String duo Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Dan Trueman play very unusual 10-string fiddles called the Hardanger d’Amoré, a new kind of instrument that sits somewhere between the Norwegian hardanger fiddle and the baroque viola d’amore. They tune these instruments in all sorts of wild and wonderful ways, unleashing sounds and sonoroties that delight and challenge in equal measure. They have released two albums together:
Laghdú (2014) and The Fate of Bones (2022).
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Caoimhín has performed on some of the most beautiful stages in the world, including the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall and the Carnegie Hall. He has made eighteen recordings to date, ranging from quite traditional to fairly out there, and continues to explore the region where traditional
music begins to disintegrate. Caoimhín performs as a solo artist, yet is also widely known through his
collaborative work, including groups The Gloaming and This is How we Fly, and duos with Dan Trueman, Thomas Bartlett, Garth Knox, Mick O’Brien and Brendan Begley. He has also performed with artists such as
Laurie Anderson, Vincent Moon and Amiina. He has made music for theatre and flm, including music for the Oscar- nominated movie Brooklyn and Volker Schlondorff’s Return to Montauk.
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Dan Trueman is a musician: a fiddler, a collaborator, a teacher, a developer of new instruments, a composer of music for ensembles of all shapes and sizes. He has worked with ensembles such as So Percussion, the PRISM Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, Gallicantus, the JACK Quartet, as well as individuals like scientist Naomi Leonard, choreographer Rebecca Lazier, poet Paul Muldoon, director Mark DeChiazza, fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, vocalist Iarla Ó Lionáird, guitarist/songwriter Monica Mugan,
and many others. Dan’s work has been recognized by fellowships, grants, commissions, and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Barlow Endowment, the Bessies, the Fulbright Commission, the American Composers Forum, the American Council of Learned Societies, Meet the Composer, among others.
Current and recent projects include bitKlavier (the prepared digital piano); The Fate of Bones, a new record with Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh; The Cross Quartets, a set of string quartets in scordatura, for Brooklyn Rider and the Bergamot Quartet; 12 Preludes for bitKlavier (recording in progress with
Cristina Altamura and Adam Sliwinski); Songs That Are Hard To Sing, for So Percussion and the JACK Quartet (released by New Amsterdam Records in 2019); Midden Find, for fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Contemporaneous (in progress); Olagón, an opera featuring Iarla Ó Lionáird, with text by Paul Muldoon, and directed by Mark DeChiazza (premiering at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, May ’21, with the Crash Ensemble); There Might Be Others, with choreographer Rebecca Lazier and scientist Naomi Leonard (winner of a Bessie Award, Outstanding Music Composition).
