TU Dublin Lecturers Harps of Hope Performance
TU Dublin Conservatoire lecturers, Cliona Doris and Denise Kelly McDonnell recently performed two movements from Brian Boydell’s Four Sketches for Two Irish Harps, Op. 52 (1961-62) for Cruit Éireann's 'Harps of Hope' initiative.
Over the past year, people have highlighted to Cruit Éireann/Harp Ireland how connected they feel to the sound of the harp; how it calms them, comforts them and enhances their sense of national identity. At a time when collectively we feel undermined by uncertainty, members of Harp Ireland have shared some beautiful performances online to express our togetherness while we have to remain apart.
The work performed by Cliona Doris and Denise Kelly McDonnell was written for Gráinne Yeats and Mercedes Garvey, and the performance is a tribute to them. They sadly both passed away in 2013 and were pivotal figures in the world of harping in Ireland for more than 50 years and are greatly missed. Mercedes was a former Lecturer in Harp at the College of Music, now TU Dublin Conservatoire.
The piece is part of a forthcoming album, 'Brian Boydell: Mosaics and Sketches' by kind permission of RTÉ lyric FM. The Producer is Laoise O'Brien, Recording Engineer: Ben Rawlins and Executive Producer, Eoin Brady for RTÉ lyric FM. The recording was partially funded by the College of Arts and Tourism, Technological University Dublin seed research funding.
You can see the performance here, and you can find out more about Harps of Hope on Harp Ireland's website.