A FREE tribute night to Richard Hayward is being held in Larne Museum and Arts Centre on Thursday 24 February from 7.30pm-9.30pm.
The magical foot-tapping night will hear the songs that Richard Hayward performed and recorded in the middle decades of the 20th century.
Hayward, who grew up in Larne, was a household name all over Ulster and Ireland and was one of the best-known cultural figures.
As well as a singer, he was also a stage and screen actor, the author of 11 travel books on Ireland, a folklorist and tour guide.
In a long musical career, Hayward recorded several hundred folksongs with Decca and HMV, some of them now long forgotten.
On his travels around the country, he collected and arranged many ballads, singing them in his films, and playing others on the harp. Hayward, who died in 1964, left behind a remarkable repertoire of work which is brought to life in this storied event.
The renowned traditional singers and song historians, Jane Cassidy and Maurice Leyden, have teamed up with Hayward’s biographer Paul Clements to celebrate his minstrelsy life.
In a combined music and illustrated show, some of the best-known songs such as ‘The Ould Man of Killyburn Brae,’ ‘Nora Lee,’ ‘Johnny I Hardly Knew You,’ and ‘The Bright Silvery Light of the Moon,’ will be performed.
In what promises to be a marvellous night, other musical surprises are in store, and Hayward’s life and times is captured through anecdote and song.
At the peak of his career, Gramophone magazine summed up his musicianship: ‘Hayward is a master of his art.’
Please note this is a free concert but places are limited and must be booked in advance by contacting Larne Museum & Arts Centre. Light refreshments provided. T: 028 2826 2443 E : [email protected]
