Klangkosmos NRW: Clare Sands

Landscapes & Soundscapes from Ireland
Clare Sands navigates with unique power and creativity though the legacy of her ancestors’ Irish music. She combines traditional music with contemporary sounds and themes that inspire young and old, the brave and the adventurous. Her family roots lie in County Wexford in the Republic of Ireland, a region settled by Vikings, and in Northern Ireland. At the age of three, she began learning traditional Irish melodies on the fiddle from her father Seamus. Her mother Susan later introduced her to the blues. She studied music at University College Cork UCC and graduated with a Master degree with distinction in composition and creative practice from the Irish World Academy. Since then, she has been electrifying audiences at her performances around the world with her groundbreaking “Fearless Folk” style. In 2022, her first own album ‘Uncategorized’ was released, which earned her a nomination for “Best Folk Singer” at the Irish Folk Awards.
She is accompanied by the young multi-instrumentalist Cian McGrory on the uilleann pipes and low whistles. He comes from County Down and also from a musical family: his mother is the well-known songwriter Brigid O’Neill, while his father Bara and his aunts Clodach and Orla are well known in the traditional folk music scene. In 2024, Cian was awarded the prestigious Gradam Ceoil TG4 scholarship as the best young musician of the year by an independent jury.

Clare Sands – fiddle, guitar, percussion, vocals
Cian McGrory – uilleann pipes, low whistles

#europeanfolkday  #europeanfolkday2024