Three of trad's finest performers join forces for Galway concert

After their sellout concert at this year’s Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Róisín Elsafty, Ronan Browne and Siobhán Armstrong play their first gig in Galway as a trio on May 5 in St Nicholas Collegiate Church at 8pm. This exciting ensemble of outstanding musicians offers a rich tapestry of sound and song from the oldest harp music to recently composed traditional tunes.

Róisín, whose beautiful sean-nós singing won her the best sean-nós singer award in the Irish Music Awards 2010, is responsible for bringing the three performers together .

She had previously worked with Siobhán on some of the oldest songs of the tradition – in fact Siobhan provides accompaniment for one track on Róisín’s CD Má Bhionn Tú Liom, Bí Liom. Róisín has often performed with Ronan. When the three of them got together for Celtic Connections they enjoyed the experience so much that they decided to keep it going.

Ronan Browne has been described as one of the finest pipers of his generation by The Irish Times. Among his many accomplishments, Ronan is the uilleann piper and singer with the group Cran, and was the original piper with Afro Celt Sound System and Riverdance, as well as being a film and television composer.

Harpist Siobhán Armstrong plays historical harps of many kinds and is particularly keen on encouraging the revival of Ireland's early harp. She founded and chairs the Historical Harp Society of Ireland. Her own Irish harp is a facsimile copy of Ireland's national emblem – the medieval Trinity College harp – strung in brass and 18-carat gold wires.

Tickets for the concert at St Nicholas’s are €15 / concession €12and are available from Galway Early Music (087-9305506, www.galwayearlymusic.com) or at the door. This is a fundraising concert for The Galway Early Music Festival.