Premier performance of a very special composition to take place in Donegal

The premiere performance of Small Behaviours - Songs From a Witness Statement takes place in the Abbey Arts Centre as part of the Donegal Bay and Bluestacks Festival. 

Written by Kate O’Callaghan, arranged by Seamus Devenney and performed by Kate O’Callaghan, Seamus Devenney and the Donegal Camerata String Quintet, Small Behaviours – Songs from a Witness Statement is the second instalment of Inishowen musician and composer Kate O’Callaghan’s musical response to her great grandaunt Catherine Rooney’s witness statements to the Irish government’s Bureau of Military History. It details her involvement in the events of Easter 1916 in Dublin, and the subsequent War of Independence. 

While her previous work, The Girl with The Beret, focused on 1916, Small Behaviours deals primarily with its aftermath. As such, the new song cycle sees Catherine - a native of Dublin - and her wider family, including her sister and her mother, deeply involved in the events of the War of Independence.

The work is essentially a reflection on the seemingly ‘small behaviours’ of ordinary women, which ultimately affected far reaching social change over time.

This very special concert takes place on Sunday, October 9 at 8pm as part of the Donegal Chamber Music Festival and the Donegal Bay and Bluestacks Festival.

Booking online at www.abbeycentre.ie or via the Abbey Arts Centre box office open 11am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, 071 9851375.