Skye Consort

Skye Consort - Courting Stories: True Love And Treachery

1. Gala Water
2. Yer Man's Set
3. The Jolly Beggar
4. Bretonne
5. Anarchie Gordon
6. Christy
7. The Saucy Sailor
8. Hardiman the Fiddler
9. Boys of Bedlam
10. Hyo Frwynen
11. The Boar and the Fox
12. Evan's Jigg
13. Bonny Barbry O
14. The Keelman Ower Land
15. The Newry Highwayman
16. The Day After

Skye Consort’s new program with singer Miranda Mulholland is about love: the first stirrings of love, the heady time two people share as they fall in love. But please don’t make the mistake of assuming these songs are all happy and light, for who has heard of love without strife? Or love without loss? While some of these songs tell cheerful stories of young couples falling in love, some recount stories of the betrayal and deceit that so often accompany that very same love. There are stories about the lengths to which people will go for their lovers, and stories about how new love can craze the sane.

Classically trained on violin and in voice, Miranda Mulholland is a versatile performer in high demand as a fiddler and singer covering a wide range of styles. In addition to varied studio work, she has toured extensively in Europe and North America with the Celtic rock bands The Mahones and The Peelers, and the alt-country band Luther Wright and the Wrongs. She was a member of the Canadian cast of Barrage and was the vocal and fiddle soloist for the Irish dance show Spirit of Ireland. Currently, she is a member of The Glengarry Bhoys (Universal) on fiddle, vocals and step dancing. She is also the founding member of the jazz-pop band The Roaring Girl Cabaret. Not limited to band performances, Miranda has graced North American stages in various theatre productions as a triple threat — actor, singer and dancer. Miranda studied Opera Performance at the University of Western Ontario and McGill University.

Formed in 1999, Skye Consort has toured and participated in chamber-music festivals across eastern Canada and the United States. From the start, the group’s goal has been to bring an art-music aesthetic to music from many different world traditions. Ensemble members Seán Dagher, Alex Kehler and Amanda Keesmaat highlight the ensemble’s unique blend of instruments with their own contemporary arrangements of seldom-heard vocal and instrumental pieces. Through these refreshing arrangements, the music finds new life. Skye Consort often has the pleasure of collaborating with guest musicians, and this project is no exception. The musicians appearing on this recording are:

Miranda Mulholland voice – voix
Alex Kehler violin – violon
Amanda Keesmaat cello – violoncelle
Seán Dagher cittern, voice, accordion – cistre, voix, accordéon
Andrew Horton double bass – contrebasse
Reuven Rothman double bass – contrebasse
Élise Guay bagpipes, recorder – cornemuse, flute à bec
François Taillefer percussion
Stéphanie Bozzini viola – alto
Avery Gietz shakers