Latest News from Siobhan - Songs of Simple Beauty

If you are not a subscriber of Siobhan's Newsletters but would like to join her mailing list, subscribe here.

Sorry once again for the delay in getting this newsletter out. I had a fall two weeks ago, bruising my sternum and ribs, so things got a bit behind. But we're back on track now!

The first of Siobhan's "Songs of Simple Beauty" concerts was quite a success. This concert was held at St Andrew's Uniting Church, Strathalbyn on Sunday 17th July. As we set off from Adelaide the weather was wet and cold, but had cleared up by the time we arrived at Strathalbyn. It was still cold, but with a beautiful blue sky. (See the photo on the left). We were all very pleased with the turnout. They sold 67 tickets which was good considering it was such a cold day. The audience were very appreciative and Siobhan sold quite a few CDs afterwards. Siobhan got to mingle and meet many of audience during afternoon tea.

Siobhan's second concert in the "Songs of Simple Beauty" series will be at Jamestown Uniting Church, Jamestown on Sunday 18th September at 2pm.

The ticket prices are $12 and include afternoon tea. Tickets will be available at the door. Stay around for afternoon tea to chat with Siobhan, who will also be signing and selling CDs.

In 2008 Siobhan was invited to sing a couple of songs at the Graduate Singers' Celtic Concert. This year she had a much bigger part in their "Celtic Colours" concert. As well as performing two sets from her own repertoire, she was the soloist in three songs with the choir. For the concert opening they sang the beautiful song "Jerusalem" as sung by Irish group Anuna. This was a favourite with many people. Later on in the program she sang "My Lagan Love" with the choir backing her. Again it was absolutely beautiful. For the finale, she sang the first verse of "Amazing Grace"; then the second verse with the choir; the South Australian Pipes and Drums played a verse on their own, with Siobhan and the choir joining them for the final verse. It was gorgeous! Even though there were no mics used at all, Siobhan's voice carried very well.

The whole concert was a delight! The choir sang some stunning Celtic pieces including a Welsh section. We were impressed by their Welsh pronunciation in "Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (the Welsh national anthem) and loved their "Men of Harlech". The SA Pipes and Drums played some stirring Scottish songs including our favourite "Highland Cathedral". The sound of bagpipes in the Cathedral is enough to give you goosebumps!

The choir director, Tim Marks, told us it was one of the most successful concerts that they have done. He said to Siobhan "Your contribution was, I think, central to this. Your sound - singing and playing - worked beautifully in the Cathedral, floating effortlessly throughout the building. It was once again a pleasure to work with you and I look forward to hearing your news and doing concerts in the future."

We received a phone call from Ghil'ad Zuckermann, Prof. in Linguistics at Adelaide University at the end of July. He was looking for a Celtic harp to be used for a performance by multi-instrumentalist and linguist Tal Kravitz, and was given Siobhan's name by the SA Folk Club. We thought it a worthy cause so took the harp along to Tal's performance. He was very impressed with the harp, thought it was a very beautiful style with a beautiful mellow sound. He presumed it was made in Scotland or somewhere in Europe, so was surprised it was made locally by wonderful luthier / harp maker Tim Guster. Siobhan had choir practice that evening so couldn't come along to the concert, but Arthur and I stayed and were amazed by his instrumental expertise and also wonderful singing. He has a lovely tenor voice with great range, and also treated us to some expert yodelling! Some of the instruments he played for us were harp, guitar, bagpipes, nose-flute, theramin and musical saw! Although Siobhan missed his performance, she came along and met him afterwards. You can see Siobhan's harp in these photos.

Taken from a website: Tal Kravitz is a musician and a singer educated at Israel’s finest music institutions. He is also a traveller who's embarked on a personal search for original tribal music in far corners of the world not yet exposed to Western civilization. Tal plays piano, harp, guitar, a variety of bagpipes, the musical saw, African percussion instruments and more. East Africa and Papua New Guinea are some of the places he's reached, photographing the indigenous tribes' lifestyles and recording their music as it was sung and played for thousands of years. Tal uses this material to advocate for ethno-musicological research of societies whose traditions and music are in danger of extinction.

As mentioned in the last newsletter, the Melbourne Welsh Male Choir have invited Siobhan to perform at their St David's Day concert in Melbourne in February 2012. A couple of weeks ago they contacted us again to ask if she'd also sing in a concert with them later in the year. This is an even bigger concert which has previously had Aled Jones as the invited guest, so it was a great honour for Siobhan to be asked this time. Unfortunately the concert falls in exam fortnight at University, so Siobhan has had to decline this one. A shame, but Siobhan's education always comes first for her.

The choir have also offered to sing a couple of Welsh pieces with Siobhan for her next album. They are working on the arrangements, and I think these will be wonderful tracks! We had originally asked the Metropolitan Male Choir from Adelaide to collaborate, but they could not find the time to spare, so the Melbourne Welsh Male Choir happily stepped in!

Anybody following Siobhan on Twitter or facebook, will have heard the tale of the travelling music stand!

We have been looking for a music stand for Siobhan to use for weddings and concerts for a while. We could find nothing in Australia that matched her harp, so started looking online at overseas suppliers. We found the perfect stand in maple from the Early Music Shop in England. It was a reasonable price too. So I ordered it on Thursday 4 August. We then had great fun tracking its journey from when it was picked up from Yorkshire by UPS on Friday 5 August, through to Germany, France, Philadelphia, Louisville, Hawaii, Sydney, Melbourne and finally Adelaide! The UPS courier tried to deliver it on Wednesday 10 August, but nobody was at home. So I arranged to have it delivered to my workplace on Thursday 11th. A well travelled music stand! It is a perfect match for Siobhan's harp - both in colour and design. There was a slight problem when we set it up though. It was too tall (even at its lowest setting) for Siobhan to use while sitting at the harp. So Arthur had to cut out a middle section from the upright column and glue it back. As you can see from the photos he did a great job and you wouldn't notice it had been altered. So Siobhan was able to use it on Saturday 13 August for a wedding and the "Celtic Colours" concert in the Cathedral.!

It's always very exciting being asked to perform at a wedding. We always make it very clear that Siobhan is a singer who accompanies herself on harp, and not a concert harpist. We direct them to videos and samples of her music so they can see if she is suitable for their wedding. But, for every wedding she has performed at, she has been asked to play some complicated harp solo and to sing something she has never sung before. So we have to look for a less complicated arrangement of the harp pieces and she has to not only learn the new song but create an arrangement for it too. Then she has to put in many practice hours to get it right for the bride and groom's big day.

This happened at the wedding on 13 August. Siobhan was very nervous beforehand, worried that if she slipped up she may ruin their day. She was confident with the singing, but worried she may play a wrong note or something. As it turned out she played both pieces perfectly! In fact, better than in any of her practices! At the end of the wedding, the pastor passed on his congratulations and asked for business cards so he could recommend her to other couples. The organist caught Siobhan before leaving to tell her "That was exquisite. I haven't heard anything as beautiful in a very, very long time. It was a pleasure to be here to witness it." We heard afterwards that many guests also showed their delight in Siobhan's singing and playing. So her hard work paid off.

Now she has to learn another harp piece and another song for the wedding in October....

At last Siobhan's Awards for "Best New Irish Music Artist" and "Top Harpist" from the Irish Music Association have arrived from the USA. They are so beautiful! They are made from white oak, marble, and lead crystal with green and orange back lights. You can see the green backlights in the photos below. There is a marble map of Ireland on the front of the awards and a brass name plate on the back.

The official presentation of the awards will be made to Siobhan on Friday 2 September at the Adelaide Irish Club, Carrington Street, during a break in the Folk'N'spice concert. Siobhan will perform a couple of songs after the presentation. We will be videoing and taking photos for the Irish Music Awards web page.

2 September, 9pm - Presentation of Siobhan's Irish Music Awards and short performance. Irish Club, Carrington Street, Adelaide.

18 September, 2pm - Concert at Jamestown Uniting Church, Jamestown. Second in the "Songs of Simple Beauty" series. Followed by afternoon tea.

16 October, 2.15pm - Walkerville Rotary Club "Pleasant Sunday Afternoon" concert.

21-23 October, times tba - Performing at the Fleurieu Folk Festival, South Australia.

23 November, 1.10pm - Lunch Hour Concert for Recitals Australia as part of their Spring Series. Pilgrim Church, Flinders Street, Adelaide.

Siobhan Owen Official Website

Facebook (fan page)

Myspace (Music, Videos and events news)

Youtube (Siobhan's videos)

Forum (Siobhan Owen Official Forum)

Twitter (Follow Siobhan on Twitter)

Reverbnation (fan page)

Bebo (fan page)

last.fm (fan page)

Siobhan's albums "Purely Celtic" and "Celestial Echoes" can be ordered from her website. "Celestial Echoes" is also available to download at iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby.

Like 'Latest News from Siobhan - Songs of Simple Beauty' on Facebook

Share 'Latest News from Siobhan - Songs of Simple Beauty' on Facebook