Altan is celebrating forty years on the road!
To coincide with this tremendous milestone, they are planning celebratory concerts in Ireland and abroad, inviting special guests to join them.
Since their latest album ‘Donegal’ was released last year by Nashville
based Compass Records, it has received widespread positive reviews.
For four decades, Altan has been to the forefront of traditional Irish
music, blending the raw energy of their native Donegal-fiddle style with
a rare, melodic sensibility. Altan has always been regarded as tradition
bearers, bringing their native Donegal music to a wider public and
keeping true to their roots, while exploring modern arrangements
and textures to entice new followers.
This integrity in their music has placed them in high esteem by their peers
and they are regarded as one of the most popular Irish traditional bands
of all time. Being the first-ever Irish traditional band signed to a major
record label, Virgin Records in 1995, The Boston Globe named them
“The hottest group in the Celtic realm”.
The band has it’s original members, with founding lead
singer and fiddler, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, and core musicians
Ciaran Curran on bouzouki and Mark Kelly on guitar. Accordion player
Martin Tourish has been recording and touring with the group for
over fifteen years, and the latest addition to Altan’s lineup is the
wonderful, young fiddler and singer, Clare Friel. She is steeped
in the tradition of her Donegal ancestors!
Altan evolved from Mairéad and her late husband, Belfast flautist
Frankie Kennedy, playing folk clubs and smaller festivals in Ireland.
The band has since brought their native music to world-renowned stages such
as Carnagie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Dublin’s National Concert Hall as well as to the famous Glastonbury Festival, Tradfest Temple Bar in Dublin,
and Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany.
They have shared their music and musicianship with The Chieftains,
Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, John Prine, and more. Altan remains a
cornerstone of traditional Irish music, their sound resonating
across the world. As they enter their fifth decade, their
commitment to Donegal’s musical heritage ensures that their
influence will endure for generations to come.
Chicago Weekly
“Thought by many to be the finest traditional Irish combo working today,
Altan seamlessly blend dazzling instrumental prowess and the gorgeously delicate vocals of Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh”
Irish Echo, New York
“…under no circumstances should they be missed in concert”