Music
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Past Music Events
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THE MACONCHY PROJECT
Supported by The Arts Council of Ireland and Music Network
The centenary year of Elizabeth Maconchy to be celebrated in a nationwide tour by young Irish ensemble, The Maconchy Project.
Nationwide Tour Commences: September 27th- October 16th
To celebrate the centenary of Anglo Irish composer, Elizabeth Maconchy and promote the Irish contemporary music scene, a young Irish ensemble, as recipients of the Music Network Touring and Performance Award and Arts Council Commissions award, will present six concerts in venues throughout the country in September and October.
Maconchy, a student of Ralph Vaughan Williams and a winner of several awards for her astonishingly large catalogue of compositions, was made a Dame of the British Empire 7 years after her death. She grew up near Dublin, where she had first musical instruction and, having moved to London to further her studies, married the Irish scholar, William LeFanu.
To mark the occasion of this important composer's contribution to the chamber music canon, the Maconchy Project, comprising clarinettist Bernadette Balfe, violinists, Lynda O' Connor, Nicole Hudson, violist Karen Dervan and cellist Lioba Petrie, will perform two works by the composer and premiere two newly commissioned pieces by prominent Irish composers, Jane O' Leary and Linda Buckley.
PROGRAMME DETAILS:
Elizabeth Maconchy: Sonatina for String Quartet
Jane O' Leary: Quintet for Clarinet and Strings
Linda Buckley: String Quartet No. 1
Elizabeth Maconchy: Quintet for Clarinet and Strings
NATIONWIDE TOUR:
Sept 27th, 6:30pm: Shaw Room, National Gallery of Ireland (Tickets: €5-€8, on door)
Sept 28th, 8pm: Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Co. Wicklow (Tickets €14-16, Booking (01) 2724030)
Oct 3rd, 1pm: Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny
(Supported by Kilkenny County Council, tickets €5, on door)
Oct 11th, 1pm: Aula Maxima, (First Floor) National University of Ireland Galway (Admission: Free)
Oct 12th, 1pm: Aula Maxima, National University of Ireland, Cork (Admission: Free)
Oct 16th, 8pm: Slatefort House, Bullaun, Loughrea, Co. Galway (Tickets: Music Matters, (090) 9675880)
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Camerata Ireland Residency in Kilkenny
Irish Chamber orchestra Camerata Ireland took up Kilkenny Residency 26 April - 11th May
Camerata Ireland, the island of Ireland chamber orchestra established by Belfast-born international pianist and conductor Barry Douglas in 1999, gave two concerts in Kilkenny on Monday 7th May and Friday 11th May as part of their 2007 Kilkenny Residency. The residency included visits to seven Kilkenny schools for 9 schools workshops, 1 open rehearsal and 3 coaching sessions for young instrumentalists
This Residency co-ordinated by Kilkenny County Council Arts Office, with the support of the Arts Council of Ireland, bears out their commitment to provide musical educational development and create partnerships both in the region and nationally. The Residency, in collaboration with Camerata Ireland, aims to create access for new audiences to, and appreciation for, classical music. The Residency is also part of Barry Douglas' commitment to fostering the talents of young players and encouraging greater participation in classical music throughout the island of Ireland. This Residency supports the orchestra's own annual Clandeboye Festival in August in Co Down, which holds a series of masterclasses for young players from north and south to select an overall winner who is given performance opportunities with the orchestra over the following year.
Camerata Ireland have recently performed at the Smithsonian Festival in the US Library of Congress in March 2007, the Théâtre des Champs Élysées in Paris and the Cadogan Hall (London) in November 2006. They opened the 10th Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw in April, and appeared at the Piano 2006 festival in Manchester in May 2006. They are due to appear at the Naantali International Music Festival in Finland and Music in Great Irish Houses, both in June 2006.
For more information contact
The Arts Office, John St, Kilkenny
By phone at (056) 7794138
By email: niamh.finn@kilkennycoco.ie
Web: www.kilkennycoco.ie
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Traditional Music Group Slide
"Slide successfully combined the qualities of Traditional Irish music with contemporary musical ideas," Dónal Lunny
Already described by the Irish Times as 'a powerhouse quartet of traditional musicians with attitude', the Irish traditional music group Slide featuring vocalists and multi-instrumentalists Daire Bracken, Éamonn de Barra, Mick Broderick, Aogán Lynch and Andrew Murray, hit the road on a special Music Network concert series in November 2006 and performed at The Parade Tower, Kilkenny.
Since their début performance in 2000, Slide has toured extensively from Scandinavia to Italy and from Estonia to Baltimore, and to festivals such as Beo 2003, Ireland to L'Orient, France, and Dranouter, Belgium. They have recorded two critically acclaimed albums The Flying Pig and Harmonic Motion. The group was named Best Newcomer 2001 by Irish Music Magazine and are former winners of Young Musicwide 2005 - Music Network's professional development award scheme for young musicians.
Daire Bracken (fiddle/guitar/vocals) began performing and touring at a young age with Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. He was an original member of Danú, has toured with the Niamh Parsons Band and Stockton's Wing, and has recorded a CD with box player David Munnelly and Gavin Ralston called "Swing".
Born in Dublin, Éamonn de Barra (piano/flute/bodhrán/whistle/vocals) comes from one of the most musical homes in Dublin, where his family has a long tradition of music par excellence. Éamonn won the Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award in 2000, and has toured in Europe, the USA, and Japan.
TG4 Young Musician of the Year 1999 Aogán Lynch (concertina/whistle/vocals) hails from Cork and was exposed to a wealth of music by his well-known Begley relations and has also performed with his father and immediate family in the Donachadh Lynch Band. He has recorded an album with fiddle player Michelle O'Brien and his cousin and guitarist Gavin Ralston.
One of the Brodericks of east Galway, Mick Broderick (bouzouki/mandolin/vocals) has performed extensively on the Dublin and European scene and has emerged as one of the most competent and innovative bouzouki players of his generation.
The former De Dannan lead man Andrew Murray (lead vocalist) was born on the island of island of Inishbofin, Co. Galway where from an early age he grew up listening to the islands musicians. Having toured in Asia of late Andrew has been touring extensively in Europe singing with The David Munnelly Band before singing and recording with Slide.
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Golden Melodies from Opera & Operetta - RTÉ Concert Orchestra
The RTÉ Concert Orchestra and its acclaimed Principal Conductor Laurent Wagner visited Kilkenny with a concert of Golden Melodies from Opera & Operetta in St Canice's Cathedral on Friday, 24 February 2006. Soprano Cara O'Sullivan and bass-baritone John Molloy will perform music that ranges from the beauty and passion of grand opera to the light-hearted gaiety of the world of operetta. This concert is for lovers of great music and great melodies, with something for all tastes from Carousel to 'Casta Diva'.
The acclaimed Irish soprano Cara O'Sullivan, praised on her immensely successful US début for her 'voice of steel and sparkle, [which] practically pulls you from your seat!', is joined by the rising young tenor John Molloy for arias and songs by Verdi, Mozart, Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Gilbert and Sullivan, Straus and more. Since his appointment as Principal Conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in autumn 2003, Laurent Wagner has appeared as guest conductor in opera houses and concert halls in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands, as well as Tokyo, Begin and São Paulo. Laurent Wagner's performances with the orchestra have attracted critical acclaim: 'setting new standards in Dublin' (The Irish Times); the orchestra 'is jumping with energy' (Sunday Business Post); and Wagner 'drew superb playing' (Sunday Tribune).
Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra has grown from a small studio-based recording group to become an exceptionally active 45-strong orchestra with a unique and vitally important role in Irish musical life. It now gives over 90 performances annually all over Ireland, and broadcasts regularly to large audiences nationally and further afield on both RTÉ radio and television. Its international profile has been strengthened by four US tours, a performance at Expo 2000 in Hanover in the presence of President Mary McAleese, seven Eurovision Song Contests and various commercial recordings, including Riverdance. The orchestra is unique in its output, performing small-scale classical repertoire and opera whilst also generating enormously successful light entertainment and family concerts and continuing its schools concerts through the Music in the Classroom series in association with The Irish Times.
