CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The fall lecture series at the Benevolent Irish Society returns for another year on Oct. 23 with a talk by Brian O Broin, back from Ireland for 10 days of touring P.E.I.
The fall lectures start at 7:30 p.m. and admission is by donation. The doors open at 7 p.m.
This lecture will deliver a brief history of the orchestra within an Irish traditional musical idiom, which is a concept seen only within the last 20 years. The Irish traditional orchestra has blossomed as a innovation in a musical world steeped in intense tradition and history.
Prefaced with the creation of Ceoltoiri Chualann in 1960, the first produced traditional orchestra Ceol Le Cheile was born in 1999. The form has developed all the way to the official National Folk Orchestra of Ireland, which still performs to this day, attracting massive crowds and filling city halls and arenas across Ireland.
The traditional orchestra is now a staple of the Irish music community, with numerous adult and youth orchestras being produced and performed at a regional level and it is one of the rare innovations that has been accepted widely throughout the traditional music community.
O Broin is an Irish traditional musician and singer from Ballincollig, Co. Cork, Ireland. He grew up steeped in music in the southern-most county of Ireland and has been teaching and performing Irish music from a very young age.
O Broin has toured throughout Ireland and abroad, having travelled across three continents with his music, playing for people such as the president of Ireland, the Irish ambassador to Canada and Uganda and the Ugandan First Lady.
O Broin has achieved all-Ireland success as a performer and a teacher across multiple disciplines and all age groups in the international Fleadh Cheoil competition, has worked as a composer, arranger and teacher with a number of traditional orchestras and is currently undertaking his fourth and final year of studies in the bachelor of arts Irish music and dance in the World Irish Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick.
Future talks in this lecture series include Nollaig Bonar, Jim Hornby, Roy Johnstone and Frank Dolan.
