One of the most iconic Irish folk groups in music history will be coming to NMU to perform as part of the Beaumier Heritage Concert Series on Thursday, September 17 at Reynolds Recital Hall. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.nmu.edu. Adults are $25 in advance/$27 at the door; NMU Students and under 18 are $13 in advance/$15 at the door.

No Irish traditional band in the last thirty years has had a wider impact on audiences throughout the world than Altan. Formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her late husband Frankie Kennedy, the group’s music is influenced by traditional Irish language songs and tunes from Donegal. Over the course of their career, Altan has sold over a million records.

Altan is celebrating forty years on the road, bringing their native music to world-renowned stages such as Carnagie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Dublin’s National Concert Hall as well as to the famous Glastonbury Festival, Tradfest Temple Bar in Dublin, and Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany.

Building on this history, their latest album ‘Donegal’ was released in 2024 (Compass Records) and has received widespread positive reviews. Altan has long been at the forefront of traditional Irish music, blending the raw energy of their native Donegal-fiddle style with a rare, melodic sensibility. Being the first-ever Irish traditional band signed to a major record label, Virgin Records in 1995, The Boston Globe named them “The hottest group in the Celtic realm”.

The band’s original members, lead singer and fiddler, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Ciaran Curran on bouzouki and Mark Kelly on guitar are accompanied by accordion player Martin Tourish, and their newest member, fiddler and singer, Clare Friel.