When I first call Altan’s Mairead Nimhagonaigh I get her answering machine, her soft, lilting voice speaking in her native Irish. It seems fitting that this very traditional fluent Irish speaker should also be traditional when it comes to music.
When we finally connect Mairead enthuses about Australia, calling it ‘a lovely place’ and although Tasmania is not on the schedule for Altan’s tour, Mairead impresses me with the knowledge of Tasmania’s history as a former penal colony and the Irish that found their way here.
An accomplished fiddle player Mairead was taught to play the fiddle by her dad, in the Donegal style. If you are unfamiliar with what the ‘Donegal style’ means. It is explained by Mairead as like a person from a different country or even just a different area, having a different sound of speech.
Altan’s songs are very much accented in the Donegal style. The band’s name itself, refers to a lake in Donegal and was suggested by Mairead’s father. The name ‘Altan’ was deemed appropriate for its direct and distinctive, Irish-ness but at the same time easily pronounced by non- Irish speakers.
Altan’s songs are inspired by Donegal’s beauty veiled in constant rain and other worldly mist and mystery. Altan lake cannot be reached by car but instead the journey must be made on foot, adding to the mystery. The stillness of the water could be a metaphor for the band itself, a music to fine stillness and contemplation in as well as movement.
Mairead, a former teacher visits schools sharing Altan’s music. Mairead also has strong views on education believing it should aim to educate the whole person and shouldn’t be narrowed into specialised subjects and cites the Finnish model of education which recently eliminated subject boundaries. Mairead also believes the most important skill to teach students is communication, a skill required in whatever way their careers lead them, from the academic to the vocational because whatever the job it requires the employees to be clear in their communication. Communication is something that is of course essential to music, which in Altan’s case communicates to audiences hearts and minds, touching and in some cases even healing them.
You can experience Altan at the following date and venue: 16 June – Fly By Night, Perth
Paula Xiberras
