Scoil na gCláirseach
SUMMER SCHOOL OF EARLY IRISH HARP

TIMETABLE OF EVENTS

Wednesday 13th August 2014

2.00-4.00pm

Introductory Class - Sylvia Crawford
An orientation session for any students new to the early Irish harp

4.30-5.30pm

Student registration

5.45-6.45pm

Class introduction and orientation session

7.00-7.30pm

Opening concert - Andrew Lawrence-King
Circa 1700: Irish images & Highland humours

7.30-8.30pm

Official opening of Scoil na gCláirseach 2014

Thursday 14th August

8.45-9.15am

Practice time

9.15-9.30am

Tuning

9.30-10.45am

Class Tuition
10.45-11.15 Morning coffee

11.15-12.30

Class Tuition
12.30-1.45 Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

Workshop - Siobhán Armstrong
No levers; no pedals. Am I stuck in one key forever?
An introduction to tonal possibilities
on a diatonic harp
Workshop 2 - Andrew Lawrence-King
Humouring the harp: where is the emotion in music circa 1700?
2.45-3.15pm Afternoon tea
3.15-3.45pm Practice time in group classes

3.45-4.30pm

Masterclass 1 Masterclass 2

4.30-5.00pm

Tutor concert - Ann Heymann

5.15-6.00pm

Lecture - Paul Dooley
Harp tuning practice in medieval Ireland and Wales

6.00-6.15pm

Questions and discussion

Friday 15th August

8.45-9.15am

Practice time

9.15-9.30am

Tuning

9.30-10.45am

Class Tuition
10.45-11.15am Morning coffee

11.15am-12.30

Class Tuition

12.30-1.45pm

Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

Seminar - chaired by Simon Chadwick
“I am Queen of harps”: The Cloyne or Dalway harp
Comparing two different reconstructions of the chromatic Irish harp, and discussing issues with their playing technique and repertory.
2.45-3.15pm Afternoon tea
3.15-3.45pm Practice time in group classes

3.45-4.30pm

Masterclass 1 Masterclass 2

4.30-5.00pm

Tutor Concert - Siobhán Armstrong

5.15-6.00pm

Lecture - Ite O’Donovan
Efforts to preserve the Irish harp and the Irish airs as recorded in the 19th century Irish periodical literature

6.00-6.15pm

Questions and discussion

7.30-8.00pm

Annual General Meeting of the Historical Harp Society of Ireland

8.00-9.30pm

Informal student platform

Saturday 16th August

8.45-9.15am

Practice time

9.15-9.30am

Tuning

9.30-10.45am

Class Tuition
10.45-11.15am Morning coffee

11.15am-12.30

Class Tuition

12.30-1.45pm

Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

Song Workshop -
Siobhán Armstrong
Learn to sing a harpers’ song from the Bunting manuscripts
Song Workshop - Aodán Ó Ceallaigh
Advanced sean-nós song
2.45-3.15pm Afternoon tea
3.15-3.45pm Practice time in class groups
3.45-4.30pm Masterclass 1 Masterclass 2

4.30-5.30pm

Talk -  Simon Chadwick
The early Gaelic harp traditions:
their ancient history and modern revival

8.00pm

Public concert
Chapter House, St. Mary’s Cathedral, James’s St. Kilkenny.
The Ancient Music of Ireland
Ann Heymann, Javier Sáinz and Siobhán Armstrong  historical harps
Aodán Ó Ceallaigh, sean nós singer, and Ronan Browne, uilleann piper.
More...

Sunday 17th August

8.45-9.00am

Practice time

9.00-9.15am

Tuning

9.15-9.30am

Group photograph with all students and staff

9.30-10.45am

Class Tuition
10.45-11.15 Morning coffee

11.15-12.30

Class Tuition
12.30-1.45 Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

Workshop
Javier Sáinz
An approach to early Irish harp technique: the instrument, the player and the music
Workshop
Siobhán Armstrong
Transcribing the polyphonic music of a Renaissance Irish harper from 17th century partbooks.
2.45-3.15pm Afternoon tea
3.15-3.45pm Practice time in class groups
3.45-4.30pm Masterclass 1 Masterclass 2

4.30-5.00pm

Tutor Concert - Javier Sáinz

5.15-6.15pm

Lecture - Karen Loomis
Discovering the design of an Irish harp
Through modern technology, step back in time to see these harps through the eyes of the builders.
Watch video of this event

6.15-6.30pm

Questions and discussion

Monday 18th August

8.45-9.15am

Practice time

9.15-9.30am

Tuning

9.30-10.45am

Class Tuition
10.45-11.15am Morning coffee

11.15am-12.30

Class Tuition

12.30-1.45pm

Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

Workshop 1
Ann Heymann
An Irish harper’s descriptive piece

Workshop 2
Javier Sáinz
A direct and contemporaneous music source: transcribing harp tunes from Scottish lute manuscripts

2.45-3.15pm Afternoon tea
3.15-3.45pm Practice time in class groups
3.45-4.45pm Talk - Simon Chadwick
Raghnall Mac Ailein Òig
The music and legends of an 18th century Scottish harper-composer
Watch video of this event

4.45-5.00pm

Discussion

5.00pm

Closing Reception & Student Platform

Tuesday 19th August

Optional field trip to Dublin
led by Simon Chadwick
(times are approximate)

8.00am

Dep. Kilkenny School of Music for Dublin

10.30-11.30am

Trinity College Dublin:
 • Trinity College harp
 • Patrick Quin’s Castle Otway harp

12.00-1.00pm

National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St:
 • Ballinderry harp fragments
 • Breac Maedóic
 • Fiacail Phádraig
 • Shrine of the Stowe Missal
 • early Irish treasures

Lunch break at Collins Barracks

2.00-3.00pm

National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks:
 • Kildare harp
 • Mullagh Mast harp
 • Sirr harp
 • “Carolan” (Rose Mooney’s) harp
 • Hollybrook harp
 • Cloyne harp fragments
 • Cloyne reconstruction

3.30-4.30pm

Guinness Storehouse Museum:
 • Denis O’Hampsey’s Downhill harp

4.30pm

Depart Dublin for those returning to Kilkenny.

7.00pm approx.

arr. Kilkenny School of Music

Please note that this timetable is provisional and is subject to change. Updated 7th August 2014.

Previous years’ timetables are archived here:
2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003