News Round-Up: Output Festival returns, Glen Hansard for Bellaghy and more…

Output Festival Returns

Billed as ‘the largest All-Ireland music conference’ details have been announced for Output Belfast, which returns for its 3rd successive year on Thursday 16th February 2017.

Featuring figures from across the world’s music industry, the one day conference will include panel discussions, music sessions, workshops, speed networking events and keynote speeches.

Royalty collection, graphic design, song-writing, sync opportunities and computer game sound design are some of the subjects to be covered within the schedule.

This year’s daytime events will be split between The Mac and The Oh Yeah Centre with a series of free gigs in the evening featuring showcases hosted by Nialler 9, Smalltown America, The Thin Air, Chordblossom, Quiet Arch and more.

Glen Hansard to play Seamus Heaney HomePlace

The spring programme of the Seamus Heaney HomePlace literary and arts centre, Bellaghy is to launch with a concert by Glen Hansard (pictured) on 14th January 2017. Part of the centre’s Home Key series, the gig by the Oscar and Grammy winning Hansard, comes after shows by Paul Brady, Phil Coulter and Liam Ó'Maonlaí in the 190 capacity performance space.

Bon Iver for Forbidden Fruit

The first headliner for Forbidden Fruit in the grounds of Dublin’s Irish Museum of Modern Art has been revealed as Bon Iver. The 5th June 2017 show will be headlined - and has been curated - by Bon Iver, with Flying Lotus, Lisa Hannigan, The Staves, Gordi and Paul Thomas Saunders also on the bill.

The gig is Bon Iver, aka Justin Vernon’s, first show in Ireland since 2012 and follows on from the release of his 22, A Million album earlier this year





NI Musicians at the Lyric

December sees the Lyric Theatre Belfast work alongside NI Musicians Duke Special, Peter J McCauley and Ursula Burns, showcasing on stage ‘the ongoing success stories…of the indigenous music scene’.

Peter J McCauley is musical director of ‘The Nativity…What the Donkey Saw’, by Grimes and McKee while Ursula Burns is composer of the theatre’s new family show ‘The Gingerbread Mix-up’.

December also sees Duke Special complete his year-long artistic residency at the Lyric with 3 sold-out concerts featuring new and existing tracks including performances from his new musical based on Mark Twain’s 'Huckleberry Finn'.