Welcome to the official website of the West Ocean String Quartet
"I am spellbound, magiced to an other place" – Philip King
"This quartet washes over me like the West Ocean itself, gathering me up and bearing me off with it, dancing through the light of other days.." – Philip King
"The West Ocean String Quartet positively dazzles in its renaissance-like ability to inhabit multiple worlds simultaneously" Siobhan Long - The Irish Times
"This quartet washes over me like the West Ocean itself, gathering me up and bearing me off with it, dancing through the light of other days.." – Philip King
"The West Ocean String Quartet positively dazzles in its renaissance-like ability to inhabit multiple worlds simultaneously" Siobhan Long - The Irish Times
"Surprise hit album of the year, sent to the four corners of the globe" - irishmusicinternational
Quartet celebrate 10th anniversary with new album
Ae Fond Kiss, the quartet´s new CD, will be launched at the Frankie Kennedy Winter School by Stephen Rea, on Monday, 28th December 2009 at 8.30pm. The official launch will then be followed by a concert that will include all the material from the new album, including Oileán na Marbh, the song cycle featuring the talents of singer Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill. Composed by Neil Martin for Maighread and with words by Cathal Ó Searcaigh, the songs deal with 18/19th century practice of the burial of children who died before baptism. Church laws then forbade unbaptised children being buried on hallowed ground, and, like every parish in the country at the time, a place had to be found for such painful interments. Told from the mother´s perspective, the song cycle drew its inspiration from a small island off the Donegal coast, near Carrickfinn, and known as "Oileán na Marbh". We have performed this song cycle in Ireland, Paris and in Glasgow´s Royal Concert Hall. The album was recorded in Donegal and engineered by Billy Robinson
This year is a very significant one for the quartet – we celebrate our 10th anniversary, and shall mark this with a number of performances in Ireland and further afield. We anticipate concerts that will reflect both on where we´ve been in the last decade and where we may go in the future. New collaborations will emerge. We plan a tour in Ireland in March – keep an eye on the website and press for more details closer to the time.
Ae Fond Kiss, the quartet´s new CD, will be launched at the Frankie Kennedy Winter School by Stephen Rea, on Monday, 28th December 2009 at 8.30pm. The official launch will then be followed by a concert that will include all the material from the new album, including Oileán na Marbh, the song cycle featuring the talents of singer Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill. Composed by Neil Martin for Maighread and with words by Cathal Ó Searcaigh, the songs deal with 18/19th century practice of the burial of children who died before baptism. Church laws then forbade unbaptised children being buried on hallowed ground, and, like every parish in the country at the time, a place had to be found for such painful interments. Told from the mother´s perspective, the song cycle drew its inspiration from a small island off the Donegal coast, near Carrickfinn, and known as "Oileán na Marbh". We have performed this song cycle in Ireland, Paris and in Glasgow´s Royal Concert Hall. The album was recorded in Donegal and engineered by Billy Robinson
This year is a very significant one for the quartet – we celebrate our 10th anniversary, and shall mark this with a number of performances in Ireland and further afield. We anticipate concerts that will reflect both on where we´ve been in the last decade and where we may go in the future. New collaborations will emerge. We plan a tour in Ireland in March – keep an eye on the website and press for more details closer to the time.
