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July 2009
I'm just back from the 2009 Willie Clancy Summer School which was a great success despite the harsh economic climate. The numbers of people attending classes and workshops, particularly in the concertina, were extremely healthy and the evening recitals & ceilis were packed out. No doubt the sunny weather helped to make the atmosphere so particularly good during the week of the Summer School but I also think, given the gloomy times we are enduring at present, that people were determined to make the best out of the high point in the Irish traditional music calendar. The hard work and dedication of the organisers and their volunteers must be acknowledged and applauded.
Roll on 2010!
A collection of my photographs taken at the Willie Clancy Summer School has been published in a beautiful hardback edition entitled 'MUSIC AND LIGHT - CEOL AGUS SOLAS'.The book is composed of 130 black & white photographs selected from the many images that Tony has recorded of classes, sessions, recitals, ceilis and formal portraits from 1992 to 2007. The book also features a foreword by Nicholas Carolan, the director of the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin and writer & presenter of the RTE series 'Come West Along The Road', as well as an introduction by the directors of the Summer School, Muiris Ó Rócháin and Harry Hughes. This is a quality publication, possibly the first photographic study of an exclusively Irish traditional music subject and it has been generously supported by the Arts Council under its Deis Traditional Arts Initiative.
The book is available directly from Tony at prices which include post and packaging (and signing!). These are as follows:
Ireland €25 N. Ireland £23 UK £25 Europe €30 US $45
Payment by euro or sterling cheque or Paypal. Please contact tony@tonykearns.net to make orders. Books are posted from County Wicklow, Ireland.
The majority of Tony's photographs on this site have been taken at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy (Willie Clancy Summer School) as part of an ongoing documentary project of the activities of the School. The Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin has amassed a collection of Tony's photographs as one of their special collections with a tally of approximately 700 images.
The images on this website are also available for sale as high quality archival standard A4 digital prints at €15 per print, plus post & packaging. A discount of 10% will apply for orders of three prints and more. Please e mail for prices of A3 prints. Payment by euro or sterling cheque or Paypal. Please contact tony@tonykearns.net to order.
Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy is an annual, weeklong, Summer School of Irish traditional music, song and dance which has been held in the West Clare town of Miltown Malbay each July since 1973. It is held in honour of the great Clare piper Willie Clancy, a native of Miltown Malbay, and the School consists of classes in various instruments, set dancing classes, piping workshops, solo recitals, seminars, lectures, evening céilís and a grand concert at the end of the week featuring the best of Irish traditIonal music, dance and song that can be experienced anywhere.
Tony has had calendars and postcards published of his work over the years and has held exhibitions during the School for the past number of years.
Copyright Tony Kearns