‘Serendipity’ lands local duo at Oslo gig

By Rebekah O'Reilly

A “moment of serendipity” landed Athlone native’s Ursula Daly Stronge and her lifetime friend Anne Scally at the Irish-Norwegian band Secret Garden’s 30-year Celebratory Gig in Oslo last weekend.

Ursula took a leap of faith in travelling to Oslo last November to see her favourite band, following a particularly challenging year that saw her losing both her beloved husband Berrie after a serious illness, and her sister Assunta just weeks later.

However, a booking mishap meant the Athlone ladies missed the long-awaited concert.

Secret Garden is led by Irish violinist and singer Fionnuala Sherry and Norwegian composer, arranger and pianist Rolf Løvland. The duo specialise in new-age music.

Having followed their music for years Ursula had only seen Secret Garden live once with her husband in the National Concert Hall, and says their music had brought her comfort during some the hardest parts of her life.

“I got a lot of consolation and solace from their music. I just said, right, I have to go and see them, and Anne kindly agreed to join me in my quest ”, she said.

“Their music is very Celtic, it’s haunting, emotional, lively, and has a beauty about it that just brings you to another place. Fionnuala is an amazing violinist, and her talent would bring a huge sense of pride to any Irish person.”

During her 2024 trip to Oslo, Ursula confused the date of the concert, a mistake she attributes to the grief she was still experiencing deeply, and herself and Anne missed the concert. As the pair sat in the hotel lobby the night before they came home, they overheard a group talking and wondered if it could be the band. Anne approached them and discovered they were members of the Secret Garden. She shared Ursula’s story with composer Rolf Løvland.

Moved by what had happened, the following day Rolf, Fionnuala and their events manager Gunner Reed invited Ursula and Anne back to their 30th Anniversary Concert in Oslo the following year.

“I couldn’t believe it. I was so touched by their compassion and kindness and the fact that they would do that,” Ursula said.

“Out of all the millions of fans they have, their response immediately was to say, ‘We’d love you to come back.’

“They wanted to pay for our hotel, put us on their guest list, and we even got the price of our original tickets refunded from the ticket company, all because they felt they wanted to make a gesture of goodwill.”

Ursula and Anne attended the concert at the Oslo, Konserthus on Friday, November 14, and later spent time in the hotel bar meeting the band and their families.

“It was a real friendly feel, instead of the extreme sadness I felt last year, and I felt a little bit lighter coming home,” she said.

“I not only got to see them, but we got to meet them, and somewhere in all of this I felt my incredibly missed husband Berrie was somewhere waving a magic wand for me, and I know this is a story my dearest sister Assunta would have loved to hear as well.”