Traditional & Irish Folk Music

Hexham Rotary Club are delighted to present a sparkling evening of Celtic and Northumbrian traditional music (and some serious skiffle) sponsored by Fentimans. All artists have donated their time and all proceeds will therefore go to Shelterbox, a disaster relief charity supported by Rotary International, and to provide Braille printers for the Al- Qabs School for the Blind in Ramallah.The school was established in 1978, and hosts 75 students from different parts of the west bank starting from kindergarten to the eleventh grade. Its curriculum is the same as the one taught in Palestinian public schools, except that the books are printed in the Braille system.

The evening will be hosted by renowned local musician and raconteur Mike Tickell. Mike was born into a family of musicians in the North Tyne Valley. Both his father and grandfather were singers and musicians as are the internationally acclaimed next Tickell generation, Kathryn and Peter.

Special guests for the evening will be internationally renowned Gerry O’Connor and Donal O’Hanlon who are breaking their April tour of the North East to perform at the Queen’s Hall concert.

Gerry is recognised as one of the great fiddle players of his generation and has toured and recorded with members of several legendary bands including Planxty, Bothy Band, De Dannan, Boys of the Lough and the Chieftains. He was winner of Album of the Year in 1996 (Irish Music magazine) and along with four other nominees, Album of the Year 2004 (The Irish Times). He toured with the celebrated Irish- Canadian Band the Irish Rovers, and, in 2011, recorded with Cathal McConnell the CD “I have travelled this country” charting the traditional songs of Ulster. In 2016, he appeared on the CD collection, Wall to Wall, featuring original and traditional music from the Borders and South Ulster by MartinMatthews.

Donal is an actor, producer and singer/guitarist from Newry. He has been a regular accompanist for both Gerry and Josephine Keegan. He has frequently performed on Stage, TV and radio throughout Ireland and Canada and was a founder member of Ragairne, the forerunner to Altan.

Martin Matthews is a Northumbrian multi-instrumentalist and has been the mainstay of several well known acoustic bands including The Champion String Band, The Rub and Cuig. He has of late been busy producing and touring a triple CD collection, Wall to Wall, featuring original and traditional music from the Borders and South Ulster.

Roddy Matthews is well known as a fiddle player both here at home in Northumberland and throughout Scotland. He comes from a musical family; his father was personal piper to the Duke of Northumberland and his mother was National Convenor of Commun na Clarsach (Scottish harp society) and co-founder of the Edinburgh International Harp Festival. He has released six CDs as well as appearing on several albums for other bands and musicians.

Kevin Doonan has been a member of the Doonan Family Band and latterly The Mighty Doonans for over 40 years. His father John Doonan was a World Champion piccolo player and regarded by many as the godfather of Irish music. He will be accompanied by Ros Doonan on Celtic harp.

The Charwallahs need no introduction and have been a Northumberland musical institution for over 27 years. In their early days, it was Rod Clements who arranged their performances and joined them for late sessions at the “Salmon” in Holystone. They will be providing a lively set of “skiffle and stuff.”

The final act are Voicemale, The Northumbrian Community Folk Choir for Men. VoiceMale is a men’s choir – but definitely not a straightforward British ‘male voice choir’ – the choir came into being following an initiative by 20,000 Voices in January 2001, under the inspirational leadership and direction of Sandra Kerr.

Now over twenty strong, and under the Directorship of Graham Stacy, the choir’s broad repertoire includes traditional songs from the British Isles, with particular emphasis on the rich and varied tradition of our own region together with contemporary material and folk songs from around the World.

The growing reputation and popularity of the choir has led to concert performances throughout the region. The choir have also performed at the Coleraine International Choral Festival in Northern Ireland and in October 2008 toured Slovenia.

PLEASE BOOK EARLY via Queen’s Hall Box Office. We look forward to your support.