Music sacred to Dingle

Other Voices’ simple, church concert format in a wintry location was an unlikely hit, but it’s ten years old, says Carl Dixon

RECORDED in the 200-year-old St James’ church in Dingle, this year is the tenth anniversary of Other Voices, which begins its new season of concerts on Thursday, December 11. This critically acclaimed series has been a showcase for Irish and international artists. In the commercialised world of contemporary music, these concerts, from a small venue in the west of Ireland, have touched a popular chord with their now global audience.

The producer of Other Voices is Philip King, who is from Cork city but has lived in west Kerry for many years. He has presented the music programme South Wind Blows on RTÉ Radio 1 for the last 15 years and the contacts he made through that show sparked the original idea. “Glen Hansard sang a few songs on the radio show and we got to talking about Irish music, which was going through something of a resurgence at the time,” he says. “We thought that it would be great to bring some of these musicians down here to Dingle and record them.”