AONARACHT

A collection for solo traditional musician and electronics 

Úna Monaghan (harp and computer)

with 

Paddy Glackin  (fiddle)

Saileog Ní Cheannabháin  (piano)

Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn  (uilleann pipes)

Pauline Scanlon  (voice)

Jack Talty  (concertina)

AONARACHT is a groundbreaking combination of Irish traditional and experimental electronic music. 

A collection of original pieces for solo traditional musician and computer. 

A completely new soundworld created by Úna Monaghan and recorded by six of Ireland’s foremost performers. Each piece is a unique combination of the traditional musician, their instrument, and electronics. 

This recording explores how technology can be used to sound the world of traditional music beyond the tunes. A custom made interactive relationship for each musician with the computer, involving fixed media, electroacoustic sound, field recordings, improvisation and live electronics.

Each piece has a different theme, exploring Irish traditional music and poetry, artificial intelligence, feminism, instrumentation and community. Featuring text by Maureen Boyle, 

Ciaran Carson and Cathal Ó Searcaigh.

Úna Monaghan is an award winning Irish harper, composer, researcher and sound engineer. Her work has been at the forefront of contemporary Irish music for a decade, exploring the intersections between Irish traditional music, experimental music practices, improvisation and interactive technologies. She collaborates, improvises and performs with poets, visual artists, computers, writers, musicians, and others.Úna has held artist residencies at the Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris, the Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas Montréal, and the Future Music Lab at the Atlantic Music Festival, Maine, USA. Úna is also in demand as a sound engineer, specialising in Irish traditional music, and experimental, live electronic and multichannel music, a role in which she travels worldwide. Úna holds a PhD from the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen’s University Belfast and held the Rosamund Harding Research Fellowship in Music at Newnham College, University of Cambridge from 2016-2019. She has received multiple awards, including the inaugural Liam O’Flynn Award from the Arts Council of Ireland and the National Concert Hall Dublin, and a BAN BAM award from Moving On Music and Improvised Music Company. AONARACHT is her second full length album of original compositions, building on her 2018 release for harp and electronics, “For”. 

“Úna Monaghan is an artist who seems equally comfortable in the realms of Irish traditional music, experimental electronics, installations, sculpture and movement.” – The Journal Of Music

“This Belfast harpist has steered an intriguing course through the worlds of science and arts” – The Irish Times

———————

You can download the radio edit of Úna’s track What Haven’t We Heard here.

Available from:

www.unamonaghan.com

Bandcamp

iTunes

Spotify

Birnam CD