From Denis McClean, in Darjeeling When I look at this photograph, it makes me think of a life-boat crammed with children. Watching and listening to them playing marbles or throwing a ball around, you would never guess the heartache and suffering that many have endured. Some had been sold into virtual slavery by their impoverished…
Irish songwriters must be forming a disorderly queue to have Lisa Lambe record their offerings. Last night in Geneva she sang a song Paul Brady left unrecorded for thirty years before he offered it to her. She had to find one of those funny old cassette player things to listen to his rough cut of…
GLAS is honoured to host “Songs from Ireland: Old and New 2019” featuring seven outstanding singers and musicians from Ireland whose work is inspired by the Celtic tradition. The show blends the traditional and the contemporary in an evocative and captivating performance. The show will take you on a musical journey featuring the expressive play…
“There was a touch of magic here tonight.” That’s how one smiling punter summed up our evening last night with the great John Spillane in the simple setting of the Lutheran Evangelical Church in the heart of Geneva’s old town. The acoustics were great and you could savour every chord of his beautiful guitar playing,…
For more than 35 years, the songs of John Spillane have provided a musical background to life in Ireland. They have been performed by such luminaries as Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Sean Keane and Mary Black, but it is John himself who brings these special songs to life in his memorable and moving live performances.…
GLAS suppporters got a real treat last night as Sharon Shannon and her band made their Geneva debut to a packed house at the Centre des Arts, on Ecolint’s La Grande Boissière campus. She surrounds herself with great musicians: Jim Murray (acoustic guitar), Sean Regan (fiddle, percussion and beatbox) and Jack Maher (electric guitar and…
Sharon Shannon has music at her fingertips….literally! The accordionist from Ireland has achieved legendary status throughout the world and has made the much-maligned accordion ‘cool’ in her home country. She is renowned for her collaborations, not just in Irish traditional music, but through all musical genres, hip-hop, cajun, country, classical and rap. The Geneva Literary…
Luka Bloom’s agent in Switzerland told me that in all the Swiss German towns Luka performed in before coming to Geneva last Saturday his songs were met with polite applause but an uncomprehending silence greeted his stories about the songs. Saturday night’s sold-out show for GLAS, packed with Irish and other anglophone expats, must have…
“A fabulous songwriter, deeply rooted in his homeland and always looking for more.” Irish folk legend, Luka Bloom is back in Geneva on Saturday, April 1. It’s four years since GLAS brought him to Geneva for the first time and he is a crowd favourite wherever he goes around the world, thanks to the quality…
New Road turned the GLAS Aula venue into a steamy swamp of deliriously joyful music on Saturday night. Not since the heyday of the Bothy Band and Planxty have I been so mesmerised by a group of Irish musicians revelling in the tradition but mixing it up with something else. That something else was partly…
“…a musical experience full of passion and exhilaration, depth and beauty.” For Christmas this year GLAS gives you the gift of music from five outstanding musicians. The legendary interpreter of Celtic song, Cathy Jordan (pictured right), will accompany the New Road ensemble: a unique blend of the plaintive Irish uilleann pipes, fiddle, harmonica, whistles, 5-string…
In the year of the hunger strikes in 1981, I spent a month travelling through Palestine and Israel. I made my way to the Gaza Strip though it was under lock down and no journalists were allowed to enter. I joined several people in the back of a spacious Arab taxi leaving from East Jerusalem.…
“We Palestinians wake up every morning to teach the rest of the world life, sir.“ Rafeef Ziadah is an acclaimed Palestinian refugee spoken word artist and activist. Her poem ‘We Teach Life, Sir’ – an impassioned attack on media misrepresentation of the Palestinian cause – went viral within days of its release. This live show…
Charolais lived up to its billing as a fast paced, witty, emotional and universal story of loss, despair and the power of love on the Geneva stage last night. It garnered a standing ovation and several curtain calls for the star of the evening Noni Stapleton who also wrote the show which is a Bigger…
Following a sell-out month at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this award-winning show has been touring constantly on both sides of the Atlantic but we have finally managed to get Bigger Picture Projects to bring Charolais to Geneva for one night only starring the amazingly talented Noni Stapleton who wrote the script and also stars in…
GLAS regulars will hopefully have noticed that we have a posh new website. It’s still under construction, so please be patient for the next few weeks. We’re progressively adding every event that GLAS has hosted since the very first one back in 2005.
What a night we had. John Spillane had the audience in the palm of his hand as he brought us on a guided tour of Cork, Ireland and the universe. He sang all his hits, including catchy numbers like John, Don’t Go To Ballincollig and a new song about the busking festival in Clonmel and…
You will recall that last Christmas we had to cancel The Voice Squad concert, just two days before the event, due to an unfortunate injury suffered by one of the group. The good news is that they are definitely coming this Saturday, December 5. And to make it an even more memorable evening, we are…
Another great night – and a standing ovation – in the annals of GLAS. Among the many newcomers, the renowned opera singer, musician, polyglot, polymath, Kirsti Griffiths, attended her first GLAS event last night, Fishamble’s Little Thing, Big Thing which was a sell-out and raised CHF4,500 for the Edith Wilkins Foundation for Street Children. Kirsti…
Fishamble return to Geneva on Saturday, May 2, with an original and engaging piece of theatre which will take top billing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. The writer and star of “Little Thing, Big Thing,” Donal O’Kelly has already won the top prize twice at the Edinburgh Festival and is a strong contender…
Ardal O’Hanlon played a superb gig in Geneva last night as a guest of the Geneva Literary Aid Society. It raised CHF8,250 for the Edith Wilkins Foundation for Street Children in Darjeeling, India. A great night was had by all. He was even coaxed into singing a verse of My Lovely Horse from his Fr.…
GLAS WELCOMES ARDAL O’HANLON TO GENEVA GLAS wishes you all a happy new year. We would also like to thank those of you who donated so generously to the Edith Wilkins Foundation for Street Children in Darjeeling last month. They were very touched by your generosity. We don’t have a final figure for the sums…
It’s two years since GLAS brought Luka Bloom to Geneva for the first time. We had an amazing reaction from the audience that night and we promised to bring him back. He’s on tour again and Geneva is on the list for Saturday, October 11. Here’s a sample of some emails we received after his…
GLAS is proud to welcome Gare St. Lazare back to Geneva with a provocative new work TITLE AND DEED from the pen of the American playwright, Will Eno, who was recently shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize. The production is stopping off in Geneva before it opens at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival having already enjoyed great…
GLAS raised 7,000 Swiss Francs for the Edith Wilkins Foundation for Street Children last night thanks to a spellbinding performance by Pat Kinevane in the Fishamble Theatre’s production of “Silent” directed by Jim Culleton. There were moments of great humour, grace and beauty throughout the piece during which the homeless street beggar Tino McGoldrick tells…
GLAS opens 2014 with a superb piece from the Fishamble Theatre Company in Dublin. Silent has received great reviews from the likes of Ben Brantley, the New York Times (passionate…stunning), the Guardian (dazzling), the Irish Times (a striking performance), Sydney Morning Herald (mesmerizing)… Need I go on? You can reserve through bookings@theglas.org for 19.30 on…
Last minute problems with GLAS events have taught me to hide my despair at cruel twists of fate and to bite my tongue when dealing with a concierge who resembles an ex-gang member who has become an avid convert to clean living and a rules-based lifestyle. He can make life and death decisions about our…
GLAS is particularly pleased to be bringing to Geneva an ensemble of musicians featuring the legendary piper Mickey Dunne, the last of several generations of the Dunne family who have toured Ireland for over a century bringing the beautiful soulful sound of the uileann pipes into every corner of the land. He is held in…
We had an amazing night of theatre last night from Donal O’Kelly in his award-winning drama, Fionnuala, which lays bare much that is undesirable about Shell’s operations in Ireland, in a rivetting tour de force full of humour and pathos. His daughter, Katie, performed Donal’s roller coaster tribute to Joyce and the Dublin he left…
We are now bringing Maria Doyle Kennedy to Geneva on Friday, May 24. She first came to international attention for her soulful singing, and acting, in the film “The Commitments” where she gave Aretha Franklin a good run for her money. She has gone on to become an acclaimed international recording artist and award-winning actress…