Séamus McGuire viola/fiddle
Niamh Varian-Barry viola/fiddle/voice
Gerry O’ Beirne voice/guitar
A compelling new Music Network collaboration featuring the rich and mellow sound of violas in traditional music.
Curiosity, virtuosity and a deep understanding of the Irish tradition are just some of the things that unite this trio of fine musicians. A new musical force to be reckoned with, their performances on this Music Network tour will explore traditional grooves, great melody and the beautiful sonority of violas in traditional music.
Niamh is a fiddle and viola player, composer, and former lead singer with Solas. A founding member of the Irish Memory Orchestra, she is one of the select few who can cross easily between classical and folk. Likewise with Séamus Mcguire, who brings all the richness of the viola to his traditional tunes and his sumptuous compositions for the West Ocean String Quartet and the band Buttons and Bows. The go-to guitarist of choice for so many musicians, Gerry O’Beirne brings to the trio his massive breadth of expertise in so many genres and a glorious voice to boot.
Audiences can look forward to hearing captivating arrangements of songs and instrumentals and a brand new Music Network commission by these wonderful musicians.
“Séamus McGuire’s supple tone was a delight, his instrument tracing shapes every bit as distinctive as anything John Coltrane, Ben Webster or Martin Hayes have created” – The Irish Times
“A simply wonderful musician” - FolkWorld [on Niamh Varian-Barry]
“The playing of O’Beirne is superlative and subtle beyond words.” The Sunday Times
Gerry O’Beirne - biography
Born in Ennis, Gerry O’Beirne is a renowned singer-songwriter, and guitarist (6 and 12 string guitars, tiple, ukulele, slide guitar, kora and many others). Nominated for Song of the Year at the Folk Awards 2019 for his song “All Down The Day”, his own compositions blend the passion of folk music with the freshness of contemporary song.
Gerry has toured the globe as a solo artist and with Patrick Street, Midnight Well, Andy M. Stewart, Kevin Burke, Andy Irvine, The Waterboys and Sharon Shannon. He has performed at the White House, opened for the Grateful Dead, played electric guitar with Marianne Faithfull and appeared on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion.
His first solo album Half Moon Bay featured “The Holy Ground”, “Half Moon Bay”, “Western Highway” and “The Shades of Gloria” which have been sung by Maura O’Connell, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Mary Black and others. His second album The Bog Bodies And Other Stories: Music For Guitar was named CD of the Month on the American radio show Echoes, and one of its essential albums of the year. Gerry performs a gorgeous new collection of songs and guitar pieces on his new album Swimming The Horses and is receiving widespread praise for his “magisterial guitar artistry and gently passionate singing voice” (The Living Tradition).
Lately, he has been working with New York composer Peter Gordon on a recording of the music of avant garde composer Arthur Russell, and has also been recording with Peter and Tim Burgess of the Charlatans. He has arranged and produced albums for many artists, most recently for Éilís Kennedy’s album So Ends This Day which was shortlisted for 2020 album of the year at the RTE Folk awards in Ireland.
Watch/Listen:
Gerry O'Beirne with performing "The Last King of Feothanach" on FleadhTV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__aFTecNrTc
Niamh Varian-Barry – Biography
Former lead singer of American supergroup Solas and multi-instrumentalist Niamh Varian-Barry is a musician and composer from Cork city with a unique and individual style. She has a reputation as an exceptional communicator of the arts. Her powerful vocals have been praised world-wide and she is a trained viola and fiddle player, holding a Masters in Music Performance from the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
She is a founding member and leader of Dave Flynn’s Irish Memory Orchestra and the Kerry Scotia Ensemble and has shared the stage with Martin Hayes, Máirtín O’Connor, Rhiannon Giddens, Béla Fleck, Dick Gaughan, Lúnasa, Altan, Natalie Haas, Dirk Powell, Josh Ritter, Katherine Jenkins and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. She is also a featured soloist in the groundbreaking dance music project SuperCéilí with Peter Staunton. Niamh has appeared at many prestigious venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall while festival and TV appearances include Celtic Connections, Féile na Bealtaine, West Cork Chamber Music Festival , The Late Late Show and Other Voices.
Drawing from her background and experience spanning numerous genres, she has written, “songs and tunes that effortlessly bridge traditional Irish, classical music and contemporary songwriting” (FolkWorld). Her debut solo album, Wings, released to critical acclaim in 2018, showcases her wide variety of skills, from intimate vocals to cinematic orchestral arrangements in self-composed songs and tunes. It is a marriage of her heart-felt passion, creative imagination, and technical skill.
Niamh now resides in Dingle, Co. Kerry where she is an active member of the vibrant musical community. She is in demand as an orchestrator and arranger to artists such as Walking On Cars and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh.
Listen: Commissioned by Music Network in April 2020 to write a new traditional Irish composition for viola trio: "Waiting for the Numbers".
https://niamhvbmusic.bandcamp.com/track/waiting-for-the-numbers
Séamus McGuire – biography
Born in the traditional Irish music heartland of south county Sligo, Séamus McGuire grew up in a family which nurtured both traditional and classical music. As a member of Buttons and Bows, he has released such critically acclaimed albums as The First Month of Summer, Gracenotes and The Return of Spring. His release with Leitrim flute-player John Lee and the late Arty McGlynn, The Missing Reel, is regarded as essential to any collection of Irish traditional music recordings.
He has become well-known and respected world-wide as a member of The West Ocean String Quartet, whose recordings have been played as far away as on the international space station as it circled the globe! The quartet performed at The Royal Albert Hall, London, in Ceiliúradh, a celebration of President Michael D Higgins’ historic visit to the United Kingdom in 2014 and won Traditional Album of the Year award in The Irish Times the same year. Their album An Indigo Sky received a 5-star review in The Ticket and The Irish Times. Atlantic Edge, their most recent album was listed in the end-of-year reviews as one of the top 5 traditional albums of 2020.
Other collaborations of note include performances with the traditional singer Iarla Ó Lionáird (BBC 2 NI 2020, FleadhFest TG4), Oileán na Marbh song cycle with Maighread Ni Dhomhnaill, The Guiding Moon with Matt Molloy, The Brendan Voyage with Liam O’Flynn and the West Ocean String Quartet, Dingle, Folk Tale album with Christy Moore, Spirit album with Dervish and “The Minstrel Boy & Silent O Moyle” with Eimear Quinn.
A highly respected composer, Seamus was virtual artist-in-residence at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny in June 2020 which involved recording and posting a tune each day for two weeks.
Seamus McGuire with Steve Cooney performing in Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny.
[Listen from 23.40]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJdQPUSWHLA&t=1753s