A Grand Christmas at the Piano in St John's Church Longford

Camlin Keys Festival held a lovely ‘Grand Christmas at the Piano’ with Danna Davis, Andrew Yau, Niall Mannion, and local young talent, Kyle Togbe of Longford Variety Group, on Sunday, December 22, in St John's Church Longford, Battery Road.
Danna, Andrew and Niall are key members of the Camlin Keys Festival committee, each accomplished in music performance and education.

Danna is a renowned figure in Irish musical theatre and opera having performed in productions such as ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Oliver!’ produced by Festival Productions, and ‘The Mikado’ produced by Lyric Opera Ireland. Danna trained at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, at Herbert Berghof (HB) Studios and Michael Howard Studios in New York City.
Additionally, Danna has lent her talent to animation and has voiced Miss Harbottle in ‘Zombie Hotel’ (2005-2007), Greta in ‘Rabbit Academy’ (2022), and Jill in ‘Luis & the Aliens’ (2018).

Andrew Yau and Niall Mannion are leading musicians whose performance experiences range from gracing the stage of the National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland multiple times, to performing on Spanish television for the Spanish Ambassador.
Each are graduates of the Bachelor of Music programme in Maynooth University and share their knowledge and skills by supporting the development of new musical talent through Music Generation Westmeath and private tuition.

Members of the audience included Longford Men's Shed and Granard Women's Art group who were treated to festive seasonal favourites including the ever popular ‘O Holy Night’. Musical fans heard songs from The Sound of Music, Les Misérables and many more! To close the evening everyone, including the audience gathered around the piano to sing favourite carols together, a very cosy start to Christmas week.

Camlin Keys would like to express our gratitude to the Longford Arms Hotel for supporting the event and Photographer Michael Croghan, who called in to enjoy the concert and took a few photos while he was there.
Camlin Keys chairperson, Joanna Pearman, took the opportunity to announce the dates of the 2025 Camlin Keys Festival as the May Bank Holiday weekend, so a date for the diary, better get practising!

2025 will see the introduction of a Camlin Keys Youth Panel, where we invite the musical young people of Longford and beyond to give their input into what workshops and classes they would appreciate as part of the festival, a jazz piano workshop has already been suggested and we would love to hear more ideas.

To get involved in any way, email camlinkeys@gmail.com.