The Goo 1
Scene News CLIODHNA RYAN CLASSICAL With festival
season beginning, concert series launching their 2023/2024 programmes, and international artists touching down in the midst of their autumn touring schedules, there’s so much going on, I could have filled pages of this month’s edition. So please do check out the NCH website for the NSO season launch, and keep an eye on the Kaleidoscope and Hugh Lane Gallery socials for their September events. In this month’s column, my main focus is Dublin’s festivals. Let’s begin with a festival to celebrate the opening of Ireland’s only purpose-built chamber music hall at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Ireland’s newest cultural venue, The Whyte Hall, is opening with a lineup of worldclass musicians from Wigmore Hall’s 23/24 season, including pianists Mitsuko Uchida, Jonathan Biss and Sir Stephen Hough, The Schumann Quartet, and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. As well as concerts, audiences can attend masterclasses and Q&A sessions, where they can experience unparalleled access to these exceptional artists. The Wigmore Hall Festival begins on Tuesday 5th and continues until the 28th September . Thanks to sponsorship from Clinch Wealth Management, 100 free tickets are available for music students. Check out the RIAM website for the festival programme and ticket details. You can read my interview with Deborah Kelleher, Director of the RIAM, about the new hall on the opposite page. In a brief deviation from festival fare, let’s head out to The Pavilion in Dun Laoghaire for Flight, a moving and hilarious opera by Jonathan Dove. I have to declare an interest here; I’ll be performing in the orchestra and PAGE 36 Moving from August into September is one of the most exciting times in Dublin.. have been looking forward to this one for a long time. Based on the true story of an Iranian refugee stranded in Charles De Gaulle Airport for a year and a half and his encounters with a group of grounded travellers, it became an overnight success after its premiere in 1998. It’s presented by the awardwinning Opera Collective Ireland, directed by Stephen Metcalf, and conducted by Wyn Davies with the Irish Chamber Orchestra in the pit. Performances are at 7.30 pm on September 6th and 7th . Staying close to the coast, our next stop is the village of Monkstown, where each year a chamber music festival packs out the local church with audiences eager to hear some of the best performers in the world. This year’s festival, which is from Friday 8th Sunday 10th until September, includes masterclasses and a family event, as well as concerts. Performers include pianist Nathalia Milstein, violinist Maria Milstein, clarinettist John Finucane, the Vox Amicum Brass Quintet and the Piatti String Quartet. For traditional music lovers, Saturday’s concert with legendary piper Mick O’Brien, joined by his daughter Ciara Ni Bhriain on fiddle, is not to be missed. With concerts including deeply loved chamber works by Schubert, Ravel, Mozart, Dvorak and Prokofiev to name but a few, this festival weekend really is a jewel, with lots of exquisite musical offerings to choose from. Check out their website for all the details. Dublin Fringe Festival kicks off the same weekend, running from September 9th -24th . This year’s festival includes many musical adventures, including the world premiere of a new multi-media work by Jennifer ABIGAIL SMITH & LIOBA PETRIE Walshe. Oscailt was co-created with secondary school students and explores “growing up in a world mediated by technology”. It’s on for one night only at the Samuel Beckett Theatre on September 19th at 7.30 pm and will be performed by Jennifer Walshe, Elizabeth Hilliard, Nick Roth and Panos Ghikas. Also noteworthy is Permission Granted by Abigail Smith and Lioba Petrie at Dublin Castle on September 16th and 17th . Expect a journey into a soundscape, as audiences are invited to reflect on what may be holding them back creatively. You can participate by sending a voice or written note to the musicians, which will be used as source material. All you have to do is fill in the blank, ‘I give myself permission to...’. Keep an eye on their socials to get involved. Performances are at 2 pm and 8 pm. Let’s finish this month’s column with an exciting collaboration. One of Ireland’s most versatile ensembles, the RTE Concert Orchestra, will be joining the folk trio superstars Bonny Light Horsemen, in a performance of music from across their catalogue. Featuring new arrangements for orchestra by Bryce Dessner of The National, this concert is presented by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in partnership with Sounds from a Safe Harbour and Barbican (London). It’s definitely an exciting month in Dublin for lovers of live music. Call friends and family, set the date, get online, book those tickets, get out out there and enjoy!