LAKEPORT — Celtic harpists Portia Diwa, Shawna Spiteri and Diana Stork, known collectively as “Triskela,” performed Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre.
Saturday”s concert marked a return visit for the ladies, as they were part of the line-up for Clear Lake Performing Arts”s spring concert series in March 2002.
Saturday”s playlist included classic tunes from Celtic and Latin American traditions, as well as original compositions. The concert opened with “Wedding Bells,” an elegant tune that its composer, Stork, reported had been chosen for the soundtrack to “Reclaiming the Blade,” a documentary about sword fighting.
The trio”s performances of original work also included “Aragorn”s Dark Horse,” with each part written by Stork to evoke a character from J.R.R. Tolkien”s “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.” As conveyed through the players” strings, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli race to save their friends Merry and Pippin from captivity among the orcs.
The group performed a piece by Diwa that was titled “Spring,” and Spiteri also contributed a piece, “For the Ladies,” that she said was written for a class exercise. Each seemed well-suited to showcase the harpers” strengths; their harmonies melded smoothly for a variety of styles.
With her lovely soprano voice, Spiteri provided lyrical accompaniment on some of the evening”s tunes including “Star of the County Down.”
The performance also showcased the three ladies” skills on additional instruments: Spiteri on the bodhr?n (Irish frame drum), maracas and tamborine, Diwa on penny whistle and Stork on flute. The group even persuaded Soper-Reese artistic director Bert Hutt to join them onstage to play the bodhr?n and spoons.
Contact Cynthia Parkhill at cparkhill@clearlakeobserver.com or call her at 263-5636, ext. 28.
