“Surely, national treasure status cannot be far away… Caitríona O’Leary, an enigmatic performer with otherworldly qualities that thrives in areas of the unusual and unreal.” – Dick Riordan, Sunday Business Post
MUSIC
Citadel of Song
Anakronos
Heresy Records announces a double album release of Citadel of Song by medieval/jazz/rock ensemble Anakronos.
The songs from Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th century masterpiece, The Decameron are revivified through bold new interpretations as conceived by Caitríona O’Leary.
“With this revival of 14th century Italian love poetry, the Irish singer Caitríona O’Leary confirms her status as the world’s leading early music avant-gardist.” – AUDIO Magazine
FILM
The Island of Saints
The Island of Saints featuring Caitríona O’Leary is a new ground-breaking feature length music film by director Eric Fraad by the medieval/jazz fusion ensemble Anakronos’ highly-acclaimed album, The Red Book of Ossory and its backstory.
Premieres in Ireland this month with screenings in Wexford, Dublin & Birr
MUSIC
Strange Wonders
The Wexford Carols, Vol. II
Strange Wonders, The Wexford Carols, Vol. II Brings Together Folk, Classical and Traditional Music Luminaries to Present Ireland’s Greatest Christmas Music.
Out Nov 12th on Heresy Records.
Produced by Ethan Johns and Dom Monks Featuring Singers Caitríona O’Leary, Seth Lakeman, John Smith, Clara Sanabras & Stile Antico with Instrumentalists Alison Balsom, Olov Johansson, Simone Colavecchi, Mel Mercier, Ethan Johns, Deirdre O’Leary & John Hearne.
“A supremely beautiful Christmas disc; warming and different.” – Classical Explorer
The Red Book of Ossory
Inspired Irish poems from the 14th century manuscript, The Red Book of Ossory set to medieval music and performed by Caitríona O’Leary and a stellar band of early music, jazz and contemporary classical virtuosi.
Poetry set to music by Caitríona O’Leary from: Chansonnier du Roi, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, Codices Chantilly, Modena and Squarcialupi.
Both Sides Now
A digital single version of Joni Mitchell’s iconic song, Both Sides Now, in an Irish language translation sung by Caitríona O’Leary. She is accompanied on the recording by guitarist Dick Farrelly. Both Sides Now (Ón Dá Thaobh) was translated into Irish by the renowned Dublin-based poet Gabriel Rosenstock.
The song is available on Spotify, Apple Music and numerous other digital service providers.
The Wexford Carols
Caitríona’s Billboard #1 album produced by Joe Henry and featuring Grammy winners Tom Jones, Rosanne Cash and Rhiannon Giddens, The Wexford Carols presents Ireland’s greatest Christmas music (much of it for the first time) in a recording the magically blends a diversity of folk styles including traditional Irish, Americana, Blues and Gospel.
“Easily the year’s most ambitious undertaking” – The Los Angeles Times
VIDEO
StampHaikuSong
StampHaikuSong a new digital single and short film composed and performed by Caitríona O’Leary. Based on Gabriel Rosenstock’s Irish Haiku written as poetic responses to a selection of Irish postage stamps. Art direction and graphic design by Gareth Jones.
Available March 12 – download from Bandcamp and stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Deezer etc.
The project was made possible by an Arts Council Covid-19 Crisis Response Award.
Love’s Fever
Based on the song Deh Lassa La Mia Vita from the end of day 7 of Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron.
Music by Lorenzo da Firenze. Featuring Caitríona O’Leary, Edited by Martin Mai, Art Direction by Gareth Jones, Filmed by Tara Slye, Recorded and Mixed by Caitríona O’Leary and Mastered by James Darkin.
Funded by an Arts Council Covid-19 Crisis Response Award.
Spellsong
UNACCOMPANIED
Every Saturday during lockdown, Caitríona dressed up and performed a short concert of beautiful unaccompanied songs from her room. Medieval, traditional Irish, Scottish, English, American… always finding music to be happy about!
Stay tuned for upcoming events.
These performances are archived on Caitríona’s YouTube channel.
NEWS
Folk on Foot podcast features The Wexford Carols
Caitríona O’Leary takes Matthew Bannister of the popular Folk on Foot podcast to the Franciscan church where Bishop Waddinge is buried and to St Aidan’s Cathedral in Enniscorthy where the area’s most famous carol was collected.We also meet the retired fisherman Dixie Devereux whose father sang the carols every Christmas for 62 years – and […]
Business Post Q&A with Caitríona O’Leary
Caitríona O’Leary’ features in the TASTEMAKER section of The Business Post on November 11, 2022. She answers some questions put to her by Ben Haugh. What was your earliest ambition? To be Jana of the Jungle. What’s a scent that you associate with your childhood? The smell of burnt matches – this brings me right […]
PORT A’ tSAOIL: TIONSCADAL KATE BUSH as part of IMRAM
Smock Alley Theatre – Friday, November 18 at 8pm. Kate Bush is an artist like none other – weaving rock, classical and folk music to extraordinary effect. Her lyrics are highly dramatic, drawing on a wide range of literary and cinematic sources, exploring themes of childhood, love, death, war and mythology. On Friday, November 18, […]
September 2022
Caitríona is delighted to have received another Arts Council award (the Agility Award) to develop, compose, perform and record settings of medieval English poetry. The songs I write will form the first three in a song cycle, working title Dayes Eyes in This Dale. Stay tuned…!
April 2022
Caitríona has been awarded a bursary by the Fingal County Council Arts Office to work with the renowned German composer Boris Bergmann as he sets, for her voice, poems by the early 20th century German poet Otto Braun. Braun, though prodigiously talented, remained unpublished during his short life (he died at age 21 on the battlefield in WW I). Boris has loved the poetry for a long time and Caitríona is grateful for having been introduced to it!
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