Tradition Now returns this September showcasing some of the most exciting new traditional music and its international connections.

The Tradition Now festival for 2015 features some of Ireland’s most adventurous traditional musicians and their international collaborators and colleagues from America and Scandinavia. It runs over the weekend of the 19th and 20th September in the National Concert Hall, the Pepper Canister Church and the University Church in St. Stephen’s Green.

One of the highlights of the Tradition Now festival is a special Tribute to Pete Seeger, taking place at 8pm on the 20th September in the NCH. The evening features a stellar line-up of traditional and other musicians from both sides of the Atlantic who will pay homage to the respected singer, folk-song collector and song writer who spear-headed an American folk revival.

The full programme for the Tradition Now 2015 festival is as follows:-

Ceol Le Chéile – Family Concert
(11am and 12:30pm; John Field Room NCH)

Lynda O’Connor and guests present an interactive trad concert for all the family. This will be an energetic session of familiar Irish traditional tunes, where you will get the chance to get up close and personal with a variety of traditional instruments like the fiddle, bodhrán, accordion, and enjoy some jigs and reels. Irish dancing is encouraged!

Presented by National Concert Hall, Education, Community and Outreach in Association with Tradition Now.

Tickets cost €10, or €39 for a family ticket. There is also a 20% Discount for Young Maestros.

This Is How We Fly // Lynched
(8pm; Pepper Canister Church)

This special double bill features two of the country’s most exciting groups. Dublin-based Lynched is a four piece traditional folk group, who breath new life into traditional and folk song, with impressive arrangements and a varied repertoire.

Also on the bill is the sublime and charming Irish-Scandinavian collaboration This Is How We Fly, made up of Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Petter Berndalen, Nic Gareiss and Seán Mac Erlaine; four musicians, each of them rooted in different cultures and musical vocabularies, each on the cusp of their most fertile and creative years.

Tickets cost €15

Cór Cúil Aodha, Peadar O’Riada & Seán Ó Sé
(1pm; NCH Main Auditorium)

Cór Cúil Aodha is an all male choir from Cúil Aodha in West Cork, which was set up by Seán Ó Riada in 1963. They sing the mass every Sunday morning in seipéal Chúil Aodha as they have been doing for the past half century. Peadar Ó Riada became the choir leader after the death of his father in 1971.

Seán Ó Sé lives with his wife Eileen in Cork City, having spent nearly forty years teaching on the north side of the city. He is best known for his singing, especially through his work with Seán Ó Riada, and also for his rendition of the ‘Poc ar Buille’.

Peadar and Seán have been friends for a very long time, with a strong sense of community and tradition further strengthening that bond, and music and song became a strong theme in their lives.

Tickets cost €15

Garth Knox and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh: New Project & Nils Okland: Solo
(3pm; University Church, St. Stephen’s Green)

A new collaboration between two hugely acclaimed artists sees viol player Garth Knox and hardanger innovator Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh together for the first time to explore medieval music and their own soundscapes.

Norway’s Nils Okland has released a series of sublime albums on the ECM record label. A master hardanger player he is one of the leading lights of Scandinavian music.

Tickets cost €15

Hazelius Hedin
(5pm; John Field Room NCH)

Esbjörn Hazelius and Johan Hedin, collectively known as Hazelius Hedin, sing and play Swedish folk music with passion, rare ease and unquestionable presence. They search the length and breadth of Sweden for their repertoire, which includes everything from medieval ballads, sailor songs, love ballads and instrumental dance tunes.

Tickets cost €15

A Tribute to Pete Seeger
(8pm; Main Auditorium NCH)

Artists from the traditional, folk and rock worlds gather together from both sides of the Atlantic for this very special tribute to Pete Seeger, the American folk singer and activist known for his prolific songwriting. His best-known songs include “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”, “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)”, and “Turn! Turn! Turn!”

Sam Amidon, Paul Noonan, Lisa O’Neill, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Lynched, Tommy Sands, Voice Squad, and Thomas Bartlett aka Doveman take to the NCH stage to honour Seeger and the music he championed in this one-night-only event.

Tickets cost €35

There will also be a seminar entitled ‘Tending the Flame‘, which will be held in the John Field Room in the National Concert Hall at 2pm on Saturday, 19th September.

The seminar will explore the work of the collectors and how traditional music remains an important cultural expression within American and Northern European musical traditions. Speakers include Dr Nancy Groce (Folklife Specialist, Library of Congress), Grace Toland, Director of the Irish Traditional Music Archive, and Dr Jeff Place from The Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

There will also be a presentation and discussion on recently discovered archive film footage of legendary Donegal fiddler John Doherty and folk musician and collector Pete Seeger, ‘The Long Road to Glenties’, given by Dr Conor Caldwell and Danny Diamond.

The seminar is free to ticket holders of Tradition Now events, but as tickets are limited, you must reserve your place in advance. Please contact the Box Office to arrange tickets at 01 4170000

The 2015 Tradition Now Festival is presented by the National Concert Hall in partnership with the Arts Council.

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