Event Details

Altan & The Brendan Voyage featuring Liam O'Flynn with The Orchestra of Scottish Opera conducted by David Brophy

Sunday 20th January 2008, 7.30pm

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall : Auditorium

Please Note: This event is now past.

The first major work to integrate traditional music with classical orchestra, Shaun Davey's The Brendan Voyage (1980) receives its long-awaited Celtic Connections premiere, featuring its distinguished original soloist, Liam O'Flynn, on uilleann pipes, with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera and will be conducted by David Brophy.

A landmark in the development of Irish music, the piece was inspired by historian Tim Severin's 1976 recreation of St Brendan's legendary crossing from Kerry to Newfoundland in a traditional leather-hulled boat.

The 50-member orchestra returns in the second half to accompany Ireland's top traditional band, Altan, for a reprise of their successful shows in Dublin and Galway last September with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, featuring arrangements of songs and tunes from their 20-year back catalogue by leading Irish composer Fiachra Trench.

Founded in 1980, the highly-regarded Orchestra of Scottish Opera, well known to Celtic Connections audiences from previous festival collaborations, is increasingly in demand as a concert ensemble, staging its own regular performances in Glasgow since 2004.