Last weekend I headed all the way back to Co. Cork for the annual Baltimore fiddle fair. This was an amazing weekend of sessions, workshops, & Concerts. The festival kicked off on Thursday night with a performance by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh - the lead singer and fiddle player from one of the biggest Irish trad bands around; Altan.
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
The second half of the concert was by Annbjørg Lien, a Norwegian fiddle player who played a lot of traditional Norwegian music on her Hardanger fiddles - an amazing instrument that looks a lot like a violin but it has 8 strings, 4 of which run under the fingerboard and bridge and give it really haunting echo.
Annbjørg Lien
Hardanger Fiddle
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh & Annbjørg Lien
The next day I went to an excellent fiddle workshop run by Mairéad in the gardens of a cafe in Baltimore.
The town was filled with musicians all weekend, and some big names too... The festival finished off on Sunday night with a concert by Martin Hayes - one of the top few fiddle players in the world. It was an amazing performance, unfortunately my camera wouldn't record video so I had to use my phone and it hasn't come out very well but you get the idea.
Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill
Baltimore Headland
Seared Fresh Tuna Steak (recipe from the book)
Seared Fresh Tuna Steak (recipe from the book)
No comments:
Post a Comment