Boston College Celtic Harp Festival records

Collection

Identifier: IM-M003-1992

Scope and Contents

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Collection of audio recordings of the 1992 Boston College Celtic Harp Festival, co-sponsored by the Boston College Music Department and Irish Studies Program. Recordings consist of a keynote lecture and a panel discussion, as well as concert performances with musicians including Derek Bell, the Boston College Chamber Orchestra, Ann and Charlie Heymann, Máire Ní Chathasaigh, and the four-harp ensemble, Triantán, from University College, Cork, Ireland. Festival promotional materials--a poster, press release, schedule of events, and flier for an Irish harp exhibit at Burns Library--are also present.

Additionally, there is an original manuscript and annotated copies of sheet music for a suite for Irish harp and string orchestra. The work, "Three Pictures from Ancient Ireland in Druid Times," was written by Derek Bell and dedicated to Professor Anne Dhu Shapiro of the Boston College Music Department. Bell and the Boston College Chamber Orchestra performed the piece at the Celtic Harp Festival on April 5, 1992.

Dates

Creation: 1992

Creator

Boston College. Irish Studies Program (Organization)
Boston College. Department of Music (Organization)
Boston College Celtic Harp Festival (1992 April) (Organization)
Bell, Derek, 1935-2002 (Person)

Access Note

Collection is open for research. The audio cassettes are not available for playback due to format impermanence and have not been reformatted. Please let Burns Library Public Services know of your specific interest; if possible, reformatting will be scheduled.

Conditions Governing Use

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Historical note: Boston College Celtic Harp Festival

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Co-sponsored by the Irish Studies Program and Music Department at Boston College, the Celtic Harp Festival was a weekend-long festival held at Boston College from April 3-5, 1992, to commemorate the bicentenary of the Belfast Harp Festival of 1792. The 1992 festival was organized by a committee which included members Séamus Connolly, of the Irish Music Program at Boston College, and Irish harpist Mairéad Loughnane Doherty. The festival also received support from the British Council, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Massachusetts Chapter.

Events included concerts, lectures, panels, workshops, and a mass at St. Ignatius Church featuring visiting harpists. Festival performers included Derek Bell, the Boston College Chamber Orchestra, Ann and Charlie Heymann, Máire Ní Chathasaigh, Triantán (a student group from University College, Cork, Ireland), and dancers from the Boston chapter of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. There was an accompanying "Celtic Harp Exhibit" at the Burns Library in addition to the events, featuring 18th-century harps, rare books, and special collections materials.

Along with the My Love Is in America Irish fiddle festival (1990) and the Festival of Irish Traditional Song: Sean-nós and its Extensions (1991), the Celtic Harp Festival (1992) established Boston College as a hub for Irish music and was a significant precursor to the Gaelic Roots Festival at Boston College (1993-2003) and the Boston College Gaelic Roots Series (established in 2003).

Sources:

Cannon, Cormac. "Mairéad Doherty". November, 1998, http://homepage.eircom.net/~ccannon/anamchara/acbio.html.

Center for Irish Programs of Boston College, Massachusetts. "A Fond Farewell to Séamus Connolly". Irish Literary Supplement. March 1, 2016, https://newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=irishliterary20160301-01.2.15&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------#sectionleveltabtextarea.

Poster, 1992 April, Shared box 1005, Folder 1, Boston College Celtic Harp Festival records, IM.M003.1992, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

R.F. "Irish Music Festival to Celebrate the Celtic Harp". Boston College Biweekly, Volume 12, Number 14, March 26, 1992, https://newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=bcbiweekly19920326-01.2.20&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------#sectionleveltabpersistentlinkarea.

Full Extent

7 Linear Feet (5 containers)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Collection of audio recordings of the 1992 Boston College Celtic Harp Festival, co-sponsored by the Boston College Music Department and Irish Studies Program. Recordings consist of a keynote lecture, panel discussion, and concert performances. Also included is Derek Bell's original manuscript and annotated sheet music for an Irish harp suite performed at the festival, as well as promotional ephemera.

Arrangement

Arranged in two series: I. Festival events; and II. Promotional materials.

Provenance

Transferred by Séamus Connolly, 1997, 1999.

Related Materials

Boston College Gaelic Roots Festival records, IM.M070.1993, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Boston College Gaelic Roots Music, Song, Dance, Workshop, and Lecture Series recordings, IM.M071.2003, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Boston College "My Love Is in America" Irish fiddle festival records, IM.M003.1990, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Séamus Connolly papers, IM.M064.1999, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.