Scoil na gCláirseach
SUMMER SCHOOL OF EARLY IRISH HARP

TIMETABLE OF EVENTS

Wednesday 19th August 2015

2.00-4.00pm

Introductory Class
An orientation session for any students new to the early Irish harp.

Taster session - Natalie Surina
Open to the public, a chance to see, hear and try an early Irish harp.

4.30-5.30pm

Student registration

5.45-6.45pm

Class introduction and orientation session

7.00-8.00pm

Official opening of Scoil na gCláirseach 2015

Thursday 20th August

8.45-9.15am

Practice time

9.15-9.30am

Tuning

9.30-10.45am

Classes
10.45-11.15 Morning coffee

11.15-12.30

Classes (continuation of previous sessions)
12.30-1.45 Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

General workshop - Simon Chadwick
Names and practicalities
What do we call our instrument? Plus changing a string, nail care, etc.
Specialist workshop - Siobhán Armstrong
What do I do with my bass hand?
Melodic accompaniment evidence in 17th- and 18th-century manuscripts
2.45-3.15pm Practice time in group classes Private masterclasses - Ann Heymann
3.15-3.45pm Afternoon tea

3.45-4.30pm

Public masterclasses - Ann Heymann

4.30-5.00pm

Tutor concert - Siobhán Armstrong

5.15-6.00pm

Lecture - Ann Heymann
Three iconic Gaelic harp pieces:
Tunes collected in 1792 from the playing of Denis O’Hampsey (1695-1807)

6.00-6.15pm

Questions and discussion

Friday 21st August

8.45-9.15am

Practice time

9.15-9.30am

Tuning

9.30-10.45am

Classes
10.45-11.15 Morning coffee

11.15-12.30

Classes (continuation of previous sessions)
12.30-1.45 Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

General workshop - Siobhán Armstrong
Historical style:
How does it differ from modern approaches?
Specialist workshop - Ann Heymann
Three iconic Gaelic harp pieces:
A hands-on approach
2.45-3.15pm Practice time in group classes Private masterclasses - Ann Heymann
3.15-3.45pm Afternoon tea

3.45-4.30pm

Public masterclasses - Ann Heymann

4.30-5.15pm

Lecture - Ronan Browne
From the frying pan onto the lyre:
Traditional styles gleaned from archive recordings

5.15-5.30pm

Questions and discussion

8.00pm

Public concert
Chapter House, St. Mary’s Cathedral, James’s St. Kilkenny.
Songs of the Irish Harpers: The Legacy of Edward Bunting
Ann Heymann and Siobhán Armstrong, historical harps
Rósín Elsafty, sean nós singer, and Ronan Browne, uilleann piper.
More...

Saturday 22nd August

8.45-9.15am

Practice time

9.15-9.30am

Tuning

9.30-10.45am

Classes
10.45-11.15 Morning coffee

11.15-12.30

Classes (continuation of previous sessions)
12.30-1.45 Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

General workshop - Róisín Elsafty
Learning a harper’s song
For those who don’t already sing in Irish.
Specialist workshop - Virginia Blankenhorn
How (and how not) to sing poetry in Irish
2.45-3.15pm Practice time in group classes Private masterclasses - Ann Heymann
3.15-3.45pm Afternoon tea

3.45-4.30pm

Public masterclasses - Ann Heymann

4.30-5.00pm

Tutor presentation - Virginia Blankenhorn
The roles of the harper in the chieftain’s house

5.15-6.00pm

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

7.30-8.00pm

Annual General Meeting of The Historical Harp Society of Ireland

8.00-9.30pm

Informal student platform

Sunday 23rd August

8.45-9.15am

Practice time

9.15-9.30am

Tuning

9.30-10.45am

Classes
10.45-11.15 Morning coffee

11.15-12.30

Classes (continuation of previous sessions)
12.30-1.45 Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

General workshop -
Simon Chadwick & Sylvia Crawford
Accompanying harpers’ songs
for beginner harpers
Specialist workshop - Siobhán Armstrong
Reconstructing early Irish harper’s songs
for harpers

2.45-3.15pm

Tutor concert - Ann Heymann
3.15-3.45pm Afternoon tea
3.45-4.15pm Practice time in group classes Private masterclasses - Ann Heymann

4.15-5.00pm

Public masterclasses - Ann Heymann

5.00-6.00pm

Lecture - Karen Loomis
Part I: The secret lives of harps
We piece together the previously unknown life stories of two harps, and the fascinating people and tumultuous events connected with them.
Part II: What woods are they made of?
Fresh information and insight that will change our understanding of how early Irish harps were built

6.00-6.15pm

Questions and discussion

Monday 24th August

8.45-9.15am

Practice time

9.15-9.30am

Tuning

9.30-10.45am

Classes
10.45-11.15 Morning coffee

11.15-12.30

Classes (continuation of previous sessions)
12.30-1.45 Lunch

1.45-2.45pm

General workshop - Ann Heymann
Three iconic Gaelic harp pieces:
A hands-on approach
Specialist workshop - Simon Chadwick
Sources for early Irish harp music
Raiding the HHSI library
2.45-3.15pm Practice time in group classes
3.15-3.45pm Afternoon tea

3.45-4.45pm

Lecture - Nancy Hurrell
‘A Patriotic Present’: John Egan harps for the Irish Harp Societies
The design and decoration of the six surviving Egan society harps, Byrne’s harp and an extant Drogheda society harp are viewed in historical context.

4.45-5.00pm

Discussion

5.00pm

Closing Reception & Student Platform

6.00-6.15pm

Questions and discussion

Tuesday 25th 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 18th August 2015.

Previous years’ timetables are archived here:
2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003