Seán Keane – who collaborated with O’Flynn for over 40 years – performing with piper Pádraic Mac Mathúna who will play the Séamus Ennis set of pipes given to him by O’Flynn. Mulcahy will also perform on a set of B-pitched pipes played by O’Flynn; and piper, composer and flute player Barry Kerr will reflect on his time as the recipient of the Liam O’Flynn Award, which is presented by the Arts Council and the National Concert Hall.

The concert will also include performances from Mary Bergin, Matt Molloy, Noel Hill, Paddy Glackin, piper Sorcha Ní Scolaí, cellist Neil Martin, Laoise Kelly, bouzouki player Noel O’Grady, piper Colm Broderick, fiddle player Tony Linnane, Mick Conneely on bouzouki, and harper and sean-nós singer Síle Denvir. 

There will also be excerpts of spoken word from the Liam O’Flynn Collection, delivered on the night by actor Stephen Rea. 

Speaking about the event, ITMA Director Liam O’Connor said: 

ITMA’s artistic programming is imbued with the philosophy of connecting artists with archival material to inspire new art. This specially curated concert sees a host of leading traditional musicians and singers connect with the master piper’s archive as their source of inspiration.

Also announced as part of the NCH’s spring 2022 programme are concerts featuring folk singer Lisa O’Neill and Christy Moore. O’Neill has curated an event – ‘Tones that are Tender and Tones that are Gruff’, taking pace on 20 March – during which she will perform with alt-folk singer-songwriter Séamus Fogarty, pianist, vocalist and composer Ruth Mahon-Brady, and folk band from Dublin, Kú. On 19 April and 8 May, Christy Moore will perform a programme of songs from his back catalogue, from 1969’s Paddy on the Road  to Flying into Mystery from last year.  

For further information, visit: www.nch.ie.