We often take our voice for granted. Not just singing of course, but our true voice.
I mean the act of speaking our truth.
On International Women’s Day, it might be worth taking the time to ask, how connected are my voice and my heart in this moment?
How often do I swallow my true words before they can reach my lips?
This habit can be particularly true of women, in our eagerness for peace and harmony. But of course it comes at a cost. If we swallow back our truth before it reaches our lips, where does it go? What does it do to our bodies?
When I first learned about chakras, I felt a sense of coming home. I had a framework to describe what I instinctively knew, through experience, about body, energy and auto-destruction.
Many years later, practicing reiki and kundalini, I find that I am always returning to the throat-chakra in my practice. How to keep it spinning freely? How to let my truth fall freely from my lips?
It is possible to be intentional in caring for our voice, and mindful of speaking our truth daily – from a place of love and worthiness. It’s not easy. It takes intentionality.
I bring this meditation on my throat-chakra to my morning rituals.
Chin to the chest, breathe in ‘sat’ / Open throat to the universe, exhale ‘nam’. It’s the intention that matters. Celebrate your divine feminine today. Allow yourself to speak your truth, even if it’s just a whisper in a silent room.
Celebrate your worthiness, and consider that perhaps the truth really does set you free.
Two New Venues this Christmas
This Christmas, Eimear will give concerts in Saint Mary’s Church, Maynooth AND Saint Mary’s Church in Howth on December 19th and 20th.
Tickets available https://ticketstop.ie/event/4014/eimear-quinn-st-mary-s-church-of-ireland-maynooth and https://ticketstop.ie/event/4015/eimear-quinn-st-mary-s-church-howth
Naiades of Nymphes – duet with Sarah Class – OUT NOW
NAIADES of NYMPHES (Single Mix)
Performed by Sarah Class & Eimear Quinn
Composed by Sarah Class
Release Date: 22nd July
https://youtu.be/A9h4MlSfyqM
Escape to the wonder of Ancient Greece. Among the olive groves and citrus
trees, a path winds its way through the enduring lyrical poetry of Sappho and
her homage to female love, as immortal as the Goddesses themselves.
The Naïades Of Nymphes is a masterfully crafed duet by composer Sarah
Class, where she draws on the lyricism of Sappho’s poetry in Ancient Greek,
and weaves luxurious melody and harmony to express her admiration for
female love in all of its forms. In this way she is joined by Irish Soprano,
Eimear Quinn in a celebration of their deep friendship and artistic
collaboration.
Allow yourself to drif away to the Aegean Coast and back again on the
musical waves of the Naiades of Nymphes.
https://youtu.be/A9h4MlSfyqM
✨Musings ✨ – St Brigid & a return
Saint Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare – post concert musings
To be truly honest, there were times over that last couple of years when I worried about getting back on stage. I began to think of it as something I used to do, and this made me deeply sad. It felt like it would never again be the way it once was.
Like all performers, the concerts that I had been lucky enough to do, suffered from curfews, restrictions, and sometimes no audience.
I was grateful for those moments, but they were edgy. My performances were edgy. None of the that glorious flow that you feel when you can be free in the note, and the moment, and the connection. Free from another single thought in the world.
Last night, in the 13th century cathedral of St Brigid, in my first restriction-free full gig since December 2019, I discovered that it was all there – waiting for me.
Brigid’s calm, primal, sensual, Mother Earth energy cradled me as I stepped into the flow and drifted away, and the audience came too.
The relief and joy was palpable. Music spun her alchemy and we shed some of the calloused skin of fear had been bound to us. Gratitude in abundance.
Thank you Brigid.
In Paradisum in Classic FM Hall of Fame 2022
‘In Paradisum’ in Classic FM’s Hall of Fame 2021
Eimear Quinn has been voted in the the Classic FM “Hall of Fame” 2021 with her piece ‘In Paradisum’
Classic FM’s “Hall of Fame” is the world’s biggest pole of classical music tastes. It is broadcast annually over the four days of the Easter Weekend
First broadcast in 1996 the show counts down the 300 most-popular pieces as voted for by listeners, culminating in the number one on the evening of Easter Monday.
Quinn ranks as one of only five female composers in the 2021 chart, along side Clara Schumann, Debbie Wiseman, Yoko Shimomura and Phamie Gow.
Quinn tweeted:
“It’s a true honour to stand with these women; Clara Schumann, Debbie Wisemann, Yoko Shimomura, Phamie Gow.
It’s encouraging, and also against the grain, that we are four living composers along with Schumann. I’m grateful that Classic FM has brought us to their listeners”
IN PARADISUM is recorded with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and features on Quinn’s 2020 release ‘Ériu’
It is the final movement of Quinn’s “Requiem for a Promised Child” which is near completion and due to premier in 2022.
✨CLASSIC FM – Hall of Fame!!!✨
I’m still buzzing with happiness that my composition ‘In Paradisum’ has been voted into the @classicfm #HallofFame2021 top 300 by the listeners!
The joy is all the more sweet to be a living, female composer standing gratefully within the ranks of the Masters of the beloved classical canon. I’m nestled at number #288 between Einaudi & Wagner (I studied Siegfried Idyll as a set-work at school!)
This amazing 4-day extravaganza of music is the biggest annual pole of classical music tastes in the world. It’s an incredible soundtrack to your Easter weekend from 9am-9pm if you enjoy classical music.
The piece ‘In Paradisum’ (featured on my latest album Ériu) is from my “Requiem for a Promised Child” almost complete… and will be my next release. I’m greatly encouraged to record it now, and looking forward to collaborating with the @rteconcertorchestra
I feel immensely honoured that firstly, Classic FM chose to bring my music to their listeners, and secondly that their listeners have taken it to their hearts. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to express your love for the piece through voting.
Wishing you a very Happy & peaceful Easter, a hopeful time of rebirth 💗
✨Musings✨ – HAIKU practice for flow
Looking for a change in my outlook, I was recently inspired by Ruth Smith to conjure daily haiku.
This new tiny practice is doing what I hoped it would ; hushing the pandemic-induced anxiety a little. The constant worry-noise had created a daily pull towards more left-brain thinking (not my usual default setting, leaving me discombobulated)
So now; in a moment each day, I sit (or move) with a thought that I am attracted to, and ponder its beauty, and its attractiveness. Why am I drawn to it? Pain, longing, beauty? In fact, over the the short time that I have taken this practice, the main theme that is emerging is HOPE. I am desperate to feel hopeful. I need it now, like oxygen. There has not been enough oxygen, and now I need to breathe deeply and freely. I need to let the light in through these cracks of fragile brokenness.
This little tweak has reopened the flow to this life-giving breathe of Source. That is just part of the story though, as it seems the words alone don’t convey the full meaning of the practice for me – it needs to feel technicolour, so visual!
So now, in addition to photgraphy, I’ve been inspired to explore art & journaling.
What has resulted, to my surprise, is a combining of both practices … making a haiku art journal, a little colourful volume of hope.
If you’re looking for some light in your day, there’s so much inspiration to drink from. There are so many generous creators who share their vulnerable processes with us, and I am eternally grateful to them. I am proceeding – and giving auto-permission to reject the limits of needing to be ‘perfect’ or ‘talented’
I will share the haiku below, and to see the accompanying art, visit my instagram ✨
first 08.02.21
Time’s linear loss
Parallel cacophony
Days roll into one
second 09.02.21
Daughter slightly ill
(or addicted to cuddles)
Pale precious closeness
third 10.02.21
Brigid’s blessings flew
airmail, Irish Indo wrapped
Beannaithe in Suisse
forth 11.02.21
An ocean-like lake
y apporté par La Bise
Bitter east west waves
fifth 12.02.21
Above the mask line
a stranger’s eyes lock with mine.
In this together
sixth 13.02.21
Une bise de La Bise
Inverted ice-crown kisses
soufflés par la reine
seventh 14.02.21
In the rituals
of family life, my heart
purges and refills.
eight 15.02.21
Scant thaw this morning.
Favouring the sunny side;
life imitates walks.
ninth 16.02.21
The dormant vine knows
through accepting her slumber,
she will bear rich fruit
tenth 19.02.21
The other side’s grass
is often a paler shade
than you imagine.
eleventh 20.02.21
Bright spring sun pierces
the littoral’s cold prism,
and hope germinates
twelfth 21.02.21
The time has come to
rake away the winter coat
and make a fresh start
thirteenth 22.02.21
Restoring our faith
in the awesome, she stretches
her rosy fingers
fourteenth 23.02.21
A lace husk shelters
tomatillo ‘volunteers’
slumbering below
fifteenth 24.02.21
J’ai un cœur qui fond.
Et toi, mon cher printemps,
tu vis là-dedans.
sixteenth 25.02.21
Seeking clarity,
my blind eye and my third eye
keep watchful focus
seventeenth 26.02.21
I lack ambition.
Yet, quite miraculously,
my music does not.
eighteenth 28.02.21
Clap your syllables,
my little haiku playmate.
Count five-seven-five
nineteenth 02.03.21
There will be a time
when we can take it all in,
and let it all go.
twentieth 05.03.12
My mind is reaching
(beyond her tired, seeing eyes)
for Ajna’s star-flight
twentyfirst 09.03.21
We all must begin
in the womb of a woman,
cradled into life.
twentysecond 11.03.21
I’m still here, even
if a full hand is too much
for a growing girl
twentythird 12.03.21
Spring’s sweet voice whispers;
“Go outside. Move your body.
Photosynthesise”
twentyforth 13.03.21
To ‘flow like water’
need not be benign. Agile
rapids pack a punch.
twentyfifth 14.03.21
As I dial, I hear
her words; “Hold on till
I turn down the radio”
twentysixth 19.03.21
Trying to keep up,
I adjust willingly to
your magnificence.
twentyseventh 24.03.21
Remember, before
the death of optimism,
we noticed blue skies
twentyeigth 26.03.21
Unpunctuated
mirror-canvas of winter,
yields to spring’s rigging
twentyninth 28.03.21
A daylight preview
before tonight’s main event.
Then she’ll wane, gibbous
thirtieth 30.03.21
l semble qu’on soit
tous sous-serre, là confinés
comme des palmiers
thirtyfirst 22.04.21
Haiku-atus ends
as Sogyal Rinpoche’s words
on water, return
thirtysecond 23.04.21
On Friday, Earth cried
“Every day is Earth Day”
and got back to work.
Irish Music Magazine – Feature
Sincere thanks to the Irish Music Magazine for their wonderful future on Ériu in their August edition Thank you for the thought-provoking interview!
Ériu – CD (physical) PRE-ORDER now available
The CD of Ériu is now available for PRE-Order (delivery mid July)
I can’t tell you how grateful I am for all of the positive feedback, and the beautiful, generous words of encouragement that you have shared with me about my new album Ériu with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
While it has been available for streaming and download for the last couple of weeks, so many of you have asked about a physical CD. Well! I’m delighted to let you know that it is now in production, and can be pre-ordered on my website.
As we gently dip our toes into moving forward & living with Covid, thankfully lots of people are able to go back to work, albeit with safety measures in place. Please stay safe and also think of your neighbour. The virus is very much still around us, but we will find a way to adapt and move forward, I am sure it x