Monday Afternoon Concert: Mary MacNamara, Sorcha Costello and Pete Quinn/ Seán Gavin, Mick O’Connor and Peter McAlinden/ London Irish Pensioner’s Choir

Monday 30th October

Afternoon Concert

Featuring:

Mary MacNamara, Sorcha Costello and Pete Quinn

London Irish Pensioners Choir

and more tba

Ivy Suite – The Crown Hotel, Cricklewood Broadway

Doors 2pm

Tickets: £10 General Admission/ £6 U18s

Buy Tickets

Please note, special offer weekend tickets also available for £40 on IMDL’s Eventbrite page

Mary MacNamara

Music was a way of life when Mary was growing up in East Clare, she learned much from her mother Ita, whose discernment in music was unquestionable, with a musical pedigree reaching back many generations. Mary’s musical style was further honed and perfected as a young girl sitting by the fireside in the homes of Mikey Donoghue in Ballinahinch and P. Joe Hayes of Maghera and then Sunday afternoon sessions with Joe Bane and Bill Malley in Lena’s Bar in Feakle. This unique musical nurturing has resulted in Mary being a highly respected musician performing at home and abroad and also one of the most sought-after teachers of Irish Music today.

Sorcha Costello

Awarded with the prestigious Gradam Ceoil TG4 Young Musician of the Year 2021, Sorcha Costello is a traditional Irish fiddle player from Tulla Co. Clare who hails from a family immersed in traditional Irish music. From a young age, Sorcha has enjoyed performing nationally and internationally. She is also in high demand as a teacher of music.

Released in June 2023, Sorcha Costello’s debut solo fiddle album The Primrose Lass is deeply rooted in the East Clare style, yet contains all her other musical influences from around the world. Sorcha will be launching her solo album at the Festival with highly sought after accompanist, John Blake, who plays guitar on the recording.

Pete Quinn

From Liverpool, long time pianist with The London Lasses, Pete has performed with some of the greats of traditional Irish music, including Brendan McGlinchey, Bryan Rooney, Colm O’Donnell and Mary Mac Namara. In addition to recording five albums with The Lasses, he has also appeared on recordings by Artisan Row, Sean Casey, Peter McAlinden, Mick Mulvey, Andrew Mac Namara and Karen Ryan.

 

Seán Gavin, Mick O’Connor and Peter McAlinden

Peter was born in London in 1960 to parents who hailed from County Cork and County Down. Encouraged by a neighbour Kathleen Murray, a native of County Sligo and an avid enthusiast of Irish music, Peter gradually developed a love for traditional Irish music, savouring the magnificent recordings of the great musicians of that era, such as Séamus Tansey, Seán McGuire, Joe Burke, Matt Molloy and Finbarr Dwyer, while on the London scene in the 1970s meeting many inspirational musicians such as Bobby Casey, Tommy McCarthy, Raymond Roland and Jimmy Power. Though he plays other instruments, the piano and flute, Peter has always had a great passion for the humble whistle, in 1979 winning the senior competition in the All Ireland fleadh in Buncrana. Following his retirement from school teaching in 2012 he has been able to be a part of the traditional music scene in London, while becoming involved also in the teaching of music. In 2010 his whistle solo album ‘Happy to meet, sorry to part’, a dedication to the memory of his parents Jim and Kitty McAlinden and his mentor Kathleen Murray, received much positive critical acclaim. He was a member of the popular Saint Colmcille’s Ceili Band which won the senior All Ireland title in 1988 and 1991.

The London Irish Pensioners Choir brings together more than 30 older Irish people, most in their 70s and 80s. They come from all over Ireland and have made their homes here in London over many decades. The choir was founded over 10 years ago. Although an independent group, it has been supported by the Irish Elderly Advice Network throughout this time.

The choir has performed for audiences of tens of thousands including at London’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square for several years, and as part of the Irish community choir in the Royal Albert Hall in honour of President Michael D Higgin’s state visit to Britain in 2014. They have sung on UK television, including for Sir Terry Wogan on ITV and on the BBC’s The One Show. They have performed on RTĖ Radio and Television, and are regularly played by Donncha Ó Dúlaing on the very popular Fáilte Isteach (10 pm on Saturday evenings on RTÉ Radio 1.)

The choir has recorded a beautiful album of old Irish songs, Songs of Love and Emigration, which has been very popular with the Irish community, both in London and in Ireland.

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