“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