Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman
"blazing guitar and dancing harp" DIRTY LINEN (USA) - a sensational, contemporary sound with rich and deep traditional roots
“Virtuosic, fascinating, dramatic, original, inspired, gloriously adventurous, dazzling, brilliant, stunning, impassioned, electrifying, bewitching, moving, achingly beautiful, influential, revered, unique...”
- THE TIMES, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, THE GUARDIAN, THE IRISH TIMES, THE SCOTSMAN, fROOTS...
“One of the UK’s most staggering and influential acoustic guitarists” (fROOTS) in concert with “the doyenne of Irish harpers” (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY) and 2001 recipient of the prestigious Irish Traditional Musician of the Year Award (Gradam Ceoil TG4).
“An eclecticism and spirit of adventure that is quite thrilling” THE TIMES “Dazzling virtuosity” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH “Chris is amazing... one of our greatest musicians” BBC RADIO 2 “In a class of their own” THE GUARDIAN “Music of fire and brilliance from the high-wire act in traditional music” THE IRISH TIMES ”Brilliant, innovative harping and guitar-playing of astonishing virtuosity and versatility” * * * * SONGLINES
NEW TG4 TV DOCUMENTARY
A documentary about Máire and her sister Nollaig (also featuring their sister Mairéad, together with Chris, and Nollaig's late husband Arty McGlynn) was broadcast on TG4 on November 29th, 2020, as part of its 'Sé mo Laoch series. (TG4 is Ireland's national Irish-language TV station.) You can watch it on the TG4 Player here.
You don't need to speak Irish to enjoy watching the programme: just remember to enable the subtitles. When you click on the link above, you'll see three buttons at the bottom of the picture on the right hand side. The first is 'Subtitles', the second is 'Picture-in-Picture' and the third is 'Fullscreen'. Just click on the 'Subtitles' button and choose "English".
The programme was Critics's Choice in the Sunday Times Culture Magazine on November 29th, 2020.
NEW MAGAZINE COVER FEATURE JUST PUBLSHED!
Chris and Máire on the front cover of the April / May 2021 issue of The Living Tradition magazine!
NEW ONLINE CONCERT STILL AVAILABLE TO WATCH
Back in the autumn, Karen Ryan of Irish Music and Dance in London (IMDL) invited Máire and Chris to take part in a series of concerts she had arranged for this spring in King's Place, London. When the current lockdown arrived, all concerts migrated online. As travelling to London was impossible because of Covid restrictions, IMDL arranged for Chris and Máire to be filmed recently at the Courthouse Arts Centre, Otley, West Yorkshire. They really enjoyed playing on an actual stage again, with actual PA and lights! The hour-long concert (sponsored by the Irish Embassy and presented in association with the Irish Arts Foundation) was streamed on Friday 26th March and will be available to watch until April 4th. This is the very first online concert Máire and Chris have done and they hope you enjoy it! Tickets are available here.
LISTEN
Listen to them play 'Reel for a Water Diviner' (composed by Máire) from their CD FireWire:
Listen to them play 'A Sore Point' (composed by Chris) from their live CD Live in the Highlands:
Listen to them play 'Stroll On' (composed by Chris) from their live CD Live in the Highlands:
WATCH CHRIS INTERVIEWED
Here's a lovely July 2020 interview with Chris where he discusses his musical journey, and the bands and people he played with, with his old Green Ginger friends - and tells some fun stories! Green Ginger is a band that used to run a folk club in Harrow - not far from Chris's home in Bushey, Hertfordshire - many years ago. They've recently reuinited and are currently making a delightful series of 'programmes' for Youtube, consisting of interviews with artists they used to book in those days.
Enjoy!
NEW HARP SHEET MUSIC!
Máire's arrangements of 'Molly St George', 'Connamara', 'The Lost Summer', 'Lady Gethin', and 'The Song of the Harp' (the latter two available for both solo harp and harp duet) are now downloadable from here, as are her booksThe Irish Harper Vols I and II, and Chris'guitar book Adventures with a Flatpick. (Books also available in hard copy.)
SOLO VIDEOS FROM CHRIS
Chris recently uploaded some videos of himself flatpicking three parts of J.S. Bach's Partita No 3 to Facebook - the Preludio has had 8,000+ plays so far! He's now uploaded them to YouTube so everybody can see them:
Chris playing Preludio, Partita 3
Chris playing Gigue, Partita 3
Chris playing Bourée, Partita 3
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