May 2012 Irish Fiddler to Present Second Martin Reilly Lecture

Fiddle player, teacher and researcher, Dr Máire O’Keeffe, will deliver the second lecture in the Martin Reilly Lecture Series. Organised by Comhrá Ceoil, the Music and Dance Studies at the NUI Galway Centre for Irish Studies, the lecture will take place on Thursday, 17 May. 

This series is dedicated to Martin Reilly, the celebrated East Galway uilleann piper, who left a rich musical legacy to generations of pipers.  The lecture series gives an opportunity for researcher-practitioners in Irish traditional music and dance to present their research in a public forum. The lectures are illustrated with musical examples, and insights from the practitioner’s perspective. Galway and the West of Ireland has long been an important centre of traditional dance, music and song and this lecture series reflects the increasing interest in the study of these traditions.

Originally from Tralee, Co. Kerry, Dr O’Keeffe has many different musical interests including the fiddle traditions of Ireland, Scotland, Shetland, and Cape Breton, as well as the music of Galicia in North West Spain. The title of her talk is ‘Journey into Tradition: The Irish Button Accordion’, and it is the culmination of extensive research that traces the development of the button accordion within the Irish music tradition. It considers some of the key factors in the evolution of the button accordion in Ireland and some of the players who have contributed to an identifiably Irish style of playing.

The lecture will take place at 6.30pm in the Galway City Library. All are invited to attend and admission is free.

For more information on the Martin Reilly lecture series visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Martin-Reilly-Lecture-Series/289147347801522 or email Martinreillylectureseries@gmail.com.

ENDS