Mike's Harp Adventures: Cairde Na Cruite

After running around Ireland and checking out the sights for 10 days, it was time to settle in for the week at An Grianán for the Cairde Na Cruite Harp Festival.

When we arrived we were asked to audition for placement with a teacher, then we played in an opening student concert and session. The weather was cool and perfect.

Then the special guests from Colombia played for us. They were here all week and were sooo good!

Triona Marshal from The Chieftans played the opening concert with a beautiful performance combining musical sensitivity in Irish style and a dazzling display of virtuosity. Jo Ellen and I were blown away. She was very nice too. We bought her CD and chatted a bit.

The next morning we got to find out who would be our daily teacher. I usually study with Grainne Hambly, but since I have studied with her so much in the US and came all the way to Ireland, it made sense to get someone different. At the opening audition, they asked me what I wanted to do and I said to bring back as many tunes as possible to play, record, and teach my students. I got Cormac De Barra as my tutor for the week. Holy smokes! We learned 5 tunes the first day.

The evening concerts were great. Michael Rooney and June McCormack, a staff concert, Cormac DeBarra and Moya Brennan’s Group, Máire Ní Chathasaigh and Michael Newman’s group, Triona Marshall, the Columbian trio, several guest soloists and accompanists, and the staff all performed.

Grainne gave a workshop for all of us.

And Máire Ní Chathasaigh came and taught my group one afternoon.

We also sang songs in Irish Gaelic, and each class learned the same tune to do our own arrangements and play each version for each other at the final concert.

There were five of us in Cormac’s class. Two girls from Ireland, a dude from Ireland, a lady from Australia, and myself. We met for 3 hours a day. There were also workshops, lectures, seminars, accompaniment classes, dance workshops, and more.

A busload of little kids with harps came to do an afternoon concert, and they were magical. The director kept everyone's attention. With the bright red dress and the way she bounced around, jumped up and down, danced, and waved her arms, it was a spectacle indeed. There were about 75 tots in the group. And they could really play.

Plenty to read at the nearby coffee shop.

Termonfeckin is on the coast and there was time each night to take about a half hour trek to the beach and back between tea and the evening concerts.

And it was a full moon.

Interest, Enthusiasm, and Commitment. You got that right! I would totally come back and do this again!

Next up: Wales, England, Scotland.

But first a stop in Wicklow for some cool Irish beach action. And a Celtic wiener dog at the Irish Sea. I love Celtic wiener dogs at the Irish Sea.