Castletown House to host Other Voices

Kildare’s magnificent Castletown House will host the first live broadcast tomorrow, 4 May, of one of the country’s most successful musical series: Other Voices.

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The eighteenth-century Palladian mansion, managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW), is the first of four OPW heritage sites around the country to become the stage over the course of this month for ANAM: Songs for Hearts and Minds.

On the bill for the Kildare concert on Thursday evening at 8pm are Anna Mieke, Ezra Williams and Negro Impacto.

The episode will be beamed across the world via the YouTube and Facebook platforms of Other Voices and the OPW.

OPW Head of Heritage Services and Capital Projects Delivery Rosemary Collier said:

>“We are delighted to partner with Other Voices in showcasing such contemporary musical talent here in Castletown House. Castletown was built to represent power and to facilitate entertainment, and this Thursday, the power of new voices filling the air of the famous Long Gallery promises a yet unheard-of experience both for audiences online and in the room, blending the here and now with the layers of Irish history present in the exquisite surroundings of this special setting.”

ANAM: Songs for Hearts and Minds is made possible with the generous support of the OPW and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The concert complements a packed programme of events at Castletown House which includes the successful Making an Entrance music series and there will also be performances by Finghin Collins, Emer Barry and the Chapterhouse Outdoor Theatre Company among many others over the coming months.

Philip King from Other Voices said:

>“It’s a real delight to partner with the OPW and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to bring live music from a diversity of Ireland's most wonderful artists into these magnificent buildings and these beautiful rooms, and to make them audible and visible the world over. The sound and the feeling of what it is to be Irish right now is manifest in the songs and tunes of these creative artists, who are informed and enriched by the traditions of past times…traditions born and nurtured in these halls and galleries over decades and centuries.”

Following the performance at Castletown, this new partnership will offer national and international audiences a front row seat at three further intimate performances in the beautiful historic settings of Cahir Castle in Tipperary, the Blasket Centre - Ionad an Bhlascaoid, in Dunquin, close to Other Voices’ spiritual home of Dingle in West Kerry, and in Desmond Castle in Newcastlewest, Co. Limerick.

Public tickets for this series of concerts will only be available for these exclusive performances via competitions with more details on how to win available. The series will be livestreamed globally each Thursday in May at 8pm from 4 May onwards, via YouTube and Facebook.

Full details and streaming schedule available at Othervoices.ie.

For further information, please contact the Press Office at pressoffice@opw.ie

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Ezra Williams, a 21-year-old songwriter and musician from Cork, Ireland, first gained attention with their debut single “Thinking of You” released while still in their teens. Since then, they have independently released two EPs and several singles, amassing over 80 million Spotify streams in total.

With their debut album "Supernumeraries," Ezra Williams continues to make their mark as a talented and introspective musician, offering a fresh perspective on relationships, identity, and self-exploration.

Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Anna Mieke is based in Wicklow and toes the line between folk forms and vivid dreamscapes, drawing on traditional and contemporary motifs.

The lyrically ornate and instrumental delicacy of her work, alongside flowing atmospheric arrangements, contributes a challenging, emphatic and new voice to alt-folk.

The release of the Wicklow-based artist’s critically acclaimed debut album, Idle Mind from 2019, garnered Anna a nomination in the ‘Best Emerging Act’ category at the RTÉ Folk Awards.

Anna’s second album, “Theatre”, was released in November 2022 and received praise from The Guardian, Brooklyn Vegan, MOJO and Uncut, among others, and was nominated for Album of the Year (2022) in Ireland’s ‘Choice Awards’.

Also performing on the night will be one of Ireland’s most exciting new acts, Dundalk’s alt-neo-soul duo Negro Impacto whose distinctive sound have found them among the 2FM Rising class of 2023 as well as finalists of LMFM’s A New Local Hero talent search.