Aine Minogue Free Concert at Robbins Library

Aine Minogue, Irish Harpist & Singer in concert at Robbins Library, Arlington MA

Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:00 p.m.   

This event will be held in the Community Room at Robbins Library, 700 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA  (Parking in rear of library and on Mass Ave)  

This Concert will be a CD Release Show and Conversation for   "Close Your Eyes, Love,"  an album of  Celtic lullabies (a final album in a series on the Celtic life cycle)  

Admission is Free.  No advance tickets or registration.  Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, so early arrival is recommended.  

Minogue’s latest release entitled "Close Your Eyes, Love" is a collection of  mostly traditional lullabies from the Celtic lands.  This collection marks Minogue’s completion of a music series celebrating the Celtic life-cycle.  

The album consists of five instrumentals and five vocal tracks, three of which are in English, one in Gaelic (Irish) and one in Welsh. Aine Minogue is accompanied by long time friends and co producer Scott Petito (bass, keyboards, guitar) and grammy award winning cellist Eugene Friesen, among others.   

Minogue’s main instrument is the harp and in the ancient Irish harping tradition, it was understood that certain melodies could induce powerful states of sleep.  These melodies were called ‘suantraí’ or songs of sleep and are among the loveliest in the tradition. 

As well as being well versed in these sleep melodies or ‘suantraí,’ harpers were well versed in melodies of sorrow called ‘goltraí.’  Another important part of the harping repertoire was the ‘geantraí,’  or ‘songs of laughter’ which created a sense of joy or merriment. 

Says Minogue "what’s fascinating to me is how people handled the issue of sleeplessness and what they put their faith in to cure it.  For them, it was melody and musician.  Faith systems are always fascinating.  When you listen to some of these gorgeous old melodies, it’s easy to understand their faith in these otherworldly melodies full of beauty and longing.  They truly are among my favorites."

 
The creator of twelve original Celtic music albums, many specializing in the Celtic life-cycle including Circle of the Sun, Between the Worlds, TheTwilight Realm and Celtic Lamentations, Áine Minogue "combines a hypnotic Celtic spirituality and contemporary sophistication in her playing and delicately lovely singing" (Boston Globe). 

Numerous tracks of her music appear on compilations for such labels as BMG, Virgin, Rounder, and Putumayo in varying styles including Celtic, world, folk and new age. Her music has aired on all major and cable networks including CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and MTV. 
 
'Áine Minogue…. a breath of fresh Éire'   • Entertainment Weekly"….a balm for our times....’  • Boston Globe

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Arlington Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency