CORMAC BEGLEY
MASTERING IRISH TUNES
Level: Intermediate +
This workshop is open to all melody instrumentalists but can also benefit non-melody instrumentalists
*In-Person | Saturday, Oct. 26 | 2pm - 3:30pm
Irish tunes are soundscapes of emotion and experience. Some of the tunes we play today are hundreds of years old, yet we still connect with them as if they were written just for us. In his workshop, Cormac Begley will take you on a deep dive through a couple of tunes. He’ll give you techniques that you can take home to help you learn the tunes inside and out so you can imbue them with life, while developing your own style and soundscape.
This workshop is open to all melody instrumentalists, but could be informative for non-melody instrumentalists as well.
Cormac Begley is a concertina player from West Kerry, renowned for playing 13 concertinas that range from bass to piccolo register. We are thrilled to welcome Cormac back to ReJigged Festival for his second appearance. After his standout performance in 2019, where he became a crowd favourite, we knew we had to bring him back for another unforgettable experience.
His debut solo album and his new bass concertina album have received critical acclaim, accumulating twelve combined 5-star reviews. These albums are central features of the award-winning show Mám (directed by Micheal Keegan Dolan) and Pat Collin's film, 'The Dance'. Cormac was nominated for four awards at the RTE Folk Awards, including 'Best Folk Album', 'Best Folk Track', and 'Best Original Folk Track', and he was awarded 'Folk Instrumentalist of the Year 2022'.
Cormac collaborates with a variety of talented musicians, including Liam Ó Connor, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Martin Hayes, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Rushad Eggleston (cello), Lisa O'Neill, and Ye Vagabonds. He has also recorded with notable artists such as Lankum, Stephen James Smith, Ré, and Jack Talty.
As the founder of Airt, a residential arts school in West Kerry, and the award-winning Tunes in the Church live concert series in Galway, Cormac is deeply committed to fostering the arts. More recently, he initiated a unique outdoor concert series from his campervan, ‘Beauty’.
In addition to his musical achievements, Cormac holds a PhD in Psychology, completed in 2014 as an Irish Research Council Scholar. His research focused on adolescent masculinity, examining the pressures and expectations boys face growing up in Ireland and their impact on health outcomes. He has published eight papers on this topic, five of which are peer-reviewed.