Good as a Concert: A Festival of Traditional Story and Song
Date: Feb 29
7:30 pm
- 10:00 pm
Where: Level 3 Atrium
Music
The Dictionary of Newfoundland English states that a concert is "A miscellaneous public performance of songs, recitations, skits, etc.". Many of these pieces were composed by community locals or learned orally from an older traditional collection and passed down through the generations. Join us for Good as a Concert: A festival of traditional story and song. The evening will feature local performers steeped in the ballad and storytelling traditions of Newfoundland and Labrador. From obscure ballads and rollicking ditties to recitations and folk tales, this is a chance to hear some of the lesser known songs and stories from our vast traditional music heritage. Doors open at 7:00 pm. Host- Eleanor Dawson Denis Nash- traditional singer from Branch Hubert Furey- storyteller Rosemary Lawton- singer/fiddler Intermission Monica Walsh- traditional singer Hubert Furey Jim Payne & Fergus O'Byrne- singers and multi-instrumentalists This event is in partnership with and was produced by Sing Song Inc., Eleanor Dawson and MUN Research Centre for the Study of Music Media and Place, (MMaP).
Events & Programs
Behold the Blades of the Sea: Join historian, Lee Gillis as he explores the rich history and evolution of swords featured in The Rooms permanent collection.
From Napoleonic sabers to ceremonial swords of the First World War, learn how political upheaval and global conflict shaped the advancement of sword design and technology.
Cost: $12 plus HST. Free for Rooms members. Get your tickets online or by calling (709) 757-8090.
About the Presenter:
Historian, Lee Gillis specializes in arms and armor. While his primary focus has been on the medieval period, he has worked with weapons and objects ranging from the Bronze Age to World War II.
He earned a B.A. in History from Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) and later completed a Master’s Degree in Museum and Artefact Studies at Durham University in England.
To support this research, Lee began training in sword fighting in 2012 and took up blacksmithing and blade-making to gain a comprehensive understanding on the form and function of bladed weaponry.
Since October 2024, he has been volunteering at The Rooms, where he has identified, researched, and catalogued nearly one hundred objects in the collection, including a significant number of swords and other bladed weapons.