Paul Dooley & Kseniya Rusnak

Paul Dooley: harp
Kseniya Rusnak: bandura

Paul Dooley is one of the leading exponents of the Irish harp in its historical form and style – playing a metal-strung harp with the fingernails. He has studied the construction of the medieval Irish harp and built several instruments. Playing mostly Irish dance music, he has performed worldwide as a soloist and with some of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians. He has also spent recent decades researching the music of the Robert ap Huw manuscript, the oldest collection of harp music in existence.

A performer, builder, and musicologist, Paul reawakens the haunting tones of Ireland’s oldest harp traditions through nail-playing technique, historic tuning, and repertoire drawn from lost manuscripts. His playing is a rare bridge between myth and musicology - each note a revival of something ancient and true.

Kseniya Rusnak is a musician, teacher and composer from Kyiv, Ukraine. She plays the bandura – a traditional instrument of the harp family, which is also the national instrument of Ukraine. She is a founder member of the band Mosaic, an ideologist, and moderator of a number of charity art projects – ‘Music in every Heart: Children for Children’, ‘Winged Dreams’ for children with special needs. She is also curator of the ‘Constellation of Arts’ cultural project.

Kseniya brings the resonant voice of her homeland’s national harp to the Irish forest. Combining ancient epic traditions with lyrical storytelling, her music transcends borders. Since arriving in Ireland, she has collaborated with early Irish harpers, creating a radiant dialogue between cultures and centuries.

Kseniya began a musical collaboration with Paul shortly after arriving from Kyiv to live in Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare. Their repertoire comprises an eclectic selection of traditional music from Ireland and Ukraine. Their first public performances have wowed audiences at the Willie Clancy week in July 2022 and many other venues since.