Turas began life as ‘Compánach – the music of Ireland in its Places’, a live, audio-visual concert. It will run in future as Turas – Virtual Ireland in Music. It is a live performance of Traditional music, song & dance played against a captioned backdrop of c. 700 photo-images of musicians and scenery. It has old and new melodies of all types from each of the 32 counties on the island and from diaspora regions in the USA and Britain.

The Turas show

This unique event draws on the A-Z format of the encyclopedia Companion to Irish Traditional Music, literally turning its text back into music. The narrative is visual, and instantly-appreciable, projected on a large-format screen behind the players – a documentary flow of historical images and contemporary photos. These are lifted by the superb solo, duet and ensemble tunes, song and dance into a real-time display of people, places and events which demonstrates Irish music’s hallmark variety, repertoires and styles.

For Traditional music lovers and aficianados this is a vibrant presentation of solo and group playing, sean-nós step-dance and singing. For students of the music and of Irish culture it is an engaging, highly-informative visual and melodic interplay. Compánach ran from 2013 – 2020 and resume – renamed ‘Turas’ – in 2024.

• Video sample of the live concert as performed in Belfast, 2015
• Video of the concert at Dún Laoghaire, March 2015:  You-tube
• Karan Casey singing  in Compánach at Cork Folk Festival, Oct. 1st, 2016
• Síomha Ní Aonghusa singing in Compánach at Ennis Tradfest, Nov. 13th, 2016
• Full summary of the concert
• Double-CD album of the Compánach concert
• DVD and online video music documentary ‘Turas – Virtual Ireland in Music’

• Listen to track selections from the CD here

Bandcamp sample of the CD

 

• View a sample of the 2021 Turas DVD/video

 

Purchase the CD and DVD

 

 

Performers

The core group of players has Gerry O’Connor on fiddle, Tiarnán Ó Duinnchín on uilleann pipes;  Fintan Vallely on flute,  Sibéal Davitt with sean-nós step dance and flute; and, on song,  Roisín Chambers (also with fiddle) or Máire Ní Choilm with sean-nós song. Other leading musicians join the cast from time to time. The show is anchored contextually by music and scenic photos by Jacques Piraprez Nutan, with supplementary landscapes by Gareth McCormack.

Additional performers for the CD and DVD, and various shows

Liz Doherty (fiddle); Emma O’Sullivan and Arlene McCarroll (dance); Roisín White, Máire Ní Choilm, Síomha Ní Aonghusa, Maurice Leyden (song); Gay McKeon & Jimmy O’Brien Moran (uilleann pipes).

Biographies of all performers who take part

Double-CD album of the Compánach concert available by post online.

Also as a download from CDbaby.com and from bandcamp.com.

Booking, support documents and information

Companach can be performed in Ireland and abroad. Enquiries welcome, see Booking information