Top names on bill for evening of Schubert

The final concert in Music for Galway’s 32nd season will feature music from one of the leading composers of the Romantic era, Franz Schubert. It will take place next Tuesday, April 23 in the Ballroom of Hotel Meyrick at 8pm. Bass-baritone Conor Biggs and Belgian pianist Michel Stas will present a selection of Schubert’s exquisite Lieder, while ConTempo Quartet will perform the beautiful Death and the Maiden quartet.

Dubliner Conor Biggs studied voice in Dublin and at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. He graduated with a degree in musicology from Trinity College, Dublin in 1982. Since 1992 he has lived in Belgium, where he is in demand as a soloist in oratorio, recital and operatic performances. He has sung the standard oratorio repertoire in Ireland, Britain, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium.

Conor Biggs has earned a reputation for his interpretation of art song. As well as releasing several CDs, he has made solo broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, RTE radio and television, Dutch television and Flemish and Walloon radio and television. He is a member of The Flemish Radio Choir and the Gregorian chant ensemble, Psallentes.

In May 2011 he began his epic Schubert song journey, Schubertreise, in which he will perform the complete songs of Franz Schubert over a 10-year period, accompanied by Belgian pianist Michel Stas.

Michel Stas graduated from the Royal Flemish Conservatoire in Antwerp, and was awarded a Masters in Performance from the Conservatoire of Tilburg. He has won several international piano competitions, notably in Rotterdam and Brussels. Michel Stas has worked with singers for almost 20 years, notably in lieder and vocal quartet recitals. He is director of the Academy of Music, Drama and Dance in Overijse, Belgium.

ConTempo String Quartet, Galway’s Quartet in Residence, was formed in 1995 in Romania. Recognised as one of the world’s top string quartets, ConTempo has won a record of 14 international prizes and performed more than 1,000 concerts all over the world, including Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Berliner Philarmoniker, Theatre Chatelet in Paris, Tel Aviv’s Opera House, Gedai Hall in Tokyo and Palazzo Quirinale in Rome.

The Quartet has participated in numerous television and radio broadcasts in England France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Romania and Ireland. Tickets €20/€16 (concession) / €6 (fulltime students) from tht.ie, Music for Galway 091 705962, or Opus 2, 4 High Street, Galway City.