Songs of Erin are a family affair for Rachel Kelly and Una Hunt

WHEN mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly steps onto the platform of the John Field Room on Friday to open a recital titled ‘Songs of Erin’, in the final week of Composing the Island, it will be very much a family affair. Accompanying her will be her mother, pianist and broadcaster Una Hunt.

However, the family connections go deeper still and extend back to another generation. Included on the programme are songs by Thomas (TC) Kelly, Rachel’s late grandfather. A Co Wexford man, Kelly was music teacher in Clongowes College for many years and a prolific composer and arranger for Radio Éireann. He died in 1985 before Rachel was born. The recital is one of the events in the final days of a three week extravaganza of concerts shining a spotlight on the work of Irish composers.

Kelly follows Robin Tritschler’s earlier recital of an Irish Song-Book from the first half of the 20th century. Here the emphasis is on the latter decades.