This year in collaboration with Clare Arts Office we feature the online premiere of an exciting new performance video from Nuala Kennedy and Tara Breen, recently featured in an article by Siobhan Long in the Irish Times. 

Ag Lorg Ár Líne is a recording concept driven by research and collaboration. By listening deeply to archival recordings of their female predecessors, the two contemporary musicians are attempting to 'collaborate remotely' across time and space with some of their County Clare musical foremothers: Kitty Hayes, song/concertina; Nell Galvin, fiddle; Mary Haren, concertina, and singer Nora Cleary. 

Through creative use of digital archival recordings, Nuala and Tara will explore and reimagine the details and subtleties of the music of these influential women performers through contemporary duet performance.

The video will be freely available to watch on ITMA website, ITMA Facebook, ITMA YouTube Channel and ITMA IGTV. 

A bonus event will take place on Friday 1 October 2021 with a special Q/A session with Tara and Nuala. The event will take place online via Zoom.

Ag Lorg Ár Líne was the outcome of the second Duala Creator in Residence award, funded by ITMA and Clare Arts Office.

Nuala Kennedy is an acclaimed and award-winning touring and recording solo & ensemble artist. A traditional singer and flute player, she grew up playing Irish music in Dundalk, County Louth, and now currently resides in Ennis, County Clare with her Appalachian singer husband A. J. Roach and their two young children. For more information: http://www.nualakennedy.com/ 

Tara Breen from Co. Clare is an acclaimed and award-winning fiddle, flute and saxophone player. She has recorded and toured extensively with a number of bands including The Chieftains and Stockton’s Wing, and is the recipient of multiple All-Ireland Fleadh titles as a solo and ensemble player. Tara studied music and Irish in University College Cork, and has been teaching fiddle for over a decade. She is now employed by Music Generation.