amid the mirk over the irk
when irish meets klezmer
the Show’s Overture
developing the mirk
Amid the Mirk Over the Irk: When Irish Meets Klezmer is an imagined musical meeting of two of Manchester’s long-established and prominent immigrant communities: the Irish and the Jewish.
Conceived in 2015 by Richard Fay (for whom Manchester has always been home), it combines traditional folk tunes, new compositions, intriguing fusions, and spoken word to evoke this imagined confluence of cultures across the banks of the river Irk.
It was first performed in March 2016 at the Manchester Jewish Museum in nearby Cheetham Hill, bringing some of the best musicians in Manchester’s thriving Irish traditional scene together with L’chaim Kapelye, a group of klezmer-playing graduates from the Music department at The University of Manchester where Ros Hawley and Richard Fay established the Michael Kahan Kapelye (klezmer ensemble) in 2012.
Those first Mirk shows – also featuring a dozen or more of the next generation of Irish traditional musicians – filled the museum for three consecutive concerts.
And so, the Mirk phenomenon was established, an evocative collective bringing together the creativity of musicians from both traditions.
The shows – co-produced by Richard Fay and Daniel Mawson with the musical and performance ranks swelled – were repeated again in January 2018 at the Museum, and in April that year at the Chorlton Irish Club.
And new Mirk (ad)ventures are on the horizon ...
The Mirkers
George Bingham
Guitar
Fiona Browne
Uilleann pipes, Flute, Whistles
Paul Cowham
Guitar, Mandolin
Bariton Horn, Button Accordion, Words
John Gibson
Flute, Whistles
Idris Jones
Fiddle, Spoken Word
Samuel Kane
Fiddle
Elana Kenyon-Gewirtz
Fiddle
Georgina MacDonell Finlayson
Fiddle
Clarinet
Hugh Owen
Guitar
Piano Accordion
Double Bass
Angela Usher
Banjo, Tenor Guitar, Whistles
Previous Mirkers
Dezi Donnelly: Fiddle
Connaill Durcan: Bodhrán
Méabh Kennedy: Fiddle
Jemima Kingsland: Flute
Mike McGoldrick: Whistles, Flutes, Uilleann Pipes
Lucie Phillips: Bass, Vocals
Katherine Reynolds: Narration
Ellie Sherwood: Clarinet
Emma Sweeney: Fiddle
Hat Wells: Clarinet
We are delighted to announce that we shall be performing in The Bridgewater Hall…