Symposium - Irish Traditional Music and its Edges

This symposium is a knowledge exchange, performance and discussion day, highlighting practices, considerations, and communities on the fringes of the tradition.

While experimentation and development has always been a feature of traditional music, there are a remarkable number of recent examples of creative work that clearly exist on the boundaries of what is understood as Irish traditional music. Artists are combining standard approaches with new technologies, improvisation, other art forms and other genres of music.

These creative manifestations still overlap with political, historical and social priorities, including questions of inclusivity and activism. We hope to celebrate, develop and strengthen the research and creative community around these questions, and support opportunities for collaboration. This symposium will happen in the week preceding Belfast Tradfest and Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, at a time when there is a wealth of activity and energy in traditional music in the north of Ireland, particularly in Belfast.