BIRKIN TREE & TOM STEARN

The talented Scottish singer Tom Stearn together with the most important Italian band of Irish Music for a concert of great energy and charm, in which all the colors and atmospheres typical of Ireland and Scotland are evoked, with a careful selection of musical stories from from the Celtic lands, which will outline a fascinating itinerary composed of both ancient and poignant ballads and the wild and overwhelming reels typical of the great instrumental repertoire of these Nordic lands. The songs have their roots in the great legacy of compositions that have been enriched and handed down to the present day since the 17th century. The instrumental pieces come from the vast and ancient repertoire linked to the violin, the uilleann pipes and the transverse flute, certainly among the most important instruments of the Irish tradition. The guitar and the bouzouki bring a great rhythmic and dynamic energy to the fascinating rhythmic-melodic texture presented by the solo instruments.
Tom Stearn, Scottish singer and guitarist, graduated in classical guitar from the Glasgow Conservatory, began his career in his hometown's vibrant music scene, where strong cultural roots and new trends in international music meet. He is a member of various bands related to traditional Scottish music (including Admiral Fallow and Frightened Rabbit), with them he has held numerous concerts throughout the United Kingdom. He is guitar and voice in Alistair Ogilvy's Scottish folk project for the Greentrax label, finalist for the BBC Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year and nominated for the BBC ALBA MG Trad Awards 2012. He recorded and co-produced the singer-songwriter's record Flotsam Irish Joel Carthcart. He is the guitarist and voice of the Australian folk / indie / pop group Open Swimmer as well as the banjoist and voice of the Scottish folk / pop group Bear Bone. Moving to Italy in 2012, he founded Kettle of Kites, an alternative / folk / rock band that has several albums and tours in the UK, Italy and Europe. He has released several recordings and recordings for BBC Radio, BBC Scotland and Rai 3.
The Birkin Tree, for the tenth time on our stage, certainly represent the most important Italian musical reality in Irish music, with 40 years of activity, thousands of concerts in Italy, Ireland and Europe, hundreds of radio passages. all over the world, numerous collaborations with the most renowned and illustrious Irish musicians, 5 acclaimed record productions ... and an immense passion for Irish music !!! One year after the successful concert held in the prestigious I Concerti del Quirinale, broadcast live by RADIORAI3, the band will present, as always, a concert of great impact. Birkin Tree have held more than 2,000 concerts in Italy and Europe and are the only Italian formation - and one of the very few in the world - to perform regularly in Ireland, where they have played in some of the most important festivals, including Feakle, Ennis Trad, Glencolumbkille, O'Carolan; they performed in radio and television broadcasts for RAI1, RAI3, RAIRadio 1, RAIRadio 2, TELE + 3, TMC Telemontecarlo, RTS Switzerland, Telepiù, Radio Capodistria, Radio Popolare and in Ireland for RTE, Radio Kerry and Clare FM. In April 2010, Birkin Tree were guests of the live broadcast of RADIO RAI3 La stanza della Musica, with a one-hour performance. Their music was broadcast on radios in Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Holland, Norway, Ireland, England, Australia, the United States, Russia and Switzerland. They have performed with some of the most important Irish musicians such as Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill, pipers Liam O'Flynn and Mick O 'Brien, singer Niamh Parsons, harpists Grainne Hambly and Seana Davey, singer Cyril O'Donoghue, the concertinists Tony O'Connell and Caitlin Nic Gabhann, the accordionists Murty Ryan and Derek Hickey and the violinists Aoife O'Brien, Tola Custy, Queavinn O'Raghallaigh, Michael Queally, Michelle O'Brien, Kira Nì Bhriain and Cìara O'Maonaigh. Fabio Rinaudo, one of the founders of Birkin Tree, in July 2008 took part in the Italian tour of the Chieftains. In the summer of 2011 the group was invited to the Masters of Tradition Festival in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland. Their concert was a great success and was broadcast on radio by RTE Lyric FM (national broadcaster). The group also performed in France (Pot'Arts Illfurth Festival) and toured concerts in Germany. In 2015, the concert organized by FolkClub for MITO saw Michel Balatti and Fabio Rinaudo join the immense Martin Hayes for an evening of great success and emotional impact. In March 2016 the band played in Milan for Enterprise Ireland, in the presence of the Irish Deputy Prime Minister, Joan Burton. In June 2016 the formation was called to participate in an important production of the prestigious Ravenna Festival, where it performed with the Lunasa band and the soloists Caitlinn Nic Gabhann, Mick O'Brien and Kira ni Bhroin. The band has five albums to its credit: Continental Reel (1996 - best album of the two-year period 95/96 for the main Italian magazine of ethnic music Folk Bulletin); A Cheap Present (1999 - review with 5 Stars by the weekly Musica de La Repubblica); 3 (three) (2003 - BRAVO! Quality award by the French magazine TRAD Magazine, sixth place in the 2003 WORLD TOP TEN ranking of the German magazine FolkWorld, reviewed by Quattro Stelle di Musica by La Repubblica; third place in the ranking of the best five 2003 records for Folk Bulletin); Virginia (2010) and Five Seasons (2019 - 10th place in the ranking of the best 20 albums of 2019 for Il Giornale della Musica) and is present in dozens of compilations.
At FolkClub, Tom Stearn (vocals, guitar, banjo) joins Fabio Rinaudo (uilleann pipes, whistles), Laura Torterolo (vocals and guitar), Michel Balatti (Irish transverse flute), Luca Rapazzini (violin) and Claudio De Angeli ( guitar, mandola and banjo).