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An absolutely outstanding group...each musician is worth seeing individ-ually, but having them together in one show is something very special, indeed. — Dan Neely, Irish Echo
Potent…heartrending…
virtuosity…punch...”
Iarla Ó Lionáird with Masters of Tradition Martin Hayes & Cathal Hayden - Reels
Photos by Erin Baiano
Masters of Tradition
Tour Schedule
Suil a ruinMasters of Tradition
The Bucks of Oranmore & The Foxhunter’s Reel
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Masters of Tradition is an ensemble of some of Ireland’s most gifted traditional musicians. The concert performance is made up of solos, duets, trios, and full ensemble, with uilleann pipes, fiddles, guitars, accordion and sean nós song. The touring group is based on the festival of the same name that takes place annually in Bantry, West Cork, Ireland.
Masters of Tradition has had two acclaimed tours in the U.S., in 2012 and 2013, with tours booked for March 2014 and 2015. From major concert halls in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Austin, to top music venues in Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver, audiences have been rapt and the media, effusive.
“Masters of Traditions lives up to its name...not to be missed,” enthused The New Yorker. The Irish Voice reviewed the show as “brilliant...a stellar cast...the blistering set brought thunderous applause and a standing ovation.”
Renowned fiddler Martin Hayes is Artistic Director of the ensemble. He is joined on stage by six of the most compelling artists in Irish music today: vocalist Iarla Ó Lionáird, fiddler Cathal Hayden, guitarists Dennis Cahill and Seamie O’Dowd, Máirtín O’Connor on accordion, and uilleann piper David Power. Hayes chose these musicians for the original contributions they’ve made to Irish music.
“These are artists who have found their own voice in the music,” he explains. “Dynamic, powerful musicians. I feel a lot of confidence walking on stage every night with these artists. I know that I’m going to hear something I hadn’t heard the night before. I also know that it’ll be full of energy and life.”
The original intention of the Masters of Tradition Festival was to present tradi-tional Irish music in small configurations (solos, duets and trios) in venues nor-mally associated with chamber music: the wood-paneled library of the beautiful
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Masters of Tradition(cont’d)
Georgian mansion Bantry House, and the intimate sanctuary of St. Brendan’s Church in Bantry’s main square. The goal was to create a true listening experi-ence so that the depth of the music could be explored and shared with discern-ing audiences.
The success of the festival, developed by Hayes in collaboration with West Cork Music, started to spread and word reached the Sydney Festival in Australia. The Australian organization wondered if the Masters of Tradition concept could be reconfigured as a stage show and if it could reproduce the festival’s intimacy in the 3,000-seat Sydney Opera House. The answer was found in two sold-out performances at the Opera House and raves from the press and the audiences. American demand led to the debut US tour in 2012.
At a Masters of Tradition performance, from the opening notes of David Power’s uilleann pipes, the listener realizes that they are in for a unique evening of magic and portent. “Power cracked the heart of the tune wide open, making it unspeakably desolate, yet...beautiful” wrote The Sydney Morning Herald. Iarla Ó Lionáird follows with a soaring, unaccompanied sean nós (old style) song, called “heart-rending” by the Herald. Fiddler Martin Hayes and guitarist Den-nis Cahill later perform one of their characteristically subtle yet searing sets. In the second half of the evening, the powerful trio of O’Connor, Hayden, and O’Dowd create sparks with their sublime interpretations. “At times blazing fast, they play with great clarity and with great feeling,” says The Irish Voice. The evening closes with the ensemble in full, a “thrilling climax of galloping jigs and reels.” (The Australian)
“This magnificent seven [bears] out the underlying treatise that Martin Hayes operates under,” said The Irish Voice, “that traditional music is the equal of any other form, and can strike and capture the hearts of music fans anywhere and at any time.”
“One of the things I want people to experience is a sense of the bedrock of the music,” says Hayes. “In its purest form, Irish traditional music speaks a universal language.”
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Masters of TraditionBios
Martin Hayes, Artistic Director (fiddle)| Born and raised in East County Clare, a part of Ireland renowned for tradi-tional music and a particularly lyric style, Martin is considered one of its most distinguished native sons.
He has both remained faithful to the East Clare style and transformed it, to convey its deep and essential musical-ity that can stand along side any of the world’s greatest music. He tours the world in a duet with guitarist, Dennis Cahill and is involved in a number of collaborations with traditional, classical and contemporary musicians, as well as theatre, dance and film projects. He is a member of the band, The Gloaming.
Dennis Cahill (guitar)| Born in Chi-cago to parents from County Kerry, Dennis Cahill’s innovative accompa-niment is acknowledged as a major breakthrough for guitar in the Irish tradition. Cahill’s playing turns mini-malism into an art form. A member of The Gloaming, Dennis is also a record producer in Chicago and a talented photographer.
Máirtín O’Connor (accordion)| With an accordion style displaying astound-ing skill, dexterity and versatility, Máirtín O’Connor has played with many of traditional music’s leading groups as well as collaborating with artists including Elvis Costello, The Chieftains, De Danann and The Dubliners. Pronounced Mawr-teen O’Connor
Seamie O’Dowd (guitar)| From Co. Sligo, Seamie O’Dowd grew up steeped in traditional music. He played the fiddle as a child and then
learned guitar, banjo, mandolin, bouzouki and bodhrán. He toured with the band Dervish for six years and then with Máirtín O Connor and Cathal Hayden for over a decade, a collabora-tion that continues to this day. Pronounced Shay-mee O’Dowd
Iarla Ó Lionáird (vocals)| Born into a small, Irish-speaking enclave in West Cork, Iarla Ó Lionáird’s upbring-ing revolved around singing as the dominant form of artistic expression. As vocalist for Afro Celt Sound System, Ó Lionáird played festivals all over the world and recorded five albums with the group before he embarked on his remarkable solo projects. Iarla is a vocalist with The Gloaming and Ghost Trio. Pronounced Ear-la O Len-nard
Cathal Hayden (fiddle)| Cathal Hayden is from a musical family in Co. Tyrone. He has a natural and distinctive style, original and inventive. Cathal was the catalyst for the formation of Four Men and a Dog, one of the foremost Irish traditional bands. Pronounced Kah-hl Hayden
David Power (uilleann pipes)| David Power was born into a musical family in County Waterford. He played the whistle from a young age, and at age 10 was encouraged to take up the uilleann pipes. David won the Senior All-Ireland Piping Championship and the coveted Oireachtas Piping competitions in 1992. He has represented Ireland at the Lorient Interceltic Festival and was a member of Liam Clancy’s Fairweather Band. He also plays with Donal Clancy and Ciarán Somers in the new band Pipers Union.
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Masters of TraditionReviews
The New Yorker | Masters of Tradition lives up to its name...not to be missed. — New Yorker
Irish Voice | This magnificent seven bore out the underlying treatise that Martin Hayes operates under...that traditional music is the equal of any other form, and can strike and capture the hearts of music fans anywhere and at any time. — Paul Keating, Irish Voice
Time Out New York | This star-studded concert...brings together some of the brightest luminaries in traditional Celtic music. — Time Out New York
Huffington Post | Masters of Tradition celebrates the unadorned individual performer [playing] the old tunes. — Marty Lipp, Huffington Post
Irish Echo | An exploration of old-fashioned style and raw musical virtu-osity deftly curated by fiddle icon, and the show’s artistic director, Mar-tin Hayes. An absolutely outstanding group...each musician is worth seeing individually, but having them together in one show is something very special, indeed. — Dan Neely, Irish Echo
Boston Globe | Carrying on Irish fiddle wizard Martin Hayes’s music festival in the West County Cork town of Bantry, [Masters of Tradition] presents some of Ireland’s most accomplished musicians. — PICK OF THE DAY, Boston Globe
Austin Chronicle | Seven Celtic virtuosos, including fiddler Martin Hayes and oracle Iarla Ó’Lionáird. — Austin Chronicle
Time Our Chicago | Irish fiddler extraordinaire Martin Hayes leads a sextet consisting of some of today’s exemplary Celtic music practitioners. — Time Out Chicago
Seattle Times | Fiddler Martin Hayes brings six of Irish music’s most com-pelling traditional musicians for a must-see show. Masters of Tradition is a group of mighty musicians...Irish traditional tunes played at their very best. —Seattle Times
The Australian | It would be unfair to pick out any player ahead of any oth-ers from this accomplished line-up of three guitarists, two fiddlers, uille-ann piper, accordionist and singer. The players were presented in constantly changing permutations - solo, duet, trio, and for the thrilling climax of gallop-ing jigs and reels, ensemble. — The Australian
Sydney Morning Herald | The rapport between acclaimed fiddler Martin Hayes and American guitarist Dennis Cahill was like two painters coating the same canvas: Hayes creating the intense foregrounds and Cahill setting and shading them in perfect harmony.
Unaccompanied singer Iarla Ó Lionáird unfurled his tenor voice to heart-rending effect.
Uilleann piper David Power made [the tune] even more potent. His phrasing and meticulous employment of bent notes...cracked the heart of the tune wide open, making it unspeakably desolate, yet...beautiful...
The trio of button accordionist Martin O’Connor, fiddler Cathal Hayden, and guitarist Seamie O’Dowd played with...vigour.
Thereafter the entire company converged, arranged into various combinations to maximise textural variation, including the twin fiddles of Hayes and Hayden tearing into a reel, with the full punch of the ensemble in reserve. — Sydney Morning Herald
Seattle Times Santa Cruz Sentinel
