Full house for this virtuoso's concert triumph
Mairtin O'Connor - a breath of Irish

Mairtin O'Connor (in concert)


Photo Vincent Mouchel.

















This time the tent in the forecourt of the Théâtre de Cornouaille was packed. 4-500 people welcomed Mairtin O'Connor, the renowned Irish accordion player. This concert was a real treat for traditional music lovers, with Mairtin's humour and likeableness an added bonus.

The Festival organisers are to be congratulated for their decision to put two specialists - Alain Pennec and Yann-Fanch Perroches - in charge of organising the accordion concert programme. Each evening at 18.30pm in the theatre forecourt brought a new and pleasant surprise. The Bulgarian player Neno Koytchev, the Basque Joseba Tapia : this voyage through the accordion universe came to an abrupt halt in Ireland last night, with Mairtin O'Connor. The spectators knew what they were about, and the queue grew to 50 metres in front of the tent before the doors opened.

Mairtin started playing accordion when he was 9, and bubbled onto the Irish music scene at the end of the 1970's. He has played with the great names, from the Chieftans to the Dubliners, and has brought out several solo albums, for example "Chatterbox", a collection of his own compositions.

He started the evening with a funny Irish story before sweeping the audience away with him in a whirlwind of dances, the excellent Nicolas Quéméner at his side on guitar. Nicolas is Servat's accompanist, and a member of Skeduz. During the evening he also demonstrated his skill as a flautist - long live the bagpipes!


 

 

 

 

 

 





Copyright Technopole Quimper Cornouaille France-Ouest 1999