Lúnasa, the innovative Irish traditional music ensemble that last played to a packed Lensic in 2010, returns. Part of The Lensic’s World Music series, Lúnasa redefines Irish music by going right to the heart of its rhythms. Lúnasa embarks on its tour of the United States on the heels of a June artistic collaboration with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra— Ireland’s professional orchestra— in a sold-out show at Dublin’s National Concert Hall that celebrated Lúnasa’s music.

Legendary Irish fiddler Kevin Burke said Lúnasa succeeds at being both traditional and contemporary: “Maintaining the unique, intimate qualities of a musical tradition while at the same time meeting and fulfilling the demands of the contemporary music world is a difficult juxtaposition to achieve, yet Lúnasa have managed to accomplish exactly that.”

Lúnasa’s 2010 album Lá Nua was recorded in the historical Cooley mountain region of northeast Ireland, which inspired much of the creativity and writing on the album. In 2010, Livireland.com named Lúnasa “Performers of the Decade.” The band was also the featured artist on Natalie Merchant’s hit album Leave Your Sleep.

 Underwriting for this performance is generously provided by Thornburg Investment Management.