HOW A SESSION WORKS: LORRAINE NÍ BHRIAIN WITH SEÁN SMYTH, GEORGE MCADAM & AIMÉE FARRELL COURTNEY

Name: HOW A SESSION WORKS: LORRAINE NÍ BHRIAIN WITH SEÁN SMYTH, GEORGE MCADAM & AIMÉE FARRELL COURTNEY
Start: 2024-07-22T15:30:00+01:00
Location: Ulster University

Schedule

Mon Jul 22 2024 at 03:30 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

Ulster University | Belfast, NI

Monday 22 July
3:30pm - 4:30pm
Ulster University, York Street
An open discussion about how a beautiful Irish traditional music session works hosted by Lorraine Ní Bhriain, with with Seán Smyth, George McAdam & Aimee Farrell Courtney

For most Irish traditional musicians, the most common and accessible opportunity to perform publicly on their instrument is in the unique format of the “session”. In this discussion the panel will explore the history of the Irish session and suggest that the session is the paradigmatic aesthetic form in traditional music, a work of art as important as a concert performance or a commercial recording. In a beautiful session, musicians are like Tibetan monks who carefully construct a sand mandala, then wipe it away when it is finished, never to be precisely repeated. And while every session is unique, all are not beautiful. In fact, some sessions can actually be frustrating and demoralising experiences for some participants, and for others just boring and uninspiring. So it is important to discuss how a beautiful session works. There are many aspects to consider:

What kind of space best facilitates a beautiful session? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having sessions in pubs?
How many musicians are required for a beautiful session? Can there be too many, or too few, musicians to make a session work?
What instruments, or combination of instruments, best facilitate a beautiful session?
Who decides what tunes to play in a beautiful session? From where does the authority to make these decisions come from? How important are these decisions?
What is the role of listeners in this artistic process? Are listeners as important as the music itself in a beautiful session?
What is the role of silence and conversation in this artistic process? When should a set of tunes stop, and another set start, in a beautiful session?
What are the characteristics of a musician who is a good session player, someone who can be counted on to make it beautiful?
Summer School Students can access all Afternoon Events FREE of charge except instrument clinics and the reed making workshop.