Amala (Reidun Schlesinger & Paul de Grae) - Harp, guitar, songs.

Artists Profile

The newly-formed duo Amala plays music from several centuries, in original arrangements for harp and guitar: mainly Irish traditional tunes and some pieces from the Irish harp repertoire, but also Renaissance dances and European folk music, and songs in Irish, English, French and Flemish. Reidun (harp) is originally from Belgium and has lived in Kerry for the past eight years; she has considerable experience of playing solo and in bands in Belgium, Germany and France, and recorded three CDs with the band Amorroma. Also based in Kerry, Paul (guitar) has played and recorded with Matt Cranitch & Jackie Daly, Aoife Ní Chaoimh & Paudie O'Connor, and the trio Smoky Chimney, among others; in 1989 he published "Traditional Irish Guitar", the first such tutor book. Reidun and Paul first played together at the Pádraig O'Keeffe Festival in Castleisland, County Kerry, last October. The duo recently co-presented "From Chieftain's Court to Polka Sets: 500 Years of Harping in Kerry", a lecture/recital in the "Handed Down" series in Scartaglin Heritage Centre in Kerry (the Youtube clip below is from that event).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEZL0k7dHSY