Tony McManus & Julia Toaspern
Tony McManus & Julia Toaspern
Entry Requirements: 18+ after 7pm
We are delighted to welcome back two of the world's finest musicians, Tony McManus & Julia Toaspern for another exquisite show here at The Half Moon.
“Tony’s music is beyond beautiful, it’s perfect” – Tommy Emmanuel.
“Julia’s bell-like voice and her fiddle playing are thrilling. She moves effortlessly from fiddle to guitar, her solo is impressive.” – Salon Festival, France.
Hailed by the late John Renbourn as ‘the best Celtic guitarist in the world’, Tony McManus has been listed as one of 50 transcendental guitarists of all time by Guitar Player Magazine.
Julia Toaspern, from Berlin, combines classical violin and voice training with an interest in jazz, baroque and traditional music. She has released two albums of original songs and performed both as a classical player and as a singer/songwriter on both sides of the Atlantic. Her skills as a guitarist are prodigious and make a very exciting fit with Tony’s work.
The duo’s guitar treatments of traditional music is unique exploring the harmonic possibilities of these old, and sometimes not so old, tunes. Flat-picking or finger-picking at the highest level they are always at the service of the music rather than simply displaying technical prowess - although that is very evident as well. Julia's violin effortlessly morphs into a fiddle as she weaves from Italian madrigal to Scottish reel. Julia’s songs go to the heart of love and loss, hope and survival and are infused with a musical input from wide and eclectic experience of musical life.
Line Up
Hailed by the late John Renbourn - who was no mean guitarist himself - as ‘the best Celtic guitarist in the world’ Tony McManus has been listed as one of the 50 transcendental guitarists of all time by Guitar Player Magazine. While Tony is known as a soloist his frequent collaborations with diverse musicians have always been a significant part of his work.
Julia Toaspern is a multi-talented musician from Berlin who combines classical training on violin and voice with a wide interest in genres such as jazz, baroque and traditional music. She has released two albums of original songs and has performed both as a classical player and as a singer/songwriter on both sides of the Atlantic. On top of all this her skills as a guitarist are prodigious and make a very exciting fit with Tony’s work.
Tony and Julia's twin guitar treatment of traditional music is unique and each supports the other in exploring the harmonic possibilities of these old, and sometimes not so old, tunes. Each flatpicks and fingerpicks at the highest level but always at the service of the tune rather than a display of technical prowess - although that is very evident as well. Julia's violin effortlessly morphs into a fiddle as she weaves from Italian madrigal to Scottish reel. Julia’s songs go to the heart of love and loss, hope and survival and are inflected with musical input from a wide and eclectic experience of musical life. Tony’s and Julia’s arrangements are rooted in a deep musicality and heartfelt expression.
Having met over a conversation in Berlin about JS Bach, together they play and sing music that speaks to them and hopefully through them to a wider audience.
VIDEO LINKS
Duo McManus Toaspern
a) Violin, Guitar, Voices: The Road to Drumleman
b) Guitar Duet: Rolling Waves/Martin Wynnes
c) Guitar Duet: Breton Waltzes
d) Guitar Duet: The Star of Munster/Maid behind the bar
References:
https://www.tonymcmanus.com/ https://juliatoaspern.de/duowithtony https://juliatoaspern.de/bio
