Belfast · 2026
By Lagan Stream
Belfast viewed through the River Lagan.
- Year
- 2026
- Location
- Belfast
- Venue
- Ulster Hall
- Ensemble
- National Folk Orchestra of Ireland
- Role
- Composed · Arranged · Conducted by Tom Doorley
A musical journey through Belfast in which the River Lagan becomes a witness to the city — carrying music, memory, migration, industry, loss and shared experience.
The story
By Lagan Stream takes the river as a quiet witness. Flowing through Belfast, the Lagan carries traces of ordinary lives as well as the larger histories through which the city has been understood: work, industry, migration, conflict, loss and renewal.
The project approaches those experiences through music rather than explanation alone. Traditional material, song, spoken word and new composition meet within a shared orchestral world, allowing different memories of the city to stand alongside one another.
At the Ulster Hall in 2026, that musical journey became a gathering: individual voices and a large traditional orchestra listening and responding across history, place and community.
The music
The River Lagan provides the work’s underlying shape — not as a literal sound effect, but as a recurring musical presence capable of carrying and transforming material.
Traditional tunes and songs are placed alongside original composition and orchestral colour. Motifs return in altered forms, connecting moments separated by time and subject. The aim is not to smooth away difference, but to let contrasting musical voices inhabit the same journey.
People
Created with the National Folk Orchestra of Ireland and guest singers, musicians and spoken-word contributors. Detailed programme credits are retained in the project archive.