Bunagee Guitar Festival returns with concerts in Carndonagh and Culdaff

The Bunagee Guitar Festival is celebrating its third year next month with concerts in Carndonagh and Culdaff.

The festival, which was established in 2023 by Manus Noble - who has strong links to the area -  will be welcoming students from Ireland, the UK and Europe. 

Noble’s mother’s parents lived in Culdaff and he was a frequent visitor as a child to Bonagee where his mother built a home.

Brought up in Oxford, Noble graduated from the Royal College of Music with first-class honours and the Royal Academy of Music with distinction. He went on to launch his career to wide critical acclaim, winning multiple awards.

Career highlights include recitals at major UK venues such as the Purcell Rooms, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Sage Gateshead, Bridgewater Hall, Kings Place and Wigmore Hall, as well as giving recitals and masterclasses at festivals across the UK and Europe. Noble is also in high demand as a teacher, having taught at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama as well as directing the National Youth Guitar Ensemble in Wales. 

The first concert of this year’s festival takes place on Wednesday, July 9 at 7.30pm in the Sacred Heart Church, Carndonagh and features Noble himself, who is described as “remarkably self-assured, refined technique kissed by poetry” by The Times.

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He is accompanied by Gary Ryan, one of the world's leading guitarists and head of guitar and strings at the Royal College of Music, described by The Independent as “a guitarist of outstanding musicality” with “impeccable but pliant strength that handsomely defined the contours of the writing”. Tickets on the door cost €10 and €5 for under 18.

The concert will feature a guest spot from the Ukrainian Sunflowers youth guitar ensemble, for whom money is being raised via the concert. 

On Friday, July 11 at 7.30pm in Bocan Hall, Culdaff, there is a free entry student concert, where the students of the course will be performing a mixture of solos, duos and ensemble music. Both concerts will feature a wide variety of styles, ranging from traditional, south american, jazz to classical.