History of the Orchestra within an Irish traditional musical idiom
Speaker: Brian Ó Broin
Admission by Donation
The Fall Lecture Series at the Benevolent Irish Society returns for another year on October 23 with a talk by Brian Ó Broin, back from Ireland for ten days of touring on Prince Edward Island.
This lecture will deliver a brief history of the orchestra within an Irish traditional musical idiom, which is a concept seen as we know it only within the last 20 years. The Irish traditional orchestra has blossomed as a welcome innovation in a musical world steeped in intense tradition and history. Prefaced with the creation of Ceoltoiri Chualann in 1960, the first produced Traditional Orchestra Ceol Le Cheile was born in 1999, the form has developed all the way to the official National Folk Orchestra of Ireland, which still performs to this day, attracting massive crowds and filling city halls and arenas across Ireland. The traditional orchestra is now a staple of the Irish music community, with numerous adult and youth orchestras being produced and performed at a regional level, and it is one of the rare few innovations that has been accepted widely throughout the traditional music community.
Brian Ó Broin is an Irish traditional musician and singer from Ballincollig, Co. Cork, Ireland. He grew up steeped in music in the southern-most county of Ireland and has been teaching and performing Irish music from a very young age. Ó Broin has toured extensively throughout Ireland and abroad, having travelled across three continents with his music, playing for notable people such as the President of Ireland, the Irish ambassador to Canada and Uganda, and the Ugandan First Lady. Ó Broin has achieved All Ireland success both as a performer and a teacher across multiple disciplines and all age groups in the international Fleadh Cheoil competition, has worked as a composer, arranger, and teacher with a number of traditional orchestras, and is currently undertaking his 4th and final year of studies in the B.A. Irish Music and Dance in the World Irish Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick.
Future talks in this Lecture Series include Nollaig Bonar, Jim Hornby, Roy Johnstone, and Frank Dolan.
How I Spent My Summer Holidays: Learning the Irish language in the beauty of Connemara, Co. Galway.
Speaker: Nollaig Bonar
Admission by donation
Nollaig Bonar will give the second talk in the annual Fall Lecture Series at the Benevolent Irish Society on Wednesday, October 30, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.
The title of Nollaig’s talk is, with tongue in cheek, "How I Spent My Summer Holidays: Learning the Irish language in the beauty of Connemara, Co. Galway."
Born and reared in Dublin, Ireland, Nollaig emigrated to PEI at the age of 24 to work in the health care field. She took up Irish language classes with Gormlaith Maynes at UPEI last year and was delighted to receive a scholarship for a month’s Irish language immersion in the Connemara Gaeltacht.
She will discuss the experience of learning this ancient language and, with photographs, will describe the beauty of the landscape of this westerly coast.
Future talks in the Fall Lecture Series include Jim Hornby’s exploration of the Irish settlers on PEI from County Monaghan; Roy Johnstone’s appreciation of the blind Irish composer Turloch O’Carolan; and Frank Dolan’s suggestions for touring Ireland.
The Monaghan Settlers
Speaker: Jim Hornby
Admission by Donation
Jim Hornby will give the third talk in the annual Fall Lecture Series at the Benevolent Irish Society on Wednesday, November 6, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.
Jim Hornby is an Island historian, folklorist, musician and the author of two books and a number of articles, events and presentations relating to Island history.
Jim’s topic is “The Monaghan Settlers,” the largest and perhaps most distinct and inter-related group of Irish immigrants to PEI in the 19th century. Over three thousand people arrived by ship between 1830 and 1850, primarily settling in Queens County, including along the Monaghan Road. They had a profound influence on Island public life—and also provoked strong negative reactions at times, such as implied in the expression “dogs and Monaghans.”
The two remaining talks in the Fall Lecture Series include Roy Johnstone’s appreciation of the blind Irish composer Turloch O’Carolan (November 20), and Frank Dolan’s suggestions for touring Ireland (November 27).