SÉAMUS GIBSON (IRISH FIDDLE) • SO-YOUNG YOON (PIANO) • YSEULT COOPER STOCKDALE (CELLO)
This fantastic trio brings together three different musical lineages — Irish traditional fiddle, classical cello, and jazz-classical piano — they will be performing the music of Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and Seamus Gibson
Séamus Gibson draws on a deep command of traditional fiddle playing and contemporary composition. Yseult Stockdale is a leading Irish cellist known for her versatility across classical, chamber, and cross-genre projects. At the piano, So-Young Yoon approaches Ó Súilleabháin’s work through a jazz-inflected lens, focusing on interplay, colour, and rhythmic freedom.
The programme centres on Ó Súilleabháin’s unique musical language — rooted in Irish melody, shaped by classical craft, and open to improvisation — re-imagined through an acoustic trio sound that highlights both tradition and experimentation.
Séamus Gibson stands as one of Ireland’s most distinctive voices in traditional music—a master fiddler and composer whose work is both deeply rooted in heritage and daringly original in spirit. Based in the musically rich townland of St. Johnston in East Donegal, he is immersed in the powerful Donegal fiddle tradition.
So-Young Yoon is a jazz pianist and composer based in Dublin. Active in the Dublin jazz scene since 2008, she was frequently invited to perform as a bandleader and guest musician at JJ Smyth’s. Her debut at the National Concert Hall’s John Field Room came in 2011, leading a six-piece ensemble with creative arrangements of Thelonious Monk’s music.
Yseult Cooper Stockdale is a musician with an especially explorative and varied career. With the experimental ensemble, Kirkos, she has created and performed works for festivals including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, New Music Dublin, and Sound Scotland, as well as countless premieres. She regularly performs with ensembles such as the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, Ficino Ensemble, Quiet Music Ensemble, Crash Ensemble, and has sat as principal cello with both Irish National Opera and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra on numerous occasions.
NAVA
Nava are banjoist Paddy Kiernan, guitarist/bassist Niall Hughes, and Iranian born brothers Shahab and Shayan Coohe, on santoor, and tombak/tar/clarinet respectively. Based in Dublin, their music fuses Irish and Persian cultures.
March 2022 saw Nava release their third studio recording, “Toranj”, following up from 2017’s“Tapestry” and 2019’s “Sojourns, Volume 1”.
The album sees them incorporate a wider array of musical influences to their Persian-Irish foundation, incorporating Turkish music, Indian Classical, modal jazz, Scandinavian folk music, and a traditional piece inspired by the Baloochestan region of Iran.
The album’s title “Toranj” is Farsi for the central point of a Persian rug’s design, where the various patterns all meet. It’s reflective of the creative vision that drove the project; of an innovative, adventurous group of musicians weaving their influences and instruments into a rich sonic tapestry, charting a confident next step in the development of this unique ensemble.
