Cork’s biennial Sounds From A Safe Harbour festival have released their first round of acts performing at this years event.

Singer-Songwriter Damien Rice, Canadian pop singer Feist and a supergroup performing the music of American-Mexican musician Lhasa de Sela will perform in Cork as part of the festival, which is set to take place the weekend of September 12th to September 15th in venues across Cork city.

Sounds From A Safe Harbour, now in its third incarnation, is a festival curated by Bryce and Aaron Dessner from The National, Former Chief Executive of Cork-Opera House Mary Hickson, Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy, and Irish playwright Enda Walsh. The festival is an eclectic mix of song, art, dance, music, visual arts and conversation.

The idea for the festival was born over a cup of tea in 2014, when Hickson invited the two Dessner brothers for a chat in Cork’s Hayfield Manor to gain an insight into life as a touring musician and their work soundtracking movies. Sounds From A Safe Harbour, named in reference to Cork’s old port, began in 2015, with The Gloaming, Lisa Hannigan and Wild Beast performing. 2017 saw its second iteration, with performances from Hannigan (This time alongside the RTE National Symphony Orchestra), as well as Bon Iver and The National.

Damien Rice takes to the stage on Friday 13th September for a spectacular show featuring special guests, including Voice Works choir led by Gemma Sugrue. Saturday 14th September marks the first Visit to Cork of Canadian pop singer-songwriter and guitarist, Feist, with a special intimate performance, in the last leg of her ‘Pleasure’ album tour.

The festival finale at Cork Opera House on Sunday 15th September will be LHASA, a live project originally conceived at 37d03d festival, Berlin, August 2018. The captivating melodies of Mexican-American musician Lhasa de Sela are brought back to the stage in a heartfelt tribute from musician fans, friends, and collaborators. The artists coming together to celebrate the life of Lhasa in this concert are Andrew Barr (The Barr Brothers), Bryce Dessner (The National), Clarice Jensen, Dustin O’Halloran, Emma Broughton, Joel Shearer, Leslie Feist (Feist), Melissa Laveaux, Pauline DeLassus (Mina Tindle), and Todd Dahlhoff. Following the Cork performance, SFSH will take the show to the Barbican, London, on Tuesday 17th September.

Speaking about the festival, Director Hickson noted “Working with people like Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Cillian Murphy and Enda Walsh, is inspiring and I am so honoured to have them on board once again to create the SFSH19 programme. We are really excited to share the rest of the programme with you over the coming weeks. So much more to come!”

Tickets for the Cork Opera House shows will go on sale 10am Monday 27th May from www.corkoperahouse.com.