ONE of North Belfast’s oldest churches will be the setting for a special concert featuring Grammy Award-winning folk musician Moya Brennan.
Organised by Abundant Grace Christian Assembly, the concert will take place at its church on Duncairn Gardens as part of the Greater New Lodge Community Festival.
Founded in 1896 as the Macrory Presbyterian Church, the building was due for demolition before being purchased by Abundant Grace in 2015. Following its refurbishment, the church has become a hive of community activity and will welcome former Clannad musician Moya Brennan for a highly anticipated concert on August 7.
The County Donegal performer has just released a new album, Timeless, and will play a number of shows throughout the country in the coming months, but luckily she was able to be booked for the Greater New Lodge Community Festival through a mutual interest with Abundant Grace Pastor Sharon Perry.
“I serve on the board of a Christian charity with Moya Brennan and I happened to ask her if she would be available,” Sharon explained.
“She wasn’t free the night we were supposed to be having it, so we change the date and she was very willing to come along.
“It’s a great opportunity for the local community to see such a well-known performer. I think it’s something that doesn’t come along often so close to home. You might see an advert for one of the concert halls in Belfast for Moya, but to have it on our own doorstep here is brilliant. Moya is a lovely lady with a beautiful ministry of music.”
As well as providing a fantastic night of entertainment, all proceeds from the concert will go to to Special Olympics Ireland.
“We ourselves as a charity try to make ends meet to get the work done that is in our hearts to do,” Sharon stated.
“We try to help other charities where we can, so we thought this was an opportunity to help kids with learning disabilities. There are lots of activities there for them to be stimulated through sport.”
Looking forward to the gig, Sharon said: “We have Zephaniah Dancers coming as well, who are an Irish dance group based in Portadown. They’ll be the support act. The strange thing is that they’re really excited about coming as well because they have actually choreographed a dance to one of Moya’s songs and had got permission to perform it in different places. The fact that the girls are now coming together with Moya is amazing.
“There will be a mixture of secular music, Gaelic songs and a few Christian songs in the mix as well.”
She continued: “I hope people take the opportunity because the chance doesn’t come along often to see Moya Brennan for £5. We know that people will come from elsewhere, and we welcome that as well, but we would really love the local community to come along and at £5 most people can manage that. We are also making some tickets free of charge through the local family support hubs for families for whom a fiver is a challenge.”
Moya Brennan will play at Abundant Grace, 130-134 Duncairn Gardens, on Wednesday, August 7, at 8pm.
For info/tickets:
t: 077 3764 5029
e: info@abundantgrace.ie
