Altan with Scottish Chamber Orchestra and RANT

Founded in the early 1980s in County Donegal by frontwoman, fiddler, and singer Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her late husband, Frankie Kennedy, Altan has stood proudly at the forefront of traditional Irish music for almost forty years.

The band has toured the world over, filling bars, dance halls, and even the Hollywood Bowl with their unique sound. Altan’s music gives audiences a glimpse of the depth and richness of Irish heritage. From raw and energetic dance tunes to sensitive and sophisticated arrangements, Mairéad and her bandmates Clare Friel (fiddle), Ciaran Curran (bouzouki), Mark Kelly (guitar), Dáithí Sproule (guitar) and Martin Tourish (accordion), approach each performance with integrity, authenticity, and openness. 

With 3 acclaimed albums under their belt - RANT remain at the forefront of the Scottish fiddle scene. The meeting of four of the country’s finest players, the quartet use just their fiddles to weave a tapestry of melodies, textures, layers and sounds. Bethany Reid from Shetland, Anna Massie and Lauren MacColl from the Highland peninsula of the Black Isle, and Gillian Frame from Arran join forces to showcase the combined resonance of their instruments with repertoire unearthed from both old collections and their own contemporary writing.  RANT create a sound which is both spacious and lush, yet retaining all the earthy bite and spark of a traditional Scottish fiddle player.