Rún

“The flower of the free
The heather, the heather
The Bretons and Scots and Irish together
The Manx and the Welsh and Cornish forever
Six nations are we, all Celtic and free.”

The human voice touches something deep within us. Through it we  are united, across borders, boundaries and nations as this famous lyric from The Song of the Celts (the Wolftones) aptly notes. Through song we possess the ability to inspire, to motivate, to celebrate. Rún harnesses these qualities to revisit the lore, legend and languages of our ancestors. Their debut performance in 2008 at London’s Union Chapel was described by the Irish World as “refreshingly different“, so perhaps it’s no surprise that the four-strong female vocal ensemble should go on to release a debut so refreshingly diverse.

Produced by County Down singer/harper, Brona McVittie, Sé features close-harmony arrangements of songs in Irish, Scots Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Cornish and Breton dialects, brought to life through the dulcet tones of Alli Buhagiar, Sonja Byrne, Ciara Holland and Brona. The languages of the six Celtic nations evolved as branches of ‘old Celtic’, spoken millenia ago by tribes who lived, loved and laboured across Europe from the British Isles to Gallatia. The group brings new life to old Celtic songs about one-horned cows and gigolos, blackbirds and bogeymen, drinking and debauchery, ardor and arable farming.

Rún released Sé: Songs from the Six Celtic Nations on Monday 19th September 2011 at the Green Note, 106 Parkway, Camden Town, NW1 7AN (7pm)

To purchase the album, and get your free track, please visit: BANDCAMP

Brona will perform solo at the 37th Lambeth Country Show this year on Saturday 16th July. The festival is free and takes place all weekend until Sunday 17 July, 11am to 7pm,

Village Green Stage

Brona sola

12.15-12.45pm

Brockwell Park, London, SE24 0NG

For more information visit the Lambeth Country Show website: CLICK

Brona will perform solo as part of a contemporary dance piece choreographed by Sarah Dowling. The Wake will be part of the Royal Opera House (ROH2) Dance Exposure programme – performances will take place at 7pm in the Clore Theatre on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th July. For more information, please click here: The Wake. Rún performed in the premiere of The Wake at Battersea Arts Centre in 2009.

Evrah has been a member of Rún since its inception in 2007, so it is with sadness that we say goodbye to her in 2011. Her dedication to our research of language and song, with particular interest in Cornish and Breton, will be sorely missed and we wish her all the very best with her future projects.

Evrah will now dedicate herself more fully to her role as lead vocalist with the London Gypsy Orchestra, and her poetic alter-ego, Germander Speedwell. See her website at www.evrah.org.uk.

We played a few songs from our new album on Friday 14th October 2011 at the National Portrait Gallery.

We’re very pleased to have launched our shiny new album, Sé - Songs from the Six Celtic Nations on: Monday 19th September 2011 at the Green Note

Returning to London’s Southbank the girls provide a sneak preview of their pan-celtic repertoire to whet appetites for their forthcoming album (Autumn release date tbc) and as a warm up for Martin Carthy, who is performing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 14th May 2011.

www.southbankcentre.co.uk

A real treat to be part of this festival. St Mary’s stage, where we performed, was bedecked with flowers and we sang to enpewed parishioners and were regaled onstage by a lovely vicar!