AISLING- Very Fine Irish Music

Award winning Irish soprano Emma Kate Tobia has joined with Melbourne musicians
Cyril Moran, Ian Tritt and Janice McBride to perform as the group Aisling. Hear
them perform traditional Irish songs in Gaelic while learning about the social
happenings of the 18th and 19th century. The penal days, the many uprisings, the
Flight of the Earls and even the 1916 Easter Rising come alive through their
narration.

A truly educational journey woven by the many Aisling or”dream vision”
songs where Ireland is portrayed as a womanly figure or fierce warrior or even as
a mermaid or an animal as poets struggled to portray the social happenings of the
day. The Aisling was a powerfully emotive channel for the expression of social
discontent and political turmoil in Ireland.

Band Lineup

Emma Kate Tobia

Emma Kate Tobia

Irish/ Scottish/ Italian Soprano now living in Melbourne- main vocals

After touring for many years in the USA from Maine to Florida and performing for people like New York Mayor Bloomberg and US President Barak Obama and even Jennifer Lopez she has settled in Bayside with her family.

She learned to speak Irish at a young age and loved the stories that the songs told and released an album called an Irish Dream- Aisling na nGael along with a Christmas album called an Irish Christmas Dream. She got together with Jan, Cyril and Ian last year and together they have the group Aisling

Janice McBride

Janice McBride

Double Bass, sings harmonies, Bodhran (Irish Drum,) key board & experienced dance caller

founding member of 'Celtica'
and the 'Free Selectors' Bush band. Janice is also a painter and a print maker.

 Ian Tritt

Ian Tritt

A multi instrumentalist

whose music has taken him to all kinds of venues… from The Melbourne Concert Hall to Tropical Island Resorts, from Exclusive Clubs and Opulent Mansions to Busking in Bourke Street, the back of a Moomba float and The Footy Show He has performed on Radio and Television in Australia and Overseas, toured the USA and as a studio session musician.

He’s a Victorian College of the Arts graduate, a Kapunda Celtic Festival musician
of the year and describes himself as “human polyfilla”, plugging up musical gaps
with harmonies and twiddly bits.

Cyril Moran

Cyril Moran

Lead guitar

migrated to Australia from Ireland and has has fronted “Shileigh Goat” a very popular folk rock band and after a few years he joined a more folk based band “Heartwood” in the late 90’s and did many concert and festival
events.

Cyril has won the Lawson Patterson Songwriting Award for his self “Freedom’s Song” at the well known Port Fairy Folk Festival and has released an album of original work called Summer Rain. He is also a member of Bushwahzee, a band that specializes in school based music programmes.

Aisling Music

The set list has lots of Irish songs, some sung in the Irish Language- ( Gaeilge).

Our old Irish songs all tell a story. They tell of day to day happenings in old
Ireland , they speak of love and betrayal, oppression and secrecy, of uprisings
and passion.

Each piece that we perform has a story attached,songs such as An Raibh tu ag an
gCarraig ( were you at the Mass Rock ?). This is a song of unrequited love, were
you at the Mass Rock and did you see my love and does she still love me……..

Of course the Mass Rock dates back to Penal Times in Ireland when the Irish were
forbidden to practice their Catholic Faith after the invasion by Cromwell and the
British Army and so they took to meeting secretly at a large rock where the
undercover priest would say Mass for the Irish people in secret. There are many
Mass Rocks still to be seen in Ireland.

Another is Oro is e do Bheatha Bhaile ( oh you are welcome home words of which
were written by the famous 1916 Rising Leader Padraig Pearse. In this song, he
calls home the men and women of Ireland from World War 1 to fight in the uprising
of 1916. This song was also used in the movie – The Wind That Shakes the Barley
and will form a major part in the 100th Anniversary Celebrations of the 1916
Rising in Ireland in 2016.

Sample set list

-My Love is like a Red Red Rose (B Flat)
-Is Ar Éireann ní Neaosfhionn cé hí
-Spanish Lady (G major)
-Danny Boy (C Major)
-Caledonia
-Siúil Arúin
-Carraig Donn (G major)
-Mná na hÉireann (D major)
-Rocky Road to Dublin (D Major)

-A Stór mo Chroí
-The Star of the County Down
-Fill Fill a Rún ó
-Carrickfergus
-Sean Bhean Bhocht (G Major)
-Bold Fenian Men (E Minor)
-The Aul Triangle
-An Raibh tú ag an gCarraig
-Óro ‘s é Do Bheatha Bhaile (A Major)

Bookings

Irene Briggs
Entertainment Depot

ph +61 3 9486 1771

P.O. Box 350 Fairfield
Vic 3078,  Australia