End of Semester One!

This week marks the end of my first semester at the University of Limerick! The end of term requirements included a solo performance, an ensemble performance, a performance accompanying vocal ensemble, an assessment of a new short harp and dance piece, two presentations, and a few written assignments. I'm looking forward to the break and coming back in January for round two! Thanks again to the people who supported my studies here this term: The Conservatory, Arts Nova Scotia, The Charitable Irish Society, and my friends and family.

Darkest Midnight

Today at lunchtime, the Irish World Academy presented a fundraising concert in support of Rape Crisis Midwest. I joined songwriter Aoife McAtamney and countertenor Ivon to premiere Aoife's beautiful song "Orange", arranged for voice, harp, and piano.

TradicijaNova

This weekend, all the masters students in Irish Traditional Music and Dance from UL traveled to Serbia for the TradicijaNova Summit in Belgrade. The trip involved three amazing days in the city and a performance in the beautiful theatre space Atelje 212. We had the chance to catch a few other dance performances and events at the summit and to explore some historic parts of Belgrade.

Belgrade Fortress

the performers backstage

performance photo by Jelena Janković

Limerick Fling

Last week I had the new and exciting experience of performing with aerial dancers Jennifer de Brún and Emma Poole from Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre as part of the University's "Limerick Fling". The evening featured a variety of dancers and musicians from the University and surrounding community. 

photo by Oisin McHugh

National Harp Day

Today was National Harp Day in Ireland, with free events taking place all across the country. At the University of Limerick, ten of us got together at the Contemplative Centre on campus for a small harp concert. It was exciting to see the variety of harp players in the area! 

Lute Songs with Victoria Fraser

Yesterday I was part of a lunchtime concert at the University Limerick, my first performance there. American soprano Victoria Fraser and I performed "Come Again Sweet Love" by John Dowland and "Have you seen but a bright lily grow?" by Ben Johnson. The concert featured international students of the university.

Music Nova Scotia Nominations, 2018

I am excited to see that four beautiful albums I was part of this year have made their way on to the Music Nova Scotia Nominations list!

New Hermitage One for Jazz Recording of the Year

India Gailey's Lucid for Classical Recording of the Year

Dusty Keleher's Way to Grace for Folk Recording of the Year

Jeremy Finney's Tip the Bottle for Traditional/Roots Recording of the Year

You can see the full list of nominees here: http://musicnovascotia.ca/content/hillsburn-receives-six-music-nova-scotia-award-nominations-garrett-mason-jodi-guthro-port

University of Limerick

This week I will begin a year of study at the University of Limerick in Irish music performance! I am very grateful to Arts Nova Scotia, the Maritime Conservatory, the Charitable Irish Society, and a generous anonymous donor for their kind support of this endeavour!

Violin and Harp in Sandy Cove

It was a treat last week to be back in Sandy Cove with visiting UK-based violinist Hartmut Richter at the Cove Music Series, presenting another eclectic program based on our shared and diverse interests! Harti and I played for the series back in 2015 and were so happy to have another chance to perform in that community.

Ragged Robin at the Lunenburg Fisheries Museum

Erin and I were very pleased to perform in beautiful Lunenburg on August 15th for an outdoor concert series hosted by the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic!

Eurythmy by the Sea

I was delighted join the Eurythmists once again in Seaforth Community Centre for the final day of "Eurythmy by the Sea". Thanks to Margaret and Arthur for facilitating this collaboration! 

Burnwater: Alchemy at the Ship's Company Theatre

Burnwater: Alchemy went on tour this week to Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, for some performances at the Ship's Company Theatre. It was great to be back with this crew again!

Canadian International Summer Harp Institute

My week spent at the Canadian International Summer Harp Institute (CISHI) in Caroline, Alberta, was a wonderfully intense and inspiring time. It was such a blast to work and perform with the fellow faculty - Gianetta Baril, Judy Loman, and Julia Kay Jamieson. The students were all fantastic, and presented a very fine recital on the final day. Many thanks to Gianetta and the whole CISHI community for the warmest welcome!

faculty concert

Traditional tunes at the West Dublin Hall

I was back in West Dublin yesterday for an impromptu intimate acoustic concert of traditional Irish, Galician, Cape Breton, and Breton tunes with the incomparable Jude and Charlie of Pennybrook. 

Ragged Robin at Tuesday Tunes

Erin and I were so pleased to be back at Tuesday Tunes last night for the fourth time, sharing some new repertoire with a wonderful audience down at the Maritime Museum! These free concerts  continue throughout the summer, every Tuesday evening: maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/events

Summer Weddings

The summer wedding season kicked off for me yesterday with a lovely sparkly wedding at the Westin Hotel. Looking forward to weddings coming up at Peggy's Cove, Liscomb Lodge, and The Old Orchard Inn!

Tudor Music

I joined Aureas Voces yesterday for an afternoon concert of Tudor vocal music at St. David's church. This new early music ensemble performed some of the most beautiful repertoire for both vocal ensemble and soloists by Dowland, Campion, Daniels, Byrd, Gibbons, and Tallis. The harp took on the role of an accompanying lute during the solo selections.

 Ah Dear Heart - Orlando Gibbons

My Love Hath Vow'd - Thomas Campion

End of term at the Conservatory

This week marked the last week of lessons at the Conservatory! This afternoon's small but mighty final harp recital featured student performances of traditional tunes, as well as works by Sharlene Wallace, Alphonse Hasselmans, Wendy Stewart, and Ruth K. Inglefield. 

All Harps Rise

It was a treat last night to hear so many of my favourite harpists at the All Harps Rise fundraising concert. Organized by Cheryl Reid O'Hagan to support the creation of a new harp festival in October, the concert featured Cheryl, Alys Howe, Ardyth and Jennifer, Saeed Foroughi, Isabelle Gagnon, Maeve, Cameron Good, Tara Ehler, Lydia Maksym, and Eadaoin McGrath, as well as some large group harp pieces with 20+ harpists, pipes, organ, and flutes. Erin and I were very happy to be part of it!

the view from the back of the harp flotilla, photo by Leigh Beauchamp Day

New Hermitage Tour + OBEY Convention

Starting at the CNMN, the New Hermitage spring tour continued with performances in Montreal, Fredericton, Saint John, Wolfville, Halifax, and Sackville. Over the course of the tour we shared shows with an amazing range of artists: Egyptian Cotton Arkestra, S,P-L,L, Sunday Synth Spa, Northern Apparatus, Wrote, Liu Fang, and id m theft able. The last two shows were under the umbrella of the OBEY Convention, which continues over the next few days with a packed lineup of free and PWYC shows and workshops. It has been a whirlwind week and a joy to travel and play with this crew!

CNMN Forum 2018

From May 18-20, New Hermitage traveled to Victoriaville and Montreal to participate in the Canadian New Music Network Forum 2018. The forum's focus for this year was inter-arts practice and we attended an inspiring array of presentations and discussions on the topic. As part of the forum, New Hermitage presented two early morning soundwalks - one in each city.

the last stop on our Montreal soundwalk - Melvin Charney's architectural garden

Halifax view

The best view yet from the harp, at a party in Dartmouth:

Tip the Bottle CD Launch

In the second CD launch of the weekend, Jeremy Finney released his debut album "Tip the Bottle" yesterday evening at the Old Triangle. The album contains an awesome array of brand new fiddle tunes, and I play on one very beautiful composition of Jeremy's: Stony Brook, the first tune of the second track: https://jeremyfinneymusic.com/track/1455465/the-daydream

Check out the whole album, or purchase it here: jeremyfinneymusic.com/album/747942/tip-the-bottle ! 

Pennybrook album release and farewell show

Pennybrook released their new album "This Old House" at the West Dublin Hall last night. Heather Cameron (fiddle) and myself joined them for the second set of the evening. They've written lots of fantastic original tunes and the album also features traditional and cover songs with gorgeous harmonies. Last night may be their last concert together for some time and so the evening was also a celebration of their time together over the past years. 

Rachel Taylor Voice Recital

Rachel Taylor performed a spectacular recital last night at St. Andrew's church. It was the final performance of her music degree at Dalhousie and it was a treat to join her for a piece for soprano and harp by Isabella Colbran.

Video from West Dublin Concert

Mark Currie and I just received some video footage from our concert back in October at the West Dublin Community Hall. Many thanks to Jude and Jim for your audio and video expertise! Here is a set of reels (more to come):

Mirror of the Heart in Lunenburg

On Saturday night in Lunenburg the Manning Chapel Choir performed its Mirror of the Heart repertoire for the second time. Central United Church is an acoustically beautiful place to perform and was the perfect location for the final concert of the Chapel Choir's season. Thank you to John Scott and the members of the fabulous choir for including me in these concerts!

New Hermitage and Jeff Reilly

On Friday evening, New Hermitage performed at the Halifax Music Co-op with special guest Jeff Reilly on bass clarinet. It was our first time in that excellent venue! Poster art by Andrew MacKelvie.

Andrew and Ross at the soundcheck

Nourish NS

Last night I was introduced to Nourish NS, a great organization that helps to bring healthy breakfast programs and vegetable gardens to schools across the province, among other initiatives. I was very pleased to play at their spring supper! You can read about their work here: nourishns.ca

Student Recitals

Harp students played in a couple of lovely recitals this week. On Friday at Acadia, a combined guitar and harp recital, and on Saturday at the Conservatory, a junior recital open to all instruments. Congratulations to all the performers!

tuning up for the recital at Manning Chapel

Mirror of the Heart

This past Friday evening, I had the pleasure of playing with the Manning Chapel choir in their concert, Mirror of the Heart. The program included Holst's "Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda" for harp and women's voices. This concert will be repeated on April 14th in Lunenburg!

photos by Krystol Bell Photography