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AUTUMN SEASON 2023
Thursday 5th October 2023
Degani Piano Trio
Alan Smale violin
Rachel Quinn piano
Annette Cleary cello
The Large Room | City Hall | 7:30pm
The Degani Piano Trio is made up of award-winning musicians: violinist Alan Smale, pianist Rachel Quinn and cellist Annette Cleary. Alongside recording work of composers such as Haydn, Dvorak, Chopin, Brahms and Piazzolla, they have innovatively collaborated with theatrical and visual artists in live concert settings.
Rachel Quinn has performed critically acclaimed concertos by composers such Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Cesar Franck, Prokofief, and Liszt with Irish and International orchestras. A recording artist in her own right, Rachel has also spearheaded the Degani Piano Trio’s innovative collaborations with renowned theatrical and visual artists, Barry McGovern, Donna Anita Nikolaisen and Kim Sharkey.
Alan Smale is founder of The Degani Ensemble. For 20 years he was Leader of the RTE NSO. He is a great exponent of Irish contemporary music and has recorded concertos by Raymond Deane, Frank Corcoran, James Wilson and Jerome de Bromhead. Alan plays on a superb Venetian violin made by Eugenio Degani in 1896.
Annette Cleary has performed as soloist with the NSO and acted as jury member for International Competitions. Her tutors have included Coral Bognuda, Paul Tortelier, and Antonio Janigro. Annette was a prizewinner at the Barchet International Cello Competition. She currently teaches at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she recently received her Doctorate
“The most complete and profoundly joyful music making. This performance has a blend of folksiness and high art sophistication that felt just right.” – The Irish Times
PROGRAMME
Mozart: Piano Trio in B flat
Ingoldsby: Nocturne No.2 (World Première with an introduction by the composer)
Ginestera: Danzas Argentinas Nos 1 and 2 for piano solo
Piazzolla: Oblivion
Interval:
Piazzolla: Two pieces for violin and piano ‘Tanti Anni’ and ‘Adios Nonino’
Nasareth: Odeon for piano solo
Piazzolla: ‘Four Seasons’ Piano Trio
Presented by
Thursday 19th October 2023
Ellen Jansson & Miriam Kaczor
Ellen Jansson piano
Miriam Kaczor flute
The Large Room | City Hall | 7:30pm
Hailed as “a major talent” after her Carnegie Hall debut with Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto, Irish pianist Ellen Jansson is quickly establishing herself as one of Ireland’s most versatile and exciting young musicians. She has appeared as soloist with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Esker Festival Orchestra, and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, and has performed in many prominent Irish venues as well as abroad in Carnegie Hall (New York), Alexela Concert Hall (Tallinn), and the Ukrainian Radio Concert Hall (Kyiv).
A passionate advocate for the performance and promotion of music written by women, she has appeared several times at the ‘Finding a Voice’ Festival since its launch in 2018, including giving the first complete Irish performance of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Das Jahr in 2021, and curating and performing a concert of solo and chamber works by Canadian composer Alexina Louie in 2019. She recently performed with flautist Miriam Kaczor at the Castleconnell Autumn Concert Series which was recorded for national broadcast by RTÉ Lyric FM.
Miriam Kaczor is a Polish-born, Dublin-raised flautist and freelance photographer. She graduated from the Royal Irish Academy of Music as a pupil of William Dowdall and Patricia Morris, followed by a Master’s Degree at Kunstuniversität Graz with Erwin Klambauer. Among her other influential teachers were Michael Cox, Lisa Beznosiuk and Rachel Brown as well as memorable masterclass encounters with Sir James Galway, William Bennett, Peter-Lukas Graf, Lorna McGhee and Felix Renggli. She was a Britten-Pears Young Artist, member of the Grafenegg Academy and a scholarship participant of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra Institute in Toronto. She was the Irish Freemasons’ Young Musician of the Year 2015, inaugural recipient of the RDS Jago Award and a multiple ESB Feis Ceoil prizewinner. Most recently Miriam was awarded the Tile Style Bursary in the Business to Arts Awards 2021.
Miriam has appeared at concert series, e.g., at the National Concert Hall, Haydn Philharmonie and the Vanbrugh Quartet. As a soloist she has featured in flute concerti by Liebermann, Ibert, Nielsen, Mozart, Telemann and Vivaldi as well as a member of the experimental new music group Kirkos Ensemble.
PROGRAMME
Widor: Suite for Flute and Piano op. 34
De Severac: Cerdana – IV. Les Muletiers devant le Christ de Llivia (Solo Piano)
Lili Boulanger: Nocturne & Cortege
Interval
Amanda Harberg: Court Dances: Suite for Flute and Piano
Fulvio Caldini: Thelema’s Hot Machine op. 33 (Solo Flute)
Prokofiev: Sonata for Flute and Piano in D Major
Presented by
Friday 3rd November 2023
Sonoro Quartet
Sarah Jégou-Sageman violin
Jeroen De Beer violin
Séamus Hickey viola
Léo Guiguen cello
The Large Room | City Hall | 7:30pm
Cork violist Séamus Hickey returns for a second tour with his outstanding Belgium-based Sonoro Quartet and they open with Beethoven’s third Rasoumovsky quartet, its virtuosic outer movements contrasted with an atmospheric funeral march and a quaintly old-fashioned minuet. Sean Doherty’s musical roots lie in the Donegal fiddle tradition and his quartet Devil’s Dream offers an exciting and authentic fusion of trad and classical. Shostakovich’s dark and powerful second quartet was written in 1944, its mood and dramatic vision clearly shaped by the ongoing tragedy of the second world war. The extraordinary last movement is devastating in its range and depth of expression.
Founded in 2019, the Sonoro Quartet has already established itself as one of the leading young string quartets of its generation. They perform over 40 concerts annually in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, and Ireland, making them one of the most active string quartets in Belgium. Their repertoire encompasses classical masterpieces as well as works by contemporary composers. They have graced renowned venues including Bijloke in Ghent, Bozar in Brussels, Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht, National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Liszt Academy and Bartók Memorial House in Budapest, and Desingel in Antwerp. The quartet has also been invited to perform at festivals such as Festival Midis-Minimes, The Young Generation Bozar, B-Classic, Storioni Festival, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, and RotterdamChamber Music Society, among others.
In March 2022, the Sonoro Quartet was chosen as ECHO Rising Stars for the 2023-2024 season, embarking on a concert tour that includes 17 performances in leading European halls.
PROGRAMME
Beethoven – Quartet Op.59 No.3 Rasoumovsky [1806]
Sean Doherty – Devil’s Dream [2015]
Shostakovich – Quartet No.2 [1944]
Presented by
funded and supported by
Thursday 16th November 2023
Philip Martin
Philip Martin piano
The Large Room | City Hall | 7:30pm
Philip Martin gave his first concert aged six and won an ABRSM scholarship to the Royal Academy of music in London while, still in his teens, studying both piano and composition. He spent three years with pianist-composer Franz Reizenstein, himself a pupil of Paul Hindemith, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Solomon. His time with Reizenstein, and later, his many years of study with Louis Kentner (also a composer) set the seal on his future musical life where his talents in both areas continued to flourish in equal measure.
Philip has played with most of the major London orchestras as well as the CBSO, Halle, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic etc, while his numerous recital and concerto performances with all of the BBC Orchestras have added greatly to his extensive Concerto repertoire.
He was honoured with a Professorship at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University, where he taught for over thirty years. Lord Yehudi Menuhin presented him with an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Academy of music in London, and, he is also a member of AOSDANA, Ireland’s prestigious Academy of creative artists.
PROGRAMME
Bach – French Suite No.5 in G Major
Chopin – Four Impromptus
Philip Martin – Five Piano Blues [2020-2021]
Interval
Grieg – Papillon
Chopin – Polonaise Opus 71, No.3 [1829]
Julia Martin – Cascata Blu [1998]
Peter Maxwell Davies – Yesnaby Ground
Sibelius – Kuusi Opus 75 No.5
Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin – Woodbrook
Harvey Worthington Loomis – Music of the Calumet
Billy Mayerl – Robots [1928]
Presented by
Thursday 30th November 2023
Anna Dennis, Jonas Nordberg & Liam Byrne
Anna Dennis soprano
Jonas Nordberg lute
Liam Byrne viola da gamba
Edmund Rice Chapel | 7:30pm
Elizabeth Downey Memorial Concert
Travel from the musical landscapes of the Jacobean English drawing room to the sumptuous salons of Venice. Where music, poetry and song intertwine and the warm tones of lute and viola da gamba blend with the enchanting sound of the soprano voice.
The internationally renowned trio of Anna Dennis (soprano), Jonas Nordberg (lute) and Liam Byrne (viola da gamba) perform together for the first time in Ireland to present a truly intimate and captivating musical experience.
Recently awarded Best Singer at the Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2023 Awards, Anna Dennis is one of the UK’s leading sopranos, especially noted for her work in modern and baroque repertoire. Described by the Times as a “delectable soprano and a serene, ever-sentient presence”, Anna studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and from there has brought extraordinary technique, musicianship and versatility to operatic and concert stages worldwide. Operatic appearances have included Handel’s Theodora at the Göttingen Handel Festspiele, Katie Mitchell’s New Dark Age at the Royal Opera House, Mozart’s Idomeneo at Birmingham Opera Company, Damon Albarn’s Dr Dee at the English National Opera, Gluck’s Paride Ed Elena at Nuremberg Opera house and roles in all three Monteverdi operas during John Eliot Gardiner’s world tour of the trilogy. She recently created the title role of Violet in Tom Coult’s debut opera, premiered at the Aldeburgh festival.
Lutenist Jonas Nordberg, a graduate of the Mozarteum University Salzburg and the Royal College of Music Stockholm, is much in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and guest instrumentalist with large scale ensembles. His concert schedule to date has seen him perform in over 25 countries.
A highly regarded chamber musician, successful duos include with soprano Ruby Hughes, focusing on music from the Elizabethan Era and Italian monody, and with viol player Liam Byrne exploring the music of Marin Marais in addition to contemporary music for theorbo/viol & electronics. He regularly performs with leading ensembles such as Concerto Köln, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Concerto Copenhagen, Orfeo 55, Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, London Handel Orchestra, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Aurora Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and many other period instrument chamber groups. He also works extensively with Swedish chamber ensemble Operabyrån, co-creating chamber operas and semi-staged performances featuring forgotten female composers.
Liam Byrne spends most of his time playing either very old or very new music on the viola da gamba. An obsession with the instrument’s most obscure 16th and 17th-century repertoire is a recurring theme in his work, whether in devising baroque performance installations for the Victoria & Albert Museum, or in collaboration with the Appalachian fiddler Cleek Schrey, or creating new electronic works with Icelandic composer Valgeir Sigurðsson.
Over the years, he has worked closely with a wide variety of exceptional musicians, from Damon Albarn to Emma Kirkby, and is a frequent guest of new music ensembles Stargaze, the London Contemporary Orchestra and Crash Ensemble. With a background in Historical Performance and degrees from Indiana and Oxford Universities, Liam has played and recorded with many of Europe’s leading Early Music ensembles, including the Huelgas Ensemble, Dunedin Consort, The Sixteen, i Fagiolini, and the viol consorts Phantasm, Concordia, and most notably Fretwork, with whom he toured and recorded extensively for several years.
PROGRAMME
includes works by Dowland, Monteverdi, Purcell and Telemann
Presented by
PAST EVENTS
Wednesday 20th September 2023
Christian Curnyn Conductor
Sharon Carty Mezzo Soprano (Artist in Association)
Anna Devin Soprano
The Large Room | City Hall | 7:30pm
Irish Chamber Orchestra return to Waterford with two leading Irish singers and a delicious and diverse programme of works which includes Pergolesi’s much loved Stabat Mater. Rousseau called its first movement ‘the most perfect and touching that has ever come from the pen of any composer’. This beautiful and deeply personal meditation, written by the 26-year-old dying composer transports us to the very heart of human passion.
The Irish Chamber Orchestra is Ireland’s most dynamic ensemble. Mixing traditional repertoire with new commissions and collaborating with everyone from DJs to dance companies, the ICO pushes the boundaries of what a chamber orchestra can do. These days, you are as likely to find us at the Electric Picnic as Mozartfest, but wherever we perform, the ICO delivers world-class concerts feted for their energy and style.
Each year, Ireland’s busiest chamber ensemble presents concert seasons in Limerick and Dublin, embarks on two national tours, and makes a series of prestigious international appearances supported by Culture Ireland. Our Artistic Committee works closely with our Artistic Partners to devise exciting, diverse, and innovative programmes, mixing standard repertoire with new work –often specially commissioned – from the best young Irish composers. This versatile approach enables us to appeal to music fans of every stripe while upholding the highest artistic standards.
The driving force behind ICO’s last decade of success has been its Principal Conductor/Artistic Partner Jörg Widmann, a composer, conductor, and clarinettist whose irrepressible energy and pursuit of excellence has enabled the ICO to expand its horizons, attracting outstanding international performers such as Thomas Zehetmair, Henning Kraggerud, Florian Donderer, Brett Dean, Sheku Kanneh-Mason Tabea Zimmermann, Igor Levit, and Elisabeth Leonskaja. Throughout the past decade, the ICO has performed at leading concert halls and festivals across Europe, the U.S.A., and South America. The ICO released a series of acclaimed recordings on the prestigious Orfeo and Alpha Classics labels. The ICO was the first Irish Orchestra to complete a three-year residency at Heidelberger Frühling and is currently orchestra-in-residence at Kilkenny Arts Festival.
In May 2022, celebrated Austrian Violinist Thomas Zehetmair was appointed Principal Conductor/Artistic Partner on a three-year tenure. Zehetmair’s enthusiasm and commitment is matched by the orchestra itself, led by the ebullient Katherine Hunka, and comprises of 22 outstanding musicians. The ICO’s special rapport, forged by over 20 years of playing – and sometimes singing! – together, creates the unique sound that has captivated audiences all over the world.
The orchestra enjoys outstanding support. The enthusiasm and forward thinking of CEO Gerard Keenan has been instrumental in realising some of the ICO’s most exhilarating collaborations, while the board, chaired by Aibhlín McCrann, comprises members whose diverse professional expertise is matched by their determination to realise the orchestra’s vision. At the heart of this vision is the belief that music is for everyone. That is why the ICO has implemented an ambitious and far-reaching strategy that aims to take music out of the concert hall and into the local community, inspiring children to try music for themselves, and supporting them on their journey from first lesson to public performance.
Their ground-breaking initiative, Sing Out with Strings (SOWS), offers primary school children in Limerick the chance to learn free music. Now in its eleventh year, the project has been hailed as a model of social inclusion, offering opportunities for young people, developing key life skills, and providing tangible long-term benefits for participants, their families, and the wider community.
PROGRAMME
Van Wassenaer Concerto no.5, F minor
Respighi Antiche danze ed arie per liuto, suite III
Puccini Crisantemi
Pergolesi Stabat Mater
Presented by
Sunday 21st May 2023
Musici Ireland
Lynda O’Connor violin
Beth McNinch viola
Garter Lane Arts Centre | 3:30pm
Beth McNinch studied viola at the GSMD & RAM in London, continuing with a successful freelance career, performing with all major symphony orchestras in the UK, including the London Symphony Orchestra & BBC Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as principal violist with English national Ballet, London Sinfonietta, Wexford Festival Opera, Irish National Opera, RTÉ Symphony & Concert Orchestras and the Ulster Orchestra. In 2021, Beth became the inaugural recipient of the SEVN artists bursary, allowing her time to research and record works for solo viola by women composers in arts venues across the southeast of Ireland. Following this, she commissioned 4 pieces for solo viola composers: Libby Croad (who will attend the World Premiere of her sonata), Deborah Pritchard, Ailbhe McDonagh and Deirdre Mackay.
Lynda O’Connor is in demand as an orchestral performer, both at home and abroad, as a principal player, working with the International Mahler Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony, The Wexford Opera Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Ireland, the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, Plano Symphony Orchestra, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has toured internationally with these orchestras, including performances in Carnegie Hall, Cadogan Hall as part of the BBC Proms, China, Mexico, Washington as part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris as resident artists with Camerata Ireland, St Petersburg, Moscow, Belgium, Germany, Warsaw as part of the International Beethoven Festival, Spain, Shanghai, Beijing and Finland as part of the Naantali Music Festival.
Programme:
Handel/Halverson Passacaglia
Sibelius Duo in C Major
Saariaho Nocturne for Solo Violin
Bartok 7 duos
Ponce Sonata a Duo: Allegro, piuttosto moderato
Amanda Feery Square Movement
Interval
Libby Croad “Suffragette Sonata” for solo viola WORLD PREMIERE LIVE PERFORMANCE
-Deeds Not Words
-Emmeline
-Derby Day
Martinu Three Madrigals Duo No.1
-Poco allegro – Poco vivo
-Poco andante – Andante moderato
-Allegro – Moderato – Allegro vivo
Presented by
Thursday 11th May 2023
Liz Knowles, Niwel Tsumbu & Niall Vallely
Liz Knowles hardanger/fiddle
Niwel Tsumbu guitar/vocals
Niall Vallely concertina
The Large Room | City Hall | 7:30pm
Three musicians, multiple traditions and an abundance of talent would be one way to describe the specially curated powerhouse ensemble of Knowles, Tsumbu and Vallely.
Genre-bending and label-defying would be another, and this trio will immerse listeners in the striking melodies, beautiful harmonies, and deep rhythmic grooves that result from their collaborative onstage joie de vivre. Bringing together stellar hardingfele and fiddle player Liz Knowles from Kentucky, masterfully elegant Congolese guitarist-vocalist Niwel Tsumbu, and Irish concertina master and prolific composer Niall Vallely, you can hear the cross-cultural counterpoint that results from their uniquely expressive musicmaking underpinned by the common ground of their shared artistic vision. With a group as musically well-travelled as this, the satisfaction of hearing each performer’s individual contribution is multiplied several times over by their vibrant synchronicity and is sure to get toes tapping and hearts singing!
“One of North America’s finest exponents of Irish music” – The Living Tradition [on Knowles]
“A musical river flowing whose sources range from classical to Central Africa and way beyond” – Journal of Music [on Tsumbu]
“Niall Vallely’s technical mastery and genius for improvisation are matched by apparently inexhaustible creative reserves”– The Irish Times
Presented by
Thursday 20th April 2023
Ireland and Beyond: Cormac Byrne, Matthew Noone & Adam Summerhayes
Cormac Byrne – Bodhrán and Percussion
Matthew Noone – Sarode
Adam Summerhayes – Violin
The Large Room | City Hall | 7:30pm
This special concert brings together three celebrated and diverse musicians to perform a unique
programme of cross-cultural music that draws on Western classical, Indian classical, Irish traditional,
folk and world music. Beautiful melodies, powerful harmonies and intricate grooves are woven within
original compositions and arrangements featuring moments of awe-inspiring improvisations. Expect a
dazzling display of musicianship and virtuosity from this trio.
Cormac Byrne is a critically acclaimed bodhrán player, percussionist, composer and educator from Waterford. He has received many awards for his work, including the BBC Young Folk Award, the BBC Fame Academy Bursary and the John Wray Percussion Prize at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. He was named Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2019 FATEA Music Awards in the UK. He has appeared as a soloist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and he performed as a soloist at the BBC Proms in Royal Albert Hall in 2019. In 2023, Cormac completed an arts practice PhD at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick. Bodhrán performance was the focus of his research. Cormac is a member of the percussion faculty at Birmingham Conservatoire and he guest lectures at several universities and music conservatoires in Ireland and the UK.
Matthew Noone is an Australian-Irish Sarode player and composer. He studied Indian classical music with Sougata Roy Chowdhury in Kolkata and K. Sridhar in the UK for two decades and works in diverse genres of music including Irish traditional music, Indian classical music, electroacoustic music and free improvisation. Matthew completed an arts practice PhD at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick in 2016, and he is currently the course director of the BA in World Music at University of Limerick. Matthew has collaborated with several artists including Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill, Tommy Hayes, Seán Tyrrell, Liam Ó Maonlaí and Steve Cooney.
Adam Summerhayes is a critically acclaimed violinist from England. He performs in many genres of music and has toured internationally as a chamber musician and chamber orchestral director, primarily with London Concertante. He has a wide concerto repertoire including Bach, Vivaldi, Barber, Prokofiev, and a self-composed violin concerto, ‘A Fiddler’s Tale’. He has recorded many albums including premier recordings of Aaron Copland and Alan Bush. He joined the baroque group Red Priest in 2015 and he has performed with many bands and musicians including The Haar, Caro Emerald, Zum, Dodo Street and The Ciderhouse Rebellion. He has also composed music for film and BBC television. Adam was named Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2021 FATEA Music Awards in the UK.
“[Cormac] Byrne is to the bodhrán what Paganini was to the violin while Adam Summerhayes is quite possibly the reincarnation of the master himself” Morning Star.
“Nothing short of pure magic” Hot Press magazine [on Noone]
Presented by
Friday 10th March 2023
Katherine Hunka & Marja Gaynor violins
Cian O’Duill viola
Aoife Nic Athlaoich cello
The Large Room, City Hall | 7:30pm
(Heinz Pollmeier Memorial Concert)
The Solas Quartet joins us for their second live tour with another wide-ranging programme culminating in Dvorak’s magnificent A flat quartet. Young Dublin-based violinist and composer Rohan Harron’s Psychotia opens the programme with unpredictable energy and drive. Henry Purcell would have been of a similar age in London in 1680 when he wrote his fifteen remarkable Fantasias. Frank Bridge’s Phantasie Quartet is one of many early 20th century British works which bear the ‘Fantasy’ tag and look back to the form of Purcell’s Fantasias. American composer Jessie Montgomery’s Strum ‘begins with fleeting nostalgia and transforms into ecstatic celebration, drawing on American folk idioms and the spirit of dance and movement’.
Programme
Rohan Harron – Psychotia [2020]
Purcell – Two Fantasias Z.737 and Z.738 [1680]
Frank Bridge – Phantasie Quartet in F minor [1905]
Jessie Montgomery – Strum [2012]
Dvořák – Quartet in A flat Op.105 [1895]
Presented by
Thursday 16th February 2023
The Romantic Piano – 40th Birthday Tour
Franz Schubert: Impromptu in A flat op.90 no.4
Three love songs arranged for solo piano:
Augusta Holmès (arr. McHale): Évocation d’Amour
Clara Schumann (arr. McHale): Sie Liebten Sich Beide op.13 no.2
Liszt/Schumann:Liebeslied “Widmung” S.566
Philip Hammond: …this hour of quiet…
Missy Mazzoli: Heartbreaker
Franz Liszt: Ballade No.2 in B minor S.171
Presented by
Thursday 1st December 2022
The Calling of the Wild Geese
Irish and European Music c.1700
Róisín O’Grady Soprano
Siobhán Armstrong Italian baroque harp and early Irish harp
Cárthach MacCraith Sean-nós singer
The Large Room, City Hall | 7:30pm
England’s Williamite wars of the late 1600s spilled into Ireland, with the forces of the warring King James and William of Orange battling at the Boyne and Aughrim, and with two sieges of Limerick. The defeat of the Jacobite Irish in 1691 led to the exile of the earl of Lucan, Patrick Sarsfield, along with the rest of the Irish military force to continental Europe, where they lived and died fighting other nations’ battles. This programme presents the sound world of these so-called Wild Geese, in Ireland and Europe, around 1700.
Programme:
English composers include John Blow (1649-1708) and Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
French airs de cour by Etienne Moulinie (1599-1676) and Antoine Boesset (1586-1643)
Arias by Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) and Jean Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) performed by Roisin and Siobhan
Solo Irish harp repertoire will include a selection of songs and airs by Thomas and William Cannellon
Solo songs sung in sean-nós will come from the Irish poets of the 17th and 18th century: Tadgh Gaelach Ó Suilleabháin, Liam Dall Ó hIfearnáin and Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin as well as Dúnaire Osraíoch, a book on the songs commonly sung in Irish in Co. Kilkenny between c. 1750 and 1850, as a source.
Presented by
supported by
Friday 18th November 2022
Note: This performance received the Waterford News & Star Green Room Award 2023 in the Best Concert 2022 category
Christian-Pierre La Marca & Félicien Brut
Christian-Pierre La Marca cello
Félicien Brut accordion
The Large Room, City Hall | 7:30pm
Music Network’s November tour will complete the season with the boundary-crossing French virtuosi cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca and accordionist Félicien Brut. The tour showcases World Songs, a genre-busting programme spanning the Baroque to the modern day, including the premiere of a new Music Network commission, Winter Wisps Softly Dissipate, by Irish composer Judith Ring.
Both are distinguished soloists in their own right. Christian-Pierre La Marca won a Gramophone Award for his ‘Cello 360’ recording last year with a radiant presence on world concert and recording platforms. He is a regular guest at major international concert venues. His collaborators include such prestigious names as Itzhak Perlman, Renaud Capuçon, Lise de la Salle, Philippe Jaroussky, Roberto Alagna and Bernarda Fink. Much in demand as a soloist, he has performed with leading orchestras, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestra National de France and Les Siècles.
Accordionist Félicien Brut has established himself as a leading innovator and musical collaborator among the new generation of French musicians. Following his success at international competitions, The Klingenthal Competition (Germany), The Castel Midardo Competition (Italy) le Trophée Mondial d’Accordéon (Russia) which confirmed his reputation as an international artist of note, he has performed with leading orchestras and formed musical partnerships with guitarist Thibaut Garcia and trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin-Vary. Félicien’s latest album was released in October 2022 by Warner Classics / Erato, which saw him become the first accordionist to record for this label.
Nothing is as captivating as the sound of a cello and an accordion together. In the hands of this stunning duo, these highly complementary instruments produce a delightful and ever-varying tapestry of sound. La Marca and Brut have chosen a diverse programme for their Music Network tour – from baroque masterpieces to frenzied South American rhythms; they travel the globe finding roots in the most eclectic scholarly and popular cultures. Two French virtuosos of the new generation are not to be missed!
Programme:
World Songs
Jean-Phillippe Rameau (1683–1764) ‘Les Sauvages’, Les Indes Galantes (arr. La Marca/Brut)
J.S. Bach (1685–1750) Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Major, BWV 1027, mov. 3 &4
Frédéric Chopin (1810–49) Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, no. 4 (arr. Domi Emorine)
Marin Marais (1656–1728) La Folia for cello solo
Judith Ring (b. 1976) Winter Wisps Softly Dissipate (Music Network Commission)
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–75) Adagio from Le Clair Ruisseau, Op. 39
David Popper (1843–1913) Hungarian Rhapsody, Op. 68
INTERVAL
Astor Piazolla (1921–92) Maria de Buenos Aires – extracts (arr. Jérôme Ducros and Domi Emorine)
Ariel Ramirez (1921–2010) Alfonsina y el mar (arr. Domi Emorine)
Franck Angélis (b. 1962) Impasse - extracts
Tony Murena (1917–70) & Jacques Brel (1929–78) Passion (Murena) – Indifférence (Murena) – Vesoul (Brel)
Richard Galliano (b. 1950) Tango pour Claude
“Christian-Pierre La Marca is a master of his instrument…and a musician of lyrical elegance” (Gramophone Magazine)
“Félicien Brut’s sensitivity…was fascinating in its clarity, agility, and timbre” (Diapason Magazine)
“Tender and intelligent music that makes you want to dream as much as to dance” (France Info [on Brut])
“A wonderful nuanced performance with Schubert’s sparkling melodies shining through” (The Telegraph [on La Marca])
“Leaving the audience spiritually uplifted and crying for more” (The Herald [on La Marca])
“[A] new ambassador of the accordion in the classical world” (Le Figaro [on Brut])
Presented by
Wednesday 9th November 2022
The Large Room, City Hall | 7:30pm
Three of Ireland’s finest musicians present a programme of nostalgia and romance to warm the heart this November, including music by Brahms and Spohr and settings of Yeats and Joyce poetry.
Feelings of nostalgia and longing pervade the music for this attractive programme for clarinet, voice and piano which draws together three of Ireland’s most versatile and acclaimed musicians: Sharon Carty, mezzo-soprano, John Finucane, clarinet and Finghin Collins, piano. From the sensuous opening bars of Debussy’s Rhapsody to Mozart’s operatic fireworks, the programme also includes deeply passionate German songs by Brahms and Spohr and miraculous settings of Yeats and Joyce poems by Muriel Herbert and Rebecca Clarke. At the centre of the programme is “Music of the Hours”, a new work for clarinet and piano by Irish composer Anne-Marie O’Farrell which reflects on the experience of praying the monastic hours.
Programme:
Debussy: Première Rhapsodie (8’)
Poulenc: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (14’)
Brahms: Mainacht and Ewige Liebe (8’)
Brahms: Two Songs Op. 91 (12’)
INTERVAL
Anne-Marie O’Farrell: Music of the Hours (5’)
M. Herbert / R. Clarke: Yeats / Joyce settings (15’)
Spohr: from Six German Songs: Nos. 1, 2, 5 (12’)
Mozart “Parto, parto” from “La Clemenza di Tito” (5’)
Presented by
Wednesday 19th Oct 2022
Pirosmani Quartet
Mairead Hickey violin
William Hagen violin
Georgy Kovalev viola
Aleksey Shadrin cello
The Large Room, City Hall | 7:30pm
Cork violinist Mairead Hickey leads a star-studded lineup of international musicians. Beethoven’s Op.18 No.3 was by some accounts his first string quartet and from its lyrical opening to its fleet-footed finale it carries the hallmarks of the master’s genius. We lost many of Brahms’ quartets through his obsessive self censorship, but this magnificent A minor quartet is one of the three masterpieces that escaped his fireplace. Sean Doherty’s fine ‘Night Piece’ was written for Mairead Hickey’s Ortus Festival in Cork in February 2020.
Programme:
Beethoven – Quartet in D major Op.18 No.3 [1798]
Sean Doherty – ‘Night Piece’ [2020]
Brahms – Quartet in A minor Op.51 No.2 [1873]
Presented by
Thursday 6th October 2022
Clara-Jumi Kang violin
Sunwook Kim piano
The Large Room, City Hall | 7:30pm
Once in a rare while, a special synergy between artists breathes new life into familiar repertoire, and the duo of Clara-Jumi Kang and Sunwook Kim is a perfect case in point. Garnering top laurels over the last decade—the Indianapolis, Seoul and Sendai International Competitions for Kang; Ettlingen, Clara Haskil and Leeds for Kim—the duo’s exquisite sense of phrasing and synchronised sensitivity are requisite ingredients for the violin sonata’s highly intimate format. The responsibility of creating a definitive recording of an entire oeuvre is substantial, and the special magic of these two virtuosi hasn’t gone unnoticed by the likes of Fanfare, who declared that “If you’re looking for a set of Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano that is well-nigh ideal, this one by Clara-Jumi Kang and Sunwook Kim is it”. Fresh from the recent release of this highly-acclaimed 4-CD compendium, the extraordinary duo showcases their outstanding musicianship in a programme of violin sonatas from the Romantic through to the present day: Beethoven, Respighi, Franck, and an exciting new Music Network commission entitled Duo by Irish composer John Buckley.
Programme:
Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major, Op. 12 No. 1
Ottorino Respighi: Sonata for Violin and Piano
John Buckley: Music Network commission (world première)
César Franck: Violin Sonata in A major
“Clara-Jumi Kang’s playing has constant poise” (The Strad)
“His technique and the extensive range of his tone colours allowed him to grasp every single nuance in the score with poise and natural ease” (The Guardian, on Sunwook Kim)
“I was immediately taken by the simplicity, directness, responsiveness, and communicativeness of Kang’s playing. It was like a breath of fresh air.” (Fanfare)
“Exceptional” (Pizzicato, on Kang & Kim’s 2021 Beethoven CD)
Clara-Jumi Kang: Sibelius, Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
Sunwook Kim: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann
Clara-Jumi Kang & Sunwook Kim: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major, Op. 12 No. 1: I. Allegro con brio
Presented by
Wednesday 6th April 2022
Jennifer Stumm
Jennifer Stumm viola
If the violin is a pop star, full of sparkle and pyrotechnics, the viola is a jazz singer who speaks to your heart when it’s breaking, who whispers secrets, and tells lies. The viola might be called the middle child of the string family, often overlooked in favour of its more famous relatives the violin and cello. It’s a chameleon, a character actor, an instrument with imperfect acoustics and a spectrum of frequencies closest to the human voice. Composers throughout history have been drawn to its unique ability to convey deep expression, often writing their late (or their last) works for viola.
Weaving together music and spoken word on her 16th century viola, Stumm will perform pieces ranging from Bach all the way to Sting, as well as a new Music Network commission by Irish composer Jonathan Nangle. In this mix of talk and performance, the acclaimed violist tells a musical story of how imperfection can be the very thing that gives us our voice.
Known for the seductive power and “opal-like beauty” (Washington Post) of her sound, violist and director Jennifer Stumm has appeared on many of the world’s great stages. An enthusiastic speaker and writer, Jennifer recently spoke at NASA about how the arts can help innovate towards a better world, and her viral TEDx talk about the viola and the blessings of being different, An Imperfect Instrument, was named editor’s pick of all TED talks and led to a solo debut at the Berlin Philharmonie. Jennifer has created a special solo version of An Imperfect Instrument for this Music Network tour.
As part of Music Network’s commitment to making live music accessible to people of all ages throughout Ireland, Stumm will lead a series of music workshops for viola players in school and community settings throughout this tour. Complementing this, Irish-based musicians Ingrid Nicola, Diane Daly and Anita Vedres will deliver additional workshops for secondary school students. The workshops will focus on the history of the viola and illuminate aspects of the music that students will hear when they attend the concert.
“An immaculate player, with unimpeachable accuracy and clarity” The Strad
“As played by Jennifer Stumm, the instrument truly shines” The Guardian
“Remarkably refined, yet with a wide expressive range” Gramophone Magazine
Presented by
Thursday 10th March 2022
Amy Dickson, Sonoko Miriam Welde & Simon Mulligan
Amy Dickson saxophones
Sonoko Miriam Welde violin
Simon Mulligan piano
Performing together for the first time on this Music Network tour, this trio of extraordinary musicians has selected a programme which showcases both their virtuosity and ability to creatively adapt much-loved music to their unusual combination of instruments.
Incorporating elements of folk and popular music from around the world, their performances will include Gershwin’s jazz-infused Rhapsody in Blue, Ravel’s famous Bolero, and Amy Dickson’s gorgeous transcription of Philip Glass’s shimmering violin sonata, alongside a new Music Network commission by Ronan Guilfoyle.
Listen and enjoy, as metal, wood and string alchemize in the hands of these highly accomplished musicians, to produce an extraordinary musical soundscape of breath-taking beauty.
Programme
Poulenc L’Invitation au Château
Defontaine Couleurs d’un Rêve
Milhaud Scaramouche
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue (arr. Simon Mulligan)
Ronan Guilfoyle – A new Music Network commission
Debussy Violin Sonata in G Minor
Philip Glass Sonata for Violin and Piano, 3rd Movement (transcr. Amy Dickson)
Ravel Bolero (arr. Simon Mulligan)
“Amy Dickson is not just an outstanding saxophonist, she’s a musician full of curiosity to explore the full potential of her instrument – thoroughly recommended.” David Mellor – Classic FM
“One of the finest pianists I have ever had the pleasure of performing with.” Yehudi Menuhin [on Simon Mulligan]
“She has a sound that is both touching and fascinating.” RESM Leif Ove Andsnes & the Equinor Scholarship jury [on Sonoko Miriam Welde]
Presented by
Thursday 17th February 2022
Sharon Carty & Una Hunt
Sharon Carty mezzo-soprano
Una Hunt piano
Pianist Úna Hunt teams up with Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty to take a less travelled road and in their joint repertoire honour works of sung and unsung female composers, such as Joan Trimble and Cécile Chaminade. These wonder women musicians will finally present their programme, including some arias and piano pieces by William V. Wallace, in the Large Room of City Hall on 17th February 2022.
Una Hunt is one of Ireland’s leading pianists and has performed many concertos with Irish orchestras. Particularly noted for her work in rediscovering Irish composers she has curated and performed this repertoire in the USA (including Carnegie Hall) and Russia. Una has released 14 world-premiere recordings including the CD to the rare Album 1854 by Waterford-born composer, William Vincent Wallace – excerpts of which will be performed at the concert. Her Thomas Moore Songbook has been recently published by Carysfort Press/Peter Lang (Dec 2021) with download tracks on Apple Music and Spotify.
In 2019, Una produced the first modern performance of Stanford’s Veiled Prophet opera for Wexford Festival Opera and in June 2022, she will produce Wallace’s sumptuous opera, Lurline, at the National Concert Hall with the National Symphony Orchestra.
Sharon Carty is an alumna of the RIAM Dublin, MDW Vienna, and the Oper Frankfurt Young Artists programme. Her opera repertoire includes many of the important roles for lyric coloratura mezzo-soprano. In demand on the concert platform across Europe, she is also a dedicated recitalist, appearing regularly with Jonathan Ware and Finghin Collins.
Recent opera performances have seen her at Irish National Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Wexford Festival Opera and the Festival di due mondi, Spoleto.
Recordings include Gilbert & Cellier’s comic opera The Mountebanks with the BBC Concert Orchestra, and La Traviata on DVD with the NDR Radiophilhamonie alongside Thomas Hampson and Marina Rebeka. A disc of Schubert songs was released in May 2020 with Jonathan Ware.
“…what made this recital special was the way this partnership captured the inner aspects of the songs… Adjectives seem inadequate for such focused, intelligent artistry.” The Irish Times
Programme
William Vincent Wallace (1812-1865)
The Night Winds, nocturne (from the opera, Lurline)
A mon etoile
William Vincent Wallace songs – The Seasons (H. C. Watson)
William Vincent Wallace – piano solo
The Minstrel Boy and Rory O’More
Melodie Irlandaise (Cuishlih ma chree)
William Vincent Wallace – songs and arias (H. C. Watson/Lurline/Maritana)
short interval
Two Songs of the Sea
Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979)
The Seal Man (John Masefield)
Joan Trimble
My Grief on the Sea (Douglas Hyde)
Hope Temple (Alice Maud Davis) – The Mélodie
Cécile Chaminade – Mélodies
Presented by
Wednesday 9th February 2022
WIRES, STRINGS & OTHER THINGS
A new music show for Ages 6+ composed by Brian Irvine and directed by Wouter Van Looy
Meet Ed, Andreea and James, three totally different people with one thing in common – they are crazy about music and sound.
Ed can usually be found in a corner, building unusual electronic instruments, tinkering with his own world of sound. Andreea plays the viola beautifully and reads complicated sheets of music as if they were fairy tales. And James? Well, James wanders a labyrinth of sound like an explorer, connecting and disrupting with his bass clarinet as he goes.
Anything can happen as they find each other and start to invent music together. What stories will they share when, with your help, they explore the magic and mystery of how to compose, perform and improvise?
WIRES, STRINGS & OTHER THINGS is a music performance that encourages you to always be curious. To listen, respond to and communicate through the sounds, music and stories that are all around you – wherever you are and whoever you are with.
Credits:
Commissioned and Produced by: The Ark and Music Network
Composer & Musical Director: Brian Irvine
Director: Wouter Van Looy
Performers: Andreea Banciu (viola), James Allsopp (bass clarinet), Ed Devane (electronic instruments)
Stage & Costume Design: Alyson Cummins
Video Design: Erato Tzavara
Lighting Design: Sarah Jane Shiels
Supported by: the Arts Council, with project funding from Creative Europe. Additional support from
Onassis Stegi.
Friday 28th Jan 2022
Michael McHale with The Vanbrugh (Piano Quartet)
THE VANBRUGH
Keith Pascoe, violin – Simon Aspell, viola – Christopher Marwood, cello
The Vanbrugh has evolved from the work of the legendary Vanbrugh Quartet. Over three decades the quartet gave close to three thousand concerts, presenting the chamber music repertoire to audiences throughout Ireland, Europe, the Americas and the Far East. Commercial recordings include more than thirty CDs of repertoire, ranging from the complete Beethoven quartets to many contemporary Irish works. In 2016 the group was presented with the National Concert Hall’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their contribution to music in Ireland.
MICHAEL MCHALE, piano
Belfast-born Michael McHale has established himself as one of Ireland’s leading pianists and has developed a busy international career as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. He has performed and recorded as a soloist with the Minnesota and Hallé Orchestras, the Moscow, Bournemouth, Jacksonville, Fort Smith, BBC and London Symphony Orchestras, City of London Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and all five of the major Irish orchestras, and performed at the Tanglewood, BBC Proms and Tokyo Spring Festivals, Wigmore Hall, London, Berlin Konzerthaus, Lincoln Center, New York, Symphony Hall, Boston and Pesti Vigadó in Budapest.
Winner of the Terence Judd/Hallé Award in 2009, Michael was also awarded the Brennan and Field Prizes at the 2006 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition, the 2005 Camerata Ireland/Accenture Award, and in 2016 a Major Individual Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. He studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music, and his teachers and mentors include John O’Conor, Réamonn Keary, Christopher Elton, Ronan O’Hora and Barry Douglas.
Michael collaborates regularly with Sir James Galway, Michael Collins, Patricia Rozario, Dame Felicity Lott, Wigmore Soloists and Camerata Pacifica.
Programme
Linda Buckley – ‘Solas na Gealaí’ for solo piano
Beethoven – Piano Sonata No.14 ‘Moonlight’
Jean Francaix – String Trio
Two songs arranged for piano quartet by Michael McHale
Clara Schumann – ‘Die Gute Nacht’
Clara Schumann – ‘Der Mond Kommt Still Gegangen’
Short interval
Brahms – Piano quartet in G minor Op.25
Presented by
Friday 26th November 2021
Navarra Quartet
Benjamin Marquise Gilmore violin
Laia Braun violin
Sascha Bota viola
Brian O’Kane cello
The Navarra Quartet are among the leading quartets on the world stage and they join us this autumn with a wonderfully varied programme including a lovely work by Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans, Jane O’Leary’s atmospheric ‘The Passing Sound of Forever’, Bartok’s electrifying third quartet and Dvořák’s magnificent and rarely heard G major quartet.
Programme
Henriëtte Bosmans – Quartet
Jane O’Leary – ‘The Passing Sound of Forever’
Bartok – Quartet No.3
Dvořák – Quartet in G major Op.106
Presented by
Thursday 18th November 2021
Tamsin Waley-Cohen violin
George Fu piano
Bringing intelligence and sensitivity to anything they tackle, this charismatic violin and piano duo have a passion for discovering new music and reinvigorating the old.
Widely praised for her expressive and strikingly individual performances, Tamsin Waley-Cohen has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in many of the world’s great concert halls. An adventurous and prolific recording artist, her recent recording of Beethoven Violin Sonatas on the Signum Classics label has received widespread critical acclaim.
Described by the Boston Music Intelligencer as a “heroic piano soloist” with “stunning virtuosity”, American pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu has established an international reputation as a captivating musician with distinctive intelligence and sensitivity. Passionate about the creation of new work, he is also a composer and an avid performer of contemporary music.
This phenomenal duo will present a programme that includes the F-A-E Sonata, uniquely co-authored by three great 19th century composers, Stravinsky’s exquisite Duo Concertant, Beethoven’s much loved ‘Kreutzer’ sonata and Release, a Music Network commission written by New York-based Irish composer Finola Merivale.
*Please, note these musicians will deliver the programme instead of the previously advertised line-up with Alena Baeva (violin) and Katia Skanavi (piano)
Albert Dietrich, Johannes Brahms & Robert Schumann F-A-E Sonata
Igor Stravinsky Duo Concertant (for Violin & Piano)
Finola Merivale Release (Music Network Commission)
Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer’
“Waley-Cohen’s achievement of pure legato is wondrous and her sound is tinged with golden frailty” Gramophone
“A spiritually intense expressivo reminiscent of Yehudi Munuhin in his prime”
The Strad
“Her sense of line and capacity to make things happen are both beautiful and strikingly individual”
BBC Music Magazine
“George Xiaoyuan Fu impressively navigated the fierce demands of Messiaen’s ecstatically-charged piano writing”
“The piano soloist was constantly in motion, fingers flying and playing with amazing skill.”
Times-Union
Presented by
Thursday 14th October 2021
Mairéad Hickey violin
Agnès Clément harp
A captivating new duo featuring the celebrated Irish violinist Mairéad Hickey and the acclaimed French harpist Agnès Clément.
Like coffee and cake, fish and chips or Fred and Ginger, some pairings just can’t be topped. The exquisite combination of violin and harp is most definitely a match made in heaven, and no more so than in this new Music Network collaboration between Irish violinist Mairéad Hickey and French harpist Agnès Clément.
Celebrated for her captivating expression, soaring tone and fearless virtuosity, Mairéad Hickey’s natural ability to communicate sincerely, and with beauty and integrity has entranced audiences worldwide. Agnès Clément is recognised as a musician of exceptional talent whose astonishing virtuosity alongside an ability to deliver performances brimming with full-blooded passion has won her widespread acclaim.
Featuring a beautiful selection of music by Bach, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Viardot, Renié,
Spohr (the inventor of the violin chin rest no less!) and a brand new Music Network commission by John McLachlan, their programme will delight and enthral music lovers around the country.
Composer John McLachlan will present a Composer Insight Session during the final concert of the tour at Station House Theatre, Clifden on 16 October.
Please note that Agnès Clément replaces Anaïs Gaudemard on this tour, in a change to the previously-advertised line-up.
Louis Spohr Sonata Concertante in E-flat Major for violin and harp, Op.113 no.4
Johann Sebastian Bach Andante and Allegro from Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003
John McLachlan Phoenix (New Music Network Commission)
Luigi Maurizio Tedeschi Elegia Op.22
Interval
Henriette Renié Légende d’après les Elfes de Leconte de Lisle
Pauline Viardot Haï Luli!
Jules Massenet Méditation de Thaïs
Camille Saint-Saëns Fantaisie in A Major, Op.124
“Hickey brought an amazing combination of gutsiness and ecstasy.”
Irish Times
“Virtuoso at the summit of her art” Agence France-Presse [on Clément]
Presented by
PAST ONLINE EVENTS 2021
Saturday 13th November, 2021
Waterford Music and Symphony Club of Waterford present a FREE live streamed concert from Christ Church Cathedral Waterford. Featuring the New Dublin Voices directed by Bernie Sherlock and Cathedral Organist – Simon Harden. The concert will honour and celebrate the late Eric Sweeney, who gave so much to the musical life of Waterford City.
Music by Eric Sweeney, J.S. Bach, Seán Doherty, Eoin Conway and Levente Gyöngyösi.
live stream from: waterford-music.org/livestream/
Presented by
UPCOMING EVENTS
Patrick Rafter violin
Fiachra Garvey piano
Violinist Patrick Rafter and pianist Fiachra Garvey join forces to present a stunning programme of music from France, Belgium and Ireland.
“I’ll get my coat!” cried Patrick Rafter when Maxim Vengerov phoned to invite him to study with him in Switzerland, and since then, Patrick’s diary has been stuffed with performance dates with some of the most prestigious orchestras and conductors in the world. Kilkenny born, he swapped his hurl for a bow, and his swift rise to being one of Ireland’s finest musicians is no surprise given his innate musicianship, his dazzling technique and his passion.
Fiachra Garvey is possessed of a maturity and profound understanding of his art, which when combined with his infectious enthusiasm for music-making, has already captivated audiences in concert halls across Europe and beyond. Patrick and Fiachra have planned a beautifully-ethereal programme, with works by Fauré, Franck and Ysaÿe presented alongside the world premiere of a new Music Network commission by Emma O’Halloran.
Along with this beautiful programme of music, viewers will hear from the musicians in interviews hosted by Music Network’s CEO Sharon Rollston, and composer Emma O’Halloran will introduce her new work in a short Composer Insight Session during the broadcast.
Individually, Patrick and Fiachra are stellar musicians who are making a significant mark on the international stage. Together, their performance on this digital tour promises to more than clear the very high bar that these young musicians have set for themselves.
Programme:
César Franck Sonata in A major
Emma O’Halloran To turn in Circles New Music Network Commission
Eugène Ysaÿe Poème élégiaque in D minor, Op. 12
Gabriel Fauré Après un rêve, Op. 7, No. 1
“Belonging amongst the greatest violinists… this is passionate, abandoned playing, full of excitement, risks and drama… a dangerously virtuosic ability which seems to feed off itself.”
– Alexander Bailie, RDS Music Festival on Rafter
“[Garvey] brings a deep and infectious enthusiasm, combined with insight and technical comfort.” –The Sunday Times
Watch Fiachra Garvey performing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
Watch Patrick Rafter and Maxim Vengerov perform Bach’s Double Concerto for two violins with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
Presented by
Music Network has announced its exciting new Spring/Summer digital touring programme, running from 12 May – 1 July 2021. The programme, which Music Network is presenting in collaboration with Waterford Music among 14 partner promoters around Ireland, features a quartet of masterful cellists, awe-inspiring Americana and a spectacular performance by two of Ireland’s outstanding young classical musicians. Audiences can also look forward to two new Music Network commissions, artist interviews and composer insight sessions, all available to enjoy from home.
The series of three digital tours begins on 13th May with a new Music Network collaboration between four masterful cellists, William Butt, Rosalie Curlett, Martin Johnson and Ailbhe McDonagh. Guided by their collective musical influences, the cellists have crafted an inspirational and varied programme which celebrates the beauty of their instrument. Audiences can look forward to marvellous arrangements of works by Bach, Beethoven and Bartók, Mozart’s beautiful Ave Verum Corpus, a fiery exchange between two cellos in Barrière’s popular Sonata in G Major, Debussy’s uber-romantic Clair de Lune and Gershwin’s jazz-infused favourite ‘Summertime’. Contemporary music for this unusual combination is well catered for in Ailbhe McDonagh’s own Cellango and An Autumn Night’s Dream, a new Music Network commission by composer Conor Linehan.
As part of the classical tours, audiences can also enjoy interviews with the musicians, hosted by Music Network’s CEO Sharon Rollston, and composers Conor Linehan and Emma O’Halloran will introduce their new works with short Composer Insight Sessions.
Programme notes can be downloaded from: musicnetwork.ie/content/images/Music-Network_CelloQuartet_programme-notes.pdf
Tickets for Cello Quartet can be purchased on Theatre Royal’s website: theatreroyal.ie
Presented by
All live events commence at 7:30 pm and are held in the Large Room, City Hall, unless otherwise stated
Admission: (unless otherwise stated)
€17, Concession €15, Students €5 (Includes interval soft drink)
Tickets available at the door or online at eventbrite.ie
Our annual membership packages offer season tickets at considerable savings. Click here to learn more.
2019 CONCERTS
Thursday, 3 October 2019 (618th Concert)
Bangers and Crash Percussion Group
Click here to buy tickets online
Alex Petcu, percussion
Emma King, percussion
Brian Dungan, percussion
Cork-born percussionist Alex Petcu has put together a concert with a difference, collaborating with two other young and energetic virtuosos to cook up a menu of new music which will tickle tastebuds and defy expectations. Their appetite for exploring rhythmic influences from around the world – Flamenco, Afro-Cuban, Javanese gamelan – is healthy, hearty and irrepressible.
Tim Ouderits & Tom Ouderits: Surprise!
Alyssa Weinberg: Table Talk
Elliot Cole: Postlude No 8
Philip Glass: Madeira River
Steve Reich: Nagoya Marimbas
Steve Snowden: A Man with a Gun Lives Here
Alex Petcu: New Music Network Commission
Thierry de Mey: Musique de Table
Gene Koshinski: And So the Wind Blew
Presented by Music Network
W. F. Watt Memorial Concert
Thursday, 17 October 2019
Esposito Quartet
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Mia Cooper, violin
Anna Cashell, violin
Joachim Roewer, viola
William Butt, cello
The Esposito Quartet comprises four of Ireland’s most distinguished musicians, all with a wealth of experience as recital artists, orchestral leaders and teachers. They have been playing together as a quartet since 2010, naming it in honour of Michele Esposito, pianist, composer and RIAM professor.
John Field: Piano works arranged for Quartet by Sebastian Adams
Aleksandra Vrebalo: Pannonia Boundless – a tribute to Serbian Gypsy fiddlers
Sebastian Adams: New Commission
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6 Op. 80 – remembering Fanny Mendelssohn
National String Quartet Foundation Tour 
Friday, 1 November 2019
Two hundred years of Piano Music
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Finghin Collins, piano
Finghin Collins is one of Waterford Music’s favourite musicians and we welcome him back to commemorate his winning the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland in 1999. ( To learn more about Finghin Collins visit www.finghincollins.com) Collins reprises two important piano sonatas – Mozart’s ‘Alla Turca’, c. 1783 and one of Schubert’s famous three last sonatas written in 1828. He intersperses these with two short pieces he has been instrumental in commissioning for the New Ross Piano Festival, one each by Marian Ingoldsby and Philip Martin.
Mozart: Sonata in A major ‘Alla Turca’
Philip Martin: Ros Tapestry Suite No. 11b
Marian Ingoldsby: Ros Tapestry Suite No. 14
Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 959
Heinz Pollmeier Memorial Concert
Thursday, 21 November 2019
Ben Johnson (Tenor) & Sean Shibe (Classical Guitar)
VENUE: Edmund Rice Chapel, Mount Sion, Barrack Street
Click here to buy tickets online
Tickets also available at the door on the evening
Catch this world-class duo on their first visit to Ireland. Sean Shibe has taken the world by storm ever since winning the BBC New Generation award in 2012; he is a musician with an intelligence and wisdom far beyond his years. For this concert he joins up with Ben Johnson, one of the busiest young tenors in the chamber music and opera worlds, a multi-award winning recitalist and owner of one of the most beguiling voices around.
Songs by John Dowland, Philip Rosseter, Thomas Morley, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Mauro Giuliani, Brian Bolger (new commission), William Walton, together with a collection of folk songs and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suite in E minor, BWV996
Presented by Music Network
The Elizabeth Downey Memorial Concert
Thursday, 20 February 2020
Beethoven and the Romantics
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Michael McHale, piano
Pianist Michael McHale ( www.michaelmchale.com) has put together a beautiful programme especially for Waterford Music to celebrate the sestercentennial anniversary of the birth of the great Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). He will play two of Beethoven’s best known piano sonatas together with music by later Romantic composers, and two short traditional pieces that he himself has arranged and recorded.
Beethoven: Sonata in C# minor op.27 no.2 ‘Moonlight’
Chopin: Waltz, Mazurka and Ballade
Beethoven: Sonata in F minor op.57 ‘Appassionata’
John Field: Nocturne No.10 in E minor
Traditional (arr. McHale): My Lagan Love and Cailín Ó Cois tSuire Mé
Franz Liszt: Rigoletto: paraphrase de concert
Friday, 6 March 2020
The Saltarello Trio
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Garth Knox, Medieval fiddle, viola d’amore, viola
Sylvain Lemêtre, percussion
Agnès Vesterman, cello
In this concert the lively Saltarello trio capture the colours and textures of folk music to inform their witty arrangements, highlighting connections and similarities that exist between soundworlds of today and of hundreds of years ago. The trio’s gorgeous swirling string lines and tasty percussion open a new window on old music, proving that a good tune can speak easily to all of us, no matter what the language, no matter when the time.
Hildegard von Bingen: Ave Generosa
Guillaume de Machault: Tels rit au matin
Medieval Dances: (arr. Saltarello)
John Dowland: Flow my tears
Henry Purcell: Music for a while
Antonio Vivaldi: Largo and Presto from Concerto for viola d’amore in D minor, RDV 393
Marin Marais: Folies D’Espagne
Black Brittany: (traditional tunes, arr. Saltarello)
David Fennessy :3 Hofer Photographs for solo cello
Gérard Pesson: Tafelmusik for solo percussion
Garth Knox: Song from the sea for trio (to include a new Music Network commission)
Presented by Music Network