Event Description
Creative Connexions Sitges 2024
Join us this October as we celebrate Creative Connexions Sitges 2024; a four-day festival of Irish, Catalan and other musicians, artists and performers showcased through performance, lectures, readings, films and workshops. With an action-packed lineup of concerts, readings, workshops, sessions, exhibitions and lectures there’s something for everybody over the weekend and all taking place in the magical town of Sitges.
Creative Connexions Ireland: Sitges ’24 is presented by the Irish based, arts organisation, Artscope. The aim of the brand is to develop relationships between Ireland and other cultures. Under this umbrella Artscope produce and deliver an annual showcase of high quality Irish performing arts in Sitges, Barcelona.
The full programme is available here!
Or see the summary below:
You can also check for updates on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/creativeconnexions
See a video from last year’s wonderful event:
2024 LINE UP ANNOUNCEMENTS SO FAR:
MARIA DOYLE KENNEDY
New to Creative Connexions ’24 we would like to welcome Maria Doyle Kennedy in Concert
Polymath Maria Doyle Kennedy has sustained a varied and eclectic career in the Arts for more than three decades.
As an actor Maria has appeared in over 50 films and TV series, and has recently been nominated for her fourth IFTA. She is best known for her roles in The Commitments, Father Ted, The Tudors, Downton Abbey, Orphan Black, Outlander, Jupiter Ascending and The Conjuring 2 to name a few.
Music is her first love and following time spent in several bands she set up her own record label in 2000 and has released 11 solo albums to date. Maria’s most recent album “Fire on the roof of Eden“ was listed in their albums of the year by the Irish Times and Hot Press described her as “one of Ireland’s most accomplished vocalists and a national treasure”.
She collaborates in almost all her work with her husband Kieran Kennedy. Their recent compositional work includes the theme tune for children’s programme “Dizzy Deliveries” and two soundtrack contributions for Acorn TV’s “Recipes for Love and Murder.
Maria and Kieran have been made artists in residence in Kilruddery where they are currently writing and recording a new album.
We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Maria and Kieran to Creative Connexions: Sitges ’24!!
NIAMH KAVANAGH
Niamh Kavanagh has been singing for most of her life. In all her guises within the music industry, she is perhaps best known for her Eurovision success, representing her country twice and winning for Ireland in 1993. She has recorded many albums and collaborations, in particular lending her vocals to one of the world’s best-selling soundtrack albums “the Commitments”. She has appeared on many TV programmes and toured all over the world as a solo artist and as a member of The Illegals, a highly successful seven-piece band that pays homage to the wonderful music of the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Her stunning voice and sparkling wit make her a fan favourite in all she does. Niamh decided to celebrate her 50’s by creating Date Night, an acoustic journey through her wide and varied career in music, which features her husband Paul (also a member of the Illegals) on guitar. It’s a celebration of songs and stories that have followed her in over 30-years. From the soul of The Commitments, to the Nashville sound of her own albums, with a dash of Eurovision, this is a night for music lovers. Niamh believes that music should be a shared experience and she includes an interactive element, so bring your singing voice with you. Niamh has performed live her whole career and is equally at home in small intimate venues to large stadiums. We are delighted to welcome her for her first visit to Creative Connexions Sitges: ’24!
STORYBOOK: Songs of Brendan Graham
This year’s festival sees the return of Cathy Jordan. The iconic singer and musician will perform STORYBOOK: Songs of Brendan Graham. Roscommon born Cathy Jordan has been a professional singer with traditional group Dervish for nearly 30 years. In 2019 Cathy was the recipient of the BBC Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to folk music. Cathy has led Dervish as front woman through thousands of concerts in hundreds of cities in nearly 40 countries and has 16 albums under her belt. Among the most notable performances were The Great Wall of China and the biggest rock music festival in the world – Rock in Rio to over 250,000 people. This is Cathy’s third time performing in Sitges. STORYBOOK: Songs of Brendan Graham performed by Cathy Jordan and Feargal Murray As sung by Cathy Jordan (Dervish) and accompanied by Feargal Murray on piano, this incredible new show is 20 years in the making from two of Ireland’s most highly respected musicians. A fitting tribute to one of Ireland’s greatest songwriters, Brendan’s songs have been performed across the world. Among songs he has written are “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids” and “The Voice”, both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in their respective years, and “You Raise Me Up”, which was an international hit recorded by various artists, including Josh Groban, with versions in over 60 languages, This Live show includes Cathy and Feargal’s ten track performances of this incredibly moving album that traverses the lines between the old tradition and a more modern folk tradition. Songs that include ‘Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears’, ‘Waltzing Alone’ ‘Sleepsong’, and ‘Winter, Fire & Snow’ all penned by the incredible man that is Brendan Graham. This gig is a once in a lifetime event and not to be missed! More info on https://www.storybookthesongsofbrendangraham.com
JACK O’ROURKE takes to the Sitges stage again, this time with some special guests in his line-up!
A captivating live performer, Jack O’Rourke shows a deftness when it comes to dissecting the minutiae of
relationships and examining the human condition in a manner worthy of lyrical forebears Leonard Cohen and Tom
Waits.” The Irish Examiner
Jack O’Rourke takes many forms – singer, songwriter, composer, performer. He manages to combine that most
difficult and delicate of writing traits – the ability to convey the personal whilst making it universal. Like all artists,
Jack has respect for tradition while pushing the parameters of innovation.
Jack is excited to be part of Sitges Live Festival. His third year playing – one of Jack’s highlights from his gig last year
was collaborating with Simon Morgan and playing a version of the Catalan anthem.
At home in folk, chamber music, blues, pop, jazz and rock, Jack’s rich baritone is warm, emotional and inviting.
Seated at the piano, he picks out folk songs of modernity with nodás to melodic traditions of old – be it the beautiful
ode to growing up gay in the Amnesty Yes campaign anthem, Silence, to the poignant story of a publican who
secretly paints in Opera On The Top Floor to the joy and release of diving into the ocean in Sea Swimming.
Having played St. James’ Church for Other Voices, Jack sang Neil Young’s Harvest Moon Live on national television for
Culture Night and joined a pantheon of Irish artists paying tribute to John Prine for two sold out nights in Vicar
Street.
Jack is currently writing songs for his 4th album and embarks as a soloist on a tribute to Leonard Cohen with the RTE
Concert Orchestra.
Versatile and musically adventurous, Jack’s roots still lie at the piano, the telling of a story in song and his empathy to
sing of characters facing life’s triumphs and tragedies.
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Quotes
“Sparse, well-spaced arrangements, with lyrics of pathos and wit” – RTE Arena
“O’Rourke is a vocalist of rare distinction. The album’s essence is to be found on Sea Swimming – a track that’s
redolent of the sort of standards that Paul Brady delivered early in his career.” – John Meagher, The Irish Independent
“There’s a soaring, magical quality to Jack O’Rourke’s Wild Place. There’s an almost cinematic feel to the album, like a
soundtrack to some classic Hollywood movie, perhaps by Nora Ephron. Wild Place seals O’Rourke’s reputation as one
of Ireland’s most gifted performers.” – Hotpress
ALAN BURKE
Alan Burke is widely regarded as one of the finest ballad singers of his generation. Well-known as a member of Rambling Boys of Pleasure, Alan possesses an almost inexhaustible repertoire of traditional, contemporary and selfpenned songs in both the English and Irish languages. Accompanied by his unique driving guitar style, Alan’s powerful presence and technique have featured on two highly acclaimed solo albums, On The Other Hand (1998) and Tip Of The Tongue (2000) alongside numerous recordings and collaborations with the bands and projects that have formed the core of a great life in music. A commanding stage presence, with a voice that is powerful, sensitive and crystal clear, Alan’s gigs are always truly memorable. He began his musical career as a drummer, before making his name in traditional music circles in the 1980’s and 90’s as the lead singer, guitarist, and bodhrán player with the tremendous band Afterhours, with whom he made three albums – Afterhours in 1988, Hung Up And Dry in 1990 and Up To Here in 1992 – and toured extensively worldwide. Since then Alan has appeared as a member of bands including At First Light, Airla and Tulsk. More recently Alan has been heavily involved in collaborative projects, including the Afterhours Bothy Band Tribute, and he was the cornerstone of the four acclaimed annual Irish Sea Sessions concerts and albums produced in Liverpool, Ireland and London that saw him combine with Declan O’Rourke, Damien Dempsey, Pauline Scanlon, Emily Portman and many more, and from which Rambling Boys of Pleasure evolved. Alan has worked extensively both as a record producer and as an actor, including the play This Is What We Sang that won Production of the Year at the First Irish Theatre Festival in New York 2010. He has also presented TV programmes in the Irish language for the BBC and TG4. In 2021/22 Alan was a contributor for two of the songs on the Artscope production of The Dublin Song. We are thrilled to have Alan make his first trip to Sitges! Always an emotional, interesting and poignant experience to be in the presence of Alan as he takes the audience through a gig.
Cathy Jordan in “I COULD READ THE SKY”
This live show, in English and in Catalan, brings together words, music and photographs to tell the story. • Reader/Author: Timothy O’Grady. • Music: Cathy Jordan, Cormac de Barra, Tim Doyle and Felip Carbonell. • Photographs: Steve Pyke. I Could Read the Sky has been published this year in Catalan by L’Agulla Daurada under the title Sabia legir el cel, in a translation by Neil Sabatés Crowley. It is also available in Spanish from Pepitas de Calabaza under the title Sabia leer el cielo. In the now-classic novel ‘I Could Read the Sky’, an old Irishman lies alone in bed in London and remembers a migrant’s life. Haunted by the faces and the land he left behind, he calls forth the bars and boxing booths of England, the potato fields and building sites, the music he played and the woman he loved. An Irish life with echoes of the lives of unregarded migrants everywhere. Reviews: “I Could Read the Sky’ is more than a concert, more than a show, and more than an experience, it is the truth, and all human life is here.” (Irish Music Magazine) “The work unrolls with the dignified steadiness of a gorgeous slow air…with stubborn pride in occasional grace notes….People have been trying to read the sky a long time. Rare masterpieces like this help us do it.” (Joseph O’Connor, Irish Times) “[I Could Read the Sky] is an almost indescribably brilliant account of what it is to be an Irish emigre – often lost to their families and references of home. It’s so lyrical, so full of feeling, and although many of the stories are heart-breaking, they’re told without an iota of self-pity. As for the scenes describing music, they’re quite simply the best I have read anywhere, ever.” (Sue Lyons, The Examiner) “O’Grady does not just respond to Pyke’s stark, beautiful photographs: he gives voice to thousands.” (Louise Kennedy) “I Could Read the Sky’ is more than a concert, more than a show, and more than an experience, it is the truth, and all human life is here.” (Irish Music Magazine) “…an amazing concert…and the audience responded with standing ovations and tears of sadness and pride.” (The Examiner) “Tonight was quite something. Billed as a night of words and music, it instead blossomed into a communion of performers and punters.” (Hot Press) Copies of I Could Read the Sky will be on sale over the Festival Weekend!
The Rubik’s Ensemble
The Rubik’s Ensemble returns to Sitges with special guest Noriana Kennedy (The Whileaways) Paul Kelly (mandolin, fiddle,) Claire Sherry (fiddle, banjo, mandolin), James Mahon (uilleann pipes, flute, whistles), Siobhan Buckley (harp), Tim Doyle (concertina, uilleann pipes, fiddle, low whistle) The Rubik’s Ensemble showcases some of the finest exponents of traditional music in Ireland. All with busy solo performing careers they also perform alongside some of the leading Irish bands and have busy touring careers in Ireland, the UK and the US. Noriana Kennedy Guesting with the Rubik’s Ensemble for this year’s festival is, half Irish and half Filipino, singer Noriana Kennedy. Noriana possesses a captivating voice lauded by the Irish Times as “a knockout: translucent and tenacious in equal measure”. Embracing a wide range of old-time songs, folk ballads, and originals, she imbues each song with her unique taste, crafting a sound that is distinctly her own. In 2013, Noriana was a founding member of the captivating songwriting trio The Whileaways. Together with her bandmates, she has contributed to four albums, earning several RTE Folk Award nominations along the way. Through her unmistakable renditions of old-time songs, folk ballads, and standout original compositions, she has carved a well worn and confident seat in Ireland’s vibrant folk music scene. “Noriana Kennedy’s music is pure folk, the good stuff, and deserves to fill many more rooms…” Celtic Radio Glasgow We are delighted that these artists have taken the time to team-up for Sitges ’24 and showcase the best of what is out there in Irish traditional performance today. A gig not to be missed!
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