11:07 p.m.
“Celtic Reflection”
With TRIO OIRIALLA,
Music from Ireland & Brittany
TRIO OIRIALLA’S ONLY APPEARANCE IN ONTARIO!
Ottawa, ON 2012 – As falling leaves bring summer to a close, the resplendent music of
Ireland’s Oirialla ensemble will be enriching an already colourful city. Drawing on the
rich heritage of Ireland and Brittany, Oirialla will present their lively Celtic music in
two concerts on
Friday, October 12, at 7 and 9 pm at GigSpace, 953 Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa.
Tickets are $20 and should be reserved by calling GigSpace (613)729-0693.
Three-hour workshops will be given by Trio Oirialla’s renowned performers on Saturday,
October 13, from 9:30 am-12:30 pm for just $30.00.
To pre-register for these sessions, and for more information please phone (613) 729-0693
The Ottawa performance will just about complete Oirialla’s Canadian appearances at Cape
Breton’s Celtic Colours Festival as well as Waterloo’s (QC) Maison de la culture. The Trio
is brought to Ottawa by Celtic Harmonies International Festival. Composer and lover of all
things Celtic Donald Patriquin is producing the concerts in Ottawa and Quebec.
Trio Oirialla is comprised of fiddler Gerry O'Connor, accordionist Martin Quinn, and
Breton composer and guitarist Gilles le Bigot. All of the musicians making up Oirialla
are renowned in their own right, and perform frequently as soloists and ensemble players.
Their bios follow. For images, information and sound clips, please visit
http://gigspaceottawa.com/oirialla
Their music will showcase both Irish and Breton songs and tunes. Many of these come from
the ancient, mystical Irish kingdom of Oriel whose music has developed as an eclectic mix
of rhythms, melodies, and strong poetical lyrics.
The Oirialla trio may be heard in performance with Nuala Kennedy at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMfFDZCj9wY
www.gerryoconnor.net
Gerry O'Connor hails from Dundalk, a town close to the border with Northern Ireland,
and is the product of four generations of fiddle players. His past recordings have focused
strongly on local music and his work as a soloist and as a band member of Lá Lugh and
Skylark is well known across the world. Over the past two decades he has recorded and
performed with all the leading performers of the Irish music world including members of
the Chieftains, Boys of the Lough, Planxty, De Dannan and Bothy Band. His solo album
Journeyman has been hailed as one of the significant albums of Irish fiddle music. Gerry
is also a violin-maker, music teacher and music producer and is currently directing a
Traditional Music Initiative in a number of primary schools in the Drogheda area north of
Dublin on the east coast of Ireland.
Martin Quinn comes from a family of musicians and raconteurs of traditional stories from
just outside the village of Mullaghabane in South Armagh, in the north-east corner of
Ireland. He has performed and recorded with a number of eminent line-ups including Lá
Lugh, Dorsa, Josephine Keegan, Angelina Carberry, Paul Bradley and Cathal McConnell. His
self-titled album with Angelina Carberry was included in the top 10 list of Traditional
recordings by Earle Hitchner of the Irish Echo, a prominent newspaper within the
Irish-American community in USA. Martin has developed an innovative and unique approach to
playing the bass on the Button Accordion, developing and tuning new chords for the
instrument based on the regulators of the Uilleann Pipes. He is also in keen demand as an
accordion restorer and accordion tutor. www.reeltrad.com
Guitarist Gilles Le Bigot, is best known in Brittany as the co-founder of the groups
Skolvan and Barzaz. Since the early 1980's his work as guitar-player and composer is
characterized by the" open-tuning" style. Gilles recorded and performed with Lá
Lugh throughout the 1990s and has continued to work with Gerry O’Connor since that time
recording a duo album with him in 2006. As well as collaborating on several major
recordings such as " l'Héritage des Celtes" by Dan Ar Braz , and
"Azéliziza " by Le Bagad Kemper, he has performed and recorded with Kornog,
Slovan, Barzaz, Fiddle Rendezvous and his own trio line-up, Empreintes with Jean Michel
Veillon and Marthe Vassalo. www.gilleslebigot.com
For further information/interviews to do with the Oirialla concert kindly contact Donald
Patriquin at 450-297-2779; DonaldPatriquin(a)gmail.com