14 April 2025
Traditional Music Practices ensemble launches their debut album
Creative Futures Academy at UCD and the School of Music celebrated the launch of “Seven Springs”, the debut album from the Traditional Music Practices ensemble, alongside trad music legend Paddy Glackin.
At the launch in the Sugar Club on 14 April, the CFA at UCD Traditional Music Practices ensemble presented an evening of traditional tunes from across Ireland, and original compositions by CFA Musician in Residence Dónal Lunny, Paddy Glackin, and the UCD students themselves. The evening saw incredible solo and ensemble performances from students such as Emer Ní Scolaí (harpist), Méin Nic Craith (accordion) and Conor Mac Gamhna (banjo) of work created during this course.
This launch event was hosted by Dr. Peter Moran, Assistant Professor of Composition and Performance in the UCD School of Music and Lecturer in Traditional Music Practice and Techniques of Songwriting, with a welcome address from Professor P.J. Mathews, Director, UCD Creative Futures Academy.
The 20-piece trad orchestra worked with Glackin and Lunny over the past three years to create original compositions and new arrangements of traditional music from Ireland and abroad. The title track of the new album, Seven Springs, is a new composition written by Dónal Lunny in 2023 especially for this ensemble. The album showcases the remarkable achievements of the students in the first three years of this new CFA module.
(opens in a new window)Listen to the album.
Find out more about the ensemble.
The Traditional Music Practices ensemble was founded in 2022 during Dónal Lunny’s tenure as Artist-in-Residence with the UCD School of Music and the Creative Futures Academy.
This project has been supported by (opens in a new window)Public Engagement funding from Creative Futures Academy (CFA).