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MARY O'HARASOUVENIR BROCHURE

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JO LUSTIGpresents

MARY O'HARASinging and playing the Celtic Harp

Accompanied byDAVE GOLD Musical Director/PianoJOHN FRANCHI WoodwindsMIKEBARKER GuitarJOHN RICHARDS Double Bass

Tour presented with kind co-operation ofA E R L I N G U S

SPRING TOUR 1979MAY

10th DERBY Assembly Rooms13th NORWICH Theatre Royal15th SLOUGH Fulcrum17th ASHINGTON Leisure Centre19th SOUTHPORT New Theatre21st BARROW Civic Hall24th HATFIELD Forum26th EXMOUTH Festival Centre28th LONDON Royal Festival Hall30th SOUTHEND Cliffs Pavilion

JUNE1st WARRINGTON Parr Hall

the new album from

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SIDE ONEPlaisir D'amour, Rainy Day People, The Clown,The Sun Is Burning, Too Much Magic

SIDE TWOPussy Willows Cat Tails, Sliabh NaMban,A Friend Of Mine, The Wee Cooper O'Fife,Mon Pays, Spinning Wheel

CHR1194 CUR 1159

SIDE ONEMorning Has Broken, Tapestry, A Hebridean MilkingSong, Among Silence, Bring me a Shawl from Galway,Bridge over Troubled Water.SIDE TWOForty-Five Years, Una Bhan (Fair Una), ScarletRibbons (Kuban Rouges), Song for a Winters Night,When I Need You, Lord of the Dance.

ChritsfltisRBCO*'&I*!»

SIDE ONEMusic Speaks Louder than Words, Annie's Song,Cucuin a Chuaichin (Cuckoo, Little Cuckoo), OceansAway, Dust in the Wind, The SnailSIDE TWOI'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song, Home in theMeadow, Scorn Not His Simplicity, Ceol a Phiobaire(Music of the Piper), Never My Love, Roisin Dubh(Dark Rosaleen).

When Mary went to Beaulieulast October she thought she wasgoing to film an interview forSouthern Television. The lastperson she was expecting to seewas Eamonn Andrews with hislittle red book 'Hello Mary.I know you weren't expectingthis car to drive into the scene,but I've arranged it all withSouthern Television so thattonight I can say - internationalsinging star Mary O'Hara this isyour life'.

But what could be a morefitting tribute to the lady who hasso quickly won many hearts theworld over, beginning with thatmemorable interview on theRussell Harty Show on 14thOctober 1977. Writing in TheObserver, Russell said . . . 'shecame quietly to her chair andstormed her way into the headsand hearts of everyone.' On 5thNovember 1977 Mary gave her"comeback" concert at London'sRoyal Festival Hall anddemonstrated to the capacitycrowd that she had successfullyrenewed her career. She sang forthe first time with a five-piecebacking group and her repertoireincluded contemporary songs aswell as some of her owncompositions. It was anextraordinary personal triumphand at the end the audience of3,000 people stood up and willedher back for encore after encore.

From then on Mary's successhas been like an avalanche. TheRoyal Festival Hall concert wasrecorded and the LP rush-releasedin December. That album, herfirst new recording for manyyears, earned her a silver disc.

The following February, Maryundertook a nation-wide tour andfilled London's Royal Albert Hallas well as two nights at theGaiety Theatre in Dublin, herhome town. During March shehad her own specials on BBC andITV. The first one, shown onBBC on St. Patrick's Day, wasrecorded during her concert at theGrosvenor Hall in Belfast.A week later the ITV showfeatured Mary on location and inthe studio with guests. In AprilMary went to America andCanada and duplicated herconcert successes. After herCarnegie Hall concert the NewYork Times Critic wrote:'Singing traditional Celticmaterial and ballads,accompanying herself with adeptand delicate filigree on the Irishharp, MsO'Haraismesmerising.'

In July Mary took part in theGolden Gala at the LondonPalladium to celebrate 50-years ofvotes for women. This wasattended by Princess Margaretand the Prime Minister. Then inNovember, before starring in herown season at the LondonPalladium, she was invited toperform for the Queen Mother inthe Royal Variety Show. Boththese events were seen ontelevision.

tMary and the silver disc she wasawarded for Mary O'Hara atThe Royal Festival Hall.

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During the autumn of 1978 theMusic Speaks Louder Than WordsLP was released and Mary alsoundertook another British tour aswell as appearing on numeroustelevision shows. She was afrequent guest throughout theyear on Stars on Sunday, appearedtwice on Val Doonican 's MusicShow and at Christmas did JamesGalway's World Of Music.

After the Christmas holidays,Mary was back in the studio torecord In Harmony which has justbeen released.

Just before leaving for hersecond tour of Ireland at the endof February, Mary helped JimmySaville "Fix It" for 10-year oldHelen Cooke from Newquaywho wanted to learn to play theharp and for Arthur Bayfieldfrom Kings Lynn whoseambition was to sing a song withher.

While in Ireland Mary played aconcert in Sligo, the town whereshe was born, and attended areception given in her honour bythe Mayor. She also received anaward on Gay Byrne's Late LateShow for being chosen Irish PersonOf The Year by Irish Post readersliving in Britain.

Twenty years ago, after hearingMary give an impromptuperformance, the late SirCompton Mackenzie said, Thisvoice has got to be recorded soeveryone can hear how beautifulit is.' Mary has made manyrecords since that evening andnow fills concert halls all over theworld with her clear sopranovoice with its haunting naturalquality. It is hard to believe thatfor twelve years she put away herharp and did not sing. The storyof those twelve years, of howMary gave up a successful careerto become a member of theenclosed Order of Benedictinesafter the death of her younghusband, has been welldocumented and has proved to bean inspiration to many who havealso suffered the loss of a lovedone.

On This Is Your Life JoyceGrenfell said 'Mary's God-givengift was her voice and what issurely meant for her is to sing toas many people as possible.'

25 Opportunities toFOCUS ON

the enchanting voice ofMARY O'HARA

FOCUSON DECCP iSETl

25 Titles including THE WEAVING SONG • SHE MOVED THRO'THE FAIR • MY LAGAN LOVE • THE NEXT MARKET DAY

THE STUTTERING LOVERS • THE MINSTREL BOYGAELIC HYMN IN PRAISE OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

FOS 49/50 Also available on cassette KFOC2 8089

DECCRThe Decca Record Company Limited Decca House Albert Embankment London SE1 7SW

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The Toronto Sun. Wednesday April 19, 1978

Turning folkmusic into artsongThere is a special grace required to

sing, say, "Nikkity, nokkity, nu nunu" sothat your audience will end up smilingwith you rather than at.

Mary O'Hara demonstrated that gracein concert at Massey Hall Mondaynight.

Alone with her Irish harp or accompan-ied by five very casual acquaintances inwhat must be some of the gentlestarrangements in all of pop music, sheremained a mature artist who has neverput away childish things.

And so refined. Her soprano has aneerie thinness, the purity of a Joan Baezwithout the tension. It sings from serenityand shares the sweetness of someone whohas tasted salt and : our and chooses themno more.

It turns folkmusic into artsong, a hitinto a hymn.

The melodies she has contributed to hershow suit her chosen lyrics beautifully.Her Godsong about the snail was a joy.The artful introduction of dissonancesinto her accompaniment in AmongSilence touched the heartstrings of herlate husband's farewell poem.

Other songs are classics, ancient ormodern. Mostly she invested them withher personal warmth, making them seemnew and important and somehow radiant(just as she did to the same songs on herrecent Royal Festival Hall album).

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tewTreat forlistenersMusic Speaks Louder ThanWords: Songs by MaryO'Hara (Chrysalis)

This, as t one would expectfrom Mary O'Hara, is a trulyb e a u t i f u l r e c o r d . Herperformance is at one polishedand sincere, and the well-chosenselection of songs covers a widerange of moods and styles —m o d e r n a n d t r a d i t i o n a l ,sentiment and passion.

THElrJShPOSTTHE VOICE OF THE IRISH IN BRITAIN f»ric«12p

IRISH PERSON OF THE YEAR 1978It was probably inevitable from theoutset. Mary O'Hara is 'Irish Personof the Year in Britain*. With a total of2,216, she h&s polled well in excess ofany previous winner.

In all, 103 men and women werenominated and the poll attracted9,302 votes — approximately thesame as last year when Terry Woganwas the winner , edging MaryO'Hara by 21 votes in the closestcontest ever. But this time Marywasn't really challenged.

The voting was as follows:

1. Mary O'Hara2. Liam Brady3. Jonjo O'Neill4. Terry Wo«n5. Val Doonlcan6. David O'Leary7. Tom Walsh8. Fr. Bill Cagney9. BH1 Hmlky

10. Jack Doyle

2,216672406361326298128112110106

Actually, James Galway would havebeen third except that he lives inSwitzerland and isn't eligible. He polled469.

Eamonn Andrews would also havebeen in the Top Ten except that he too,of course, isn't eligible because in latteryears he and his family are based inDublin.

As always, our columnist Frank Dplanpolled well but he remains ineligible.Footballer David O'Leary, on the otherhand, is also a columnist but there is aclear distinction between him and Dolan.O'Leary attracted his votes for his featso n t h e f o o t b a l lHeld. Dolan's en-dorsement relatese n t i r e l y t o h i scolumn in this new-spaper.

S i n c e h e rmarriage last year,D a n a l i v e s i nIreland and is nolonger eligible. Asalways she receiveda considerable number of votes — as did horseman EdiiicMacken. But he too lives in Ireland.

That much said, however, it certainly was Mary O'Hara'syear — crowning success after success, including a season atthe London Palladium and a Royal Command Performanceat which she sang in Irish.

This time last year, and after she had been pipped byTerry Wogan, we wrote: "all indications are that 1978 willbe an even greater triumph for Mary and no doubt we willbe seeing her on this list again." That has proven to besomething of an understatement.

Mary O'Harm:met rtmltyekmOtmgtd tkltytmr

O'Hara's yearDublincr Liam Brady, despite trailing behind Mary

O'Hara, polled exceptionally highly. He b now, of course, arah figure in football and acknowledged as a classical per-former with few equals anywhere in world football. He is alsoan outstanding Irishman — something he demonstratedwithout hesitation on a number of occasions in 1978.

Iliose then are the Irish in Britain who most impressedtheir own during 1978. On an appropriate occasion later thisyear we will be presenting Mary O'Hara with her 'IrishPerson of the Year in Britain1 award.

MARVELLOUS MARYTHE last week's m o s tpleasing show for me wasLondon Weekend's presenta-tion of Mary O'Hara (right)aithough ft was on far toolate on Good Friday.

Her voice is pure silverand a sublime lesson to theplethora of raucous singersinfesting the TV screens.

Paul Smith's direction wasunostentatious and gentleann contributed to a satis-fying and relaxing 45minutes of superb singing.

More, please.

THE GRAMOPHONE

Mary O'Hara has a voice of sweet, crystal-clear purity, the unusual ability of accompanyingherself expertly on the Celtic harp, and thatspecial Irish brand of photogenic beauty, andthere seems no doubt that 1978 will consolidateand expand the international success of herreturn from a closed-order convent after 12 years."Mary O'Hara At The Royal Festival Hall"(Chrysalis CHR1159) was recorded in concertat that venue on November 5th last year witha small orchestra in support and a scintillatingselection of songs, including Morning has broken,Tapestry, Bring me a shawl from Galway, CaroleBayer Sager's When I need you and MaryO'Hara's own setting of her late husbandRichard Sclig's poem Among silence. Herdiffidently charming introductions set theseal on a first-class, folk-oriented LP whichculminates with Sydney Carter's Lord of thedance,

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THE SONGS

A Ballynure BalladA Friend Of Mine

Drink To Me Only With Thine EyesEros

It's A Me O LordKilling Me Softly With His Song

Lord Of The DanceMon Pays

My Lagan Love

The programme will be chosenfrom the following:

Plaisir D'AmourPussy Willows, Cat Tails

Rainy Day PeopleSean 's A Bhriste Leathair

Sliabh Na mBanSong For A Winter's Night

Spinning WheelStreets Of London

Sweet Child Of Glory

Tant Conje VivraiThe Clown

The Frog & The MouseThe Minstrel Boy

The SnailThe Sun Is Burning

The Twa CorbiesThe Weaving Song

Too Much Magic

Gay Byrne, host of Irish Television's The Late Late Show, presents Mary with her'Irish Person Of The Year' Award

This Souvenir Brochure is published byDAVID FELLERMANforTOP-BILLING PUBLICATIONS LTD.01-439 7048/9

MAILORDERIf you would like further copies of this souvenirbrochure please forward a cheque/postal order for £1.20plus a large stamped addressed envelope to:Dep tMO'H,11 Oxford Circus Avenue,231 Oxford Street,London Wl

©Top-Billing Publications April 79

Please refrain from smoking in the auditorium

THIS IS THE OFFICIAL TOUR BROCHUREIn accordance with the requirements of the Greater London Counciland the Watch Committees of the various towns and cities of thetour, the following conditions must be observed: —1. The public may leave at the end of the performance by all exitand entrance doors and such doors must at that time be open.2. All gangways, corridors, staircases and external passageways in-tended for exit shall be kept entirely free from obstruction whetherpermanent or temporary.3. Persons shall not be permitted to stand or sit in any of the gang-ways intersecting the seating, or to sit in any of the other gangwaysor any unseated space in the Auditorium, unless standing in suchspace has been specially allowed by the GLC or the Watch Commit-tee, as applicable. If standing is permitted in the gangways at thesides and the rear of the seating it shall be limited to the numbersindicated in the notices exhibited in those positions.4. The safety curtain must be lowered and raised once immediatelybefore the commencement of each performance so as to ensure it beingin proper working order.The Management reserve the right to change the programme withoutnotice and are not held responsible for the non-appearance of anyartist. The Management reserve the right to refuse admittance.

If you would like to be placed on our mailing list and beinformed of future Mary O'Hara concerts as well asother concert news, please fill in, or copy, this couponand return to JO LUSTIG LTD., PO BOX 472,LONDON SW7 2QB

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