Entertainment
Prestigious Romanian string quartet to perform at NUIG
Arts Week with Judy Murphy
The Arcadia String Quartet will perform at the Aula Maxima, NUI Galway on Wednesday next, November 27 as part of a tour of Ireland.
The Quartet, whose members hail from Romania, won first prize at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in 2012, an event recognised as being among the most prestigious of its kind in the world. This is the Arcadia Quartet’s first visit to Ireland.
Music for Galway had long had a tradition of inviting the winners of this triennial competition to a recital in their season. However with ever tighter budgets, bringing four people – plus a cello – into the country for just the one night had become more and more of a challenge.
So the organisation has teamed up with the Castleconnell Concert Series in Limerick, Music in Kilkenny and the Droichead Arts Centre in Drogheda as these groups were also looking for ways of bringing the best music to their audiences
“Collaborating in this way, pooling our resources has made it possible to give people across the country the opportunity to see these incredibly gifted young musicians; together we can handle the costs and they are delighted to have the opportunity to show their talents across Ireland. It has been a great experience to work in this way,” says Anna Lardi Fogarty, executive officer with Music for Galway.
The Arcadia Quartet is fast becoming one of Europe’s leading string quartets, having won a host of international prizes. In addition to the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, the Arcadia also won the Almere International Chamber Music Competition in 2011 and the International Chamber Music Competition Hamburg in 2009. Formed in 2005 while students at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Romania, the quartet has performed across the world and is rapidly establishing itself as one of the most exciting string quartets of its generation.
The programmes vary slightly for each venue but feature masterworks for string quartets by Haydn, Janáček, Beethoven and Debussy.
The Galway programme will feature Haydn’s Largo Quartet Op. 75 no. 5, Janáček’s Kreutzer Sonata, a work inspired by Tolstoy’s novella of the same name and one of Beethoven’s earliest string quartet, the Op. 18 no. 6.
Next Wednesday’s concert in the Aula will be at 8pm.Tickets cost €20/€16 (for MfG Friends & concession) or €6 (full time students)
Booking at Music for Galway 091 705962, tht.ie or or Opus 2, 4 High Street, Galway City.
Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.
The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.
It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.
People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.
The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.
The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.
Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.
It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.
The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023. Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.
Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.
Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.
On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.
Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.
For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.
Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.
This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.
This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as ‘language and movement at the same time’.
Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31. These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.
■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.
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