Ireland's National Treasure Band to Perform at Beijing Zhongshan Music Hall

    For those immigrating to Ireland and interested in Irish stories: "It can melt a heart," "Pure emotion, without a trace of concealment or exaggeration," "A song, a story, where one can almost hear her timid longing, her faint sighs, and the sorrow of tears falling onto her lapels"—this is how fans describe Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, the soul of the band Altan.

 

 

On the 16th, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, a folk singer voted by the British public as being on par with Enya, will lead her band to the stage of the Beijing Zhongshan Music Hall to present a major performance titled "The Irish Folk Diva and Altan Concert."

Altan is hailed as the most outstanding Irish folk band of the 1990s. Over the more than 20 years since its formation, it has become almost synonymous with traditional Irish music and is a household name across Europe. The band is characterized by its vocals, twin fiddles, accordion, acoustic guitar, and bouzouki accompaniment. It carries on the spirit of ancient Irish ballads and was named the Best Folk Group by the BBC.

It is reported that Altan will perform a variety of traditional Irish music and Gaelic songs, including a special performance of "Daily Growing," a song described as having "sorrow that seeps into the bones," for the Chinese audience. When discussing the concert repertoire, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh mentioned that many Gaelic songs have been lost, and the band learned these songs through their interactions with local people in Scotland before bringing them to the stage.

As a leader in the field of Celtic music, Altan also serves as an ambassador for Irish culture, with tour footprints spanning Europe, the United States, and Japan.