Music Network

Traditional Irish music fans can anticipate an exciting night of high calibre entertainment at a concert in Siamsa Tire in Tralee, this Sunday 13th May. The concert carries the title of Traditional Irish Tour: Music and Song from Coast to Coast.

This performance will feature four exceptionally talented musicians - Maeve Donnelly, Peadar O'Loughlin, Ronan Browne and Sean Corcoran. All four are veterans of the Irish music scene and all four have had outstanding musical achievements, both as individuals and in collaboration with others.

Maeve Donnelly, fiddle player, founded well-loved ceili band Moving Cloud. Maeve, who has won many All-Ireland Fiddle competitions, brings a rare quality to her playing. "Passionate, virtuosic, memorable: this is the fiddle music of Maeve Donnelly" (The Wall Street Journal).

Peadar O'Loughlin, whose highly acclaimed duet album The Thing Itself was recorded with Maeve, plays flute, fiddle and uilleann pipes and has been a prominent force in Irish music since the late 1940's. He played on the highly influential 1959 LP "All-Ireland Champions - Violin",which was one of the first LPs of Irish traditional music. He has also performed in the Tulla Ceili Band and Kilfenora Ceili Band.

Ronan Browne is a master of the uilleann pipes who has an international reputation both as a concert performer and a session musician. He began playing the pipes at the age of seven and was fortunate enough to have the famous County Clare piper Willlie Clancy as one of his teachers. He went on to become the original piper with the seminal Afro Celt Sound System and is also the piper on the original recording of Riverdance.

Sean Corcoran is gifted with a remarkable and rich tenor voice that has lead to him working with, among others, Phil Lynott and Paul Brady. Like Ronan he has been involved with the Afro Celt Sound System, where he re-works traditional vocal styles in imaginative new ways, and Riverdance. Sean has toured major festivals and theatres in Europe, North America and Japan.

The combination of these four highly talented musicians guarantees a joyous occasion for all discerning traditional music lovers in Kerry. This impressive line-up is a Music Network presentation and is thus in keeping with Music Network's consistently high standards.

Formed in 1986 by the Arts Council, Music Network's aim is "to make live music of the highest quality available and accessible to everyone in the country, regardless of their location or circumstance, while supporting the career development of highly skilled Irish and international artists."

This is a noble ethos and one deserving of support so come along and make the most of this excellent opportunity. The concert starts at 8.00pm. Tickets are just 15 euro, with concessions selling for 13 euro.

The Music Network website is full of information on all its activities, such as its excellent Music in Healthcare programme. It's well worth a visit. That's www.musicnetwork.ie