Touring ‘Song Project’ commemorates 1916

Some of the country’s finest traditional singers and songwriters will be in the city’s Nuns Island Theatre this Saturday night, May 7, for the Galway performance of The 1916 Song Project.

The Song Project, which is currently on a national tour, was devised and produced by Michael Fortune and Aileen Lambert for the national 1916 Commemoration Programme.  It will showcase a new body of songs in the traditional style, relating to events and figures connected to the Easter Rising.

Tuam’s Sandra Joyce and GMIT Lecturer John Tunney will take part, along with seven other singers from Wexford, Dublin, Tipperary and Meath. Sandra will sing a tribute to Liam Mellows, based on writings by Constance Markievicz, which the Tuam woman has set to music. John will focus on Connemara writer and activist Colm Ó Gaora in his song, set to the air of The Rocks of Bawn.

The group has been working since August to create this body of songs, which are designed to introduce audiences to previously unsung heroes as well as offering people an opportunity to reflect on the Rising.

Thérèse McIntyre will present a free pre-concert talk from 6-7pm in Nun’s Island, entitled Who Fears to Sing of 1916? – A Search for the Songs of the Rising. This talk is free and all are welcome.

The concert will begin at 8pm. Tickets €12/10 from tht.ie, 091-569777.