A Stór Mo Chroí

A Stór Mo Chroí - A Musical Gathering Following the success of their sold-out shows in Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral and The Sugar Club, the award winning members of the collective A Stór Mo Chroí performed at the Cork Folk Festival, Ireland’s National Folk Theatre, Siamsa Tíre in Tralee and The Belfast Festival at Queen’s in October 2014. Combined, Karan Casey, Éilís Kennedy, Pauline Scanlon, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, John Spillane, Donogh Hennessy, Dónal O’Connor and John McSherry have been members of the most influential folk and traditional groups of the past fifteen years, including Solas, Lúnasa, Danú, Tamalin, At First Light, Nomos, Coolfin, Béal Tuinne, Lumiere and The Sharon Shannon Band. This collective have featured on and presented award winning Television series including The TransAtlantic Sessions, Geantraí, Anam an Amhráin, Ar Thóir an Cheoil, Fleadh Live and Life in an Irishtown. They featured prominently on the new music series Bosca Ceoil, presented by Pauline Scanlon and broadcast over 13 weeks and John Spillane also had his own six part series Spillane an Fanaí, on TG4. Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and her good friend Julie Fowlis presented a series PORT for BBC Alba and TG4 at the start of 2015. Individually they have performed across North America, Europe, The Far East and Australia. This show offers the rare opportunity to witness the collaboration of such talent together on one stage. Uilleann piper Seán McKeon of the famous Dublin piping family and member of Damien Dempsey’s band, Mary Dillon of Déanta and Ed Boyd of Flook and Lúnasa have respectively joined the group for the Sugar Club, Belfast and Glasgow gigs. January 2015 saw them perform at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, receiving not one but two standing ovations. The Gathering Killarney in February will brought Nicola Joyce of Gráda and Noriana Kennedy of Solas into the line-up. They have previously toured Australia and New Zealand with Lumiere and their own band The Whileaways will release their eagerly awaited second album in Autumn 2015. In June 2015 RTÉ Radio One invited John Spillane to host his own hour of performance as part of the ‘In Session’ Series. Joined by John’s own drummer, Martin Leahy and guitar player Flor O’Rahilly, Lumiere, Noriana, Nicola and Dónal O’Connor recorded a number of A Stór Mo Chroí favourites. On July 17th, Muireann, Donogh and John Spillane travelled north to the Soma Festival in Castlewellan, County Down joinin Mary Dillon, Dónal O’Connor and John McSherry for a concert in the stunning St. Malachy’s Church. Tíona McSherry joined Mary for some beautiful harmonies on the night. Fleadh TV was broadcast live from Fleadh Cheoil in Sligo nightly on TG4 from the 13th-16th of August 2015. The opening night featured two very special performances as Muireann, Karan, Lumiere and John Spillane were joined on stage for the first time by Noriana and Nicola for an extended version of the ‘Super Grúpa’ A Stór Mo Chroí, meaning The Love/Treasure of My Heart is a celebration of these artists’ dedication to their craft and the talent with which they perform it. This Supergroup have come together with a vast and shared repertoire that celebrates their love of storytelling. Through traditional and contemporary arrangements and songs in both Irish and English, they connect the past with the present while creating a new tradition. Any one of the five singers involved – and indeed the instrumentalists – could have held the attention for a full concert, and most of them frequently do, the music is treated with respect, there’s a relaxed camaraderie in a concert party, underscored by Donal O’Connor’s superb fiddle playing and McSherry’s empathetic whistles. Fun spills over into loveable madness with the larger than life John Spillane, a great character who adds contemporary songwriting skills, as well as a ringmaster’s presence, to a project that’s already rich in tradition. Rob Adams The Glasgow Herald, February 2, 2015. The A Stor Mo Chroí collective’s Musical Gathering was everything one could hope for an evening of folk music – inspiring, enriching, stirring, but, above all, heart-warming and genuine. It was all so easily accessible; one did not need to be a folk buff to find their spirits lifted, heads bobbing and feet tapping throughout Simon Fallaha The Belfast Telegraph, October 21, 2014 A Stór Mo Chroí, a musical gathering featuring some of Ireland’s finest singers..with excellent individual performances..whipping the ever-appreciative audience towards another standing ovation. Eoin Edwards, Irish Examiner, October 7th, 2014 “A Stór Mo Chroí – A Night to Remember” Billed as “A Stór Mo Chroí - A Musical Gathering” at the MAC Theatre in Belfast as part of the Belfast Festival at Queens 2015, Monday Nights concert was a widely anticipated event and certainly lived up to expectations. With a line up boasting some of the finest Traditional Musicians in entire Island of Ireland, the standard of both the playing and singing was just out of this world. Those present witnessed something truly special and to describe it merely as a Concert does not do justice to the evening nor give the performers their true worth. Hopefully “A Stór Mo Chroí” will be back to Belfast (sooner rather than later) @CelticInvasions, October 24th, 2014 A collective of well known Irish singers and musicians feat. John Spillane, Lumiere, John McSherry, Muireann NicAmhlaoibh, Dónal O' Connor & Karan Casey