irish chamber orchestra annual brochure

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www.irishchamberorchestra.com

IRISHCHAMBER

ORCHESTRA

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The Irish Chamber Orchestra is a world-class orchestra, based in Ireland. It is renowned for its energy, unique sound and outstanding musicianship.Working with the celebrated Hungarian maestro musician, Gábor Tákacs Nagy (Principal Artistic Partner) and the virtuosic clarinet player, Jörg Widmann (Principal Guest Conductor/Artistic Partner), the Irish Chamber Orchestra consolidates its position as a force to be reckoned with on the international music scene. Under the leadership of Concertmaster Katherine Hunka, the orchestra is recognised as one of Ireland’s world-class cultural assets.

In the past the orchestra has toured with success across Europe, Australia, South Korea, China and most recently, the US. In October 2012 the ICO will perform in Cologne in October with virtuoso violinist Pekka Kuusisto (in association with Culture Ireland). Principal Guest Conductor Jörg Widmann conducts the ICO in Antwerp in November (De Singel concert series at Blauve Zaal). Plans are also underway for a performance at the Rheingau Musik Festival in July 2013 again with Widmann and a US tour with James Galway in October 2013.

The ICO continues its rich tradition of collaboration with leading international soloists in its 2012/13 season including, Jonathan Cohen, Sergeij Nakariakov and Isabelle Van Keulen. The orchestra has worked with some of the world’s finest musicians, and concerts with Gérard Korsten, Alison Balsom, Leon Fleisher and Steve Mackey have garnered critical acclaim. The orchestra has warm relationships with celebrated artists including Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough and Sinéad O’ Connor. The ICO excels in a diverse repertoire ranging from classical to modern day masterpieces and new commissions. Leading Irish composers who have worked with the orchestra include John Kinsella, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Bill Whelan and Elaine Agnew.

The Irish Chamber Orchestra advocates music as an instrument of social change, introducing children to music, creativity, innovation, understanding and openness, thus helping them to reach their full potential as individuals. Sing Out with Strings, the ICO’s popular flagship community engagement programme brings free music workshops and tuition to primary schools in Limerick’s Regeneration areas.

Koncert Master/Leader Violin Katherine Hunka

Violin 1Nicola SweeneyDiane DalyAnna Cashell Oonagh Keogh

It was inspired by El Sistema, a Venezuelan model of music education, which provides free instrumental and vocal tuition to children countrywide. The belief is that children living in socially and economically disadvantaged areas should not be restricted by circumstance. Using music as a strategic tool El Sistema has helped children develop valuable life skills, enabling them to become capable musicians and conscious citizens.El Sistema began with just 11 children, and 33 years later, reaches out to 300,000 children nationally. The ICO strives for similar success.

The Irish Chamber Orchestra is resident at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick and is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. It uniquely owns a custom built studio, which has been acoustically modelled, sharing the properties of some of the world’s finest concert halls, on campus at UL, Limerick. It comprises rehearsal/recording facilities, an instrument store and office accommodation for the ICO administrative team.

Violin IIAndre SwanepoelCliodhna RyanLouis RodenKenneth Rice

ViolaJoachim RoewerCian Ó’Dúill

Lisa GrosmanMark Coates Smith

CelloRudi de GrooteRichard AngelMichael O’Donnell

Double BassMalachy Robinson

OboeDaniel BatesMichael O’Donnell

HornJames PalmerStephen Nicholls

Board of Directors/ExecutiveMichael Buckley (Chair)Ann Marie Gill(Deputy Chair)Frank Casey(Hon. Life President)Joseph DundonMaurice Healy

Hugh MurrayStephen NolanJoachim Roewer

Chief Executive (Acting)Gerard Keenan

Friends/FinanceMargaret Kelly

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IRISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Press/MarketingCharlotte Eglington

Education OfficerKathleen Turner

InternDeirdre Cahill

Artistic AdvisorSonja Stein, Sonja Stein Company


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Since 2002 Katherine Hunka has been captivating audiences big and small throughout Ireland and beyond as Leader of the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

London born, Katherine studied with musician, educator and composer, Sheila Nelson performing as a young soloist with the City of London Sinfonia and the UK‘s National Youth Chamber Orchestra at prestigious venues including the Southbank Centre and Royal Albert Hall.

She continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Gyorgy Pauk and was Teaching Assistant at Indiana University with Mauricio Fuks. Her debut at London’s Wigmore Hall, with pianist Sophia Rahman, gained critical acclaim.

Commanding an impressive profile, Katherine was invited to become a member of The Academy of St. Martin

in the Fields and toured extensively with celebrated artists including Murray Perriah and Joshua Bell.

Katherine performed the world première of Britten’s re-discovered Double Concerto for Violin and Violist with Philip Dukes at the 1997 Aldeburgh Festival. She was a co-founder member of the Britten Ensemble, who performed

regularly at the Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh.

In 2002 Katherine was appointed Leader/Concertmaster of the Irish Chamber Orchestra where she has directed many concerts from the violin as well as performing as soloist across a wide repertoire. Along with the ICO, Katherine has always championed the music of Irish composers and over the years has premièred new works by Bill Whelan, John Kinsella, Míchael Ó Súilleabháin and Elaine Agnew. She has shared the concert platform with ICO guest artists, performing

Katherine hunKaconcertos with Marianna Sirbu, Nigel Kennedy, Anthony Marwood and Pekka Kuusisto among others.

Nationally, the orchestra hosts a series of concerts in its home city of Limerick as well as Dublin and other cities. Katherine has directed many of these performances alongside regional tours to every corner of the country. In addition she has made international appearances directing the ICO in distinguished concert halls across Europe and Asia including the Esplanade in Singapore and Berlin’s prestigious Konzerthaus.

She is a frequent performer at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival as a chamber musician and Leader/Concertmaster. With sparkling versatility, Katherine has performed everything from baroque to contemporary.

Playing to her versatility, Katherine is part of dynamic duo with Irish accordionist, Dermot Dunne. Together they have toured the length and breadth of Ireland and have recorded a CD Escualo. They have commissioned works by Irish and South American composers with funding from the Arts Council of

Ireland. Their ability to communicate, alongside an informal approach and delightful sense of musicality, ensures their popularity with audiences. The duo perform regularly at Kaleidoscope, an innovative chamber music series currently running in Dublin. In June of this year they performed as a trio with clarinettist Carol McGonnell at the festival of Great Music in Irish Houses.

Katherine has been a guest leader with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Royal National Scottish Orchestra and has performed solo concertos with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and RTE Concert Orchestra.

Katherine has been fiercely dedicated to music education. She regularly directs performances at the ICO Sing Out With Strings community education project running in three schools in Limerick city. She recently returned to teaching at the CIT Cork School of Music where she also directs students in chamber orchestra performances. She has also been a visiting professor at Indiana University USA

She plays a Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin 1874.

Leader/ConCertmaster

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“This demonstrated the gorgeous string tone and attentive listening that marks the ICO’s playing under Katherine Hunka’s inspirational leadership”The Irish Examiner

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GáborTakács-NaGyGábor Takács-Nagy was born in Budapest where he began to learn the violin at the age of 8.

From 1975 to 1992, he was a founder member and leader of the renowned Takács Quartet, with whom he performed with many of the world’s most celebrated musicians and made many recordings for Decca and Hungaroton.

He was awarded the Liszt Prize in 1982. After leaving the quartet in 1992 he founded the Takács Piano Trio in 1996.

In 2008 he formed the Mikrokosmos String Quartet with Zoltán Tuska, Sándor Papp and Miklós Perényi, with whom he recorded the complete Bartók string quartets.

In 2001, Gábor Takács-Nagy began to concentrate on conducting as his principal activity and has already

established a considerable reputation in this role.

He became Music Director of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in 2007 and was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of both the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra and the MAV Symphony Orchestra in Budapest in 2008. His own string orchestra, the Camerata Bellerive (which he set up in 2005) is orchestra-in-residence at Geneva’s annual Festival de Bellerive, of which he is also artistic director.

In 2011 he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Following the announcement of this appointment Iván Fischer commented: “There are many

conductors in the world who can get orchestras to play together but there are very few who can profoundly inspire. Gábor Takács-Nagy is one of them.”

Gábor Takács-Nagy is also a dedicated and highly sought-after teacher. He is Professor of String Quartet at the Geneva Conservatoire and regularly gives masterclasses at leading academies and conservatoires throughout the world.

He is also a tutor with the European Chamber Music Academy and was recently appointed to an International Chair in Chamber Music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

PrinCiPaL artistiC Partner

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I have conducted the ICO many times in the last few years and it is always a refreshing experience for me. Their love of what they are doing always gives a heart-lifting and electrifying concert-experience. They are a diamond in the cultural life of Ireland!”Gábor Tákacs-Nagy


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Jörg Widmann

the age of eleven and subsequently continued his studies with Wilfried Hiller and Hans Werner Henze (1994-1996) and later Heiner Goebbels and Wolfgang Rihm in Karlsruhe (1997-1999). Widmann’s great passion as a clarinettist is chamber music and he regularly performs with partners such as Tabea Zimmermann, Heinz Holliger, András Schiff, Kim Kashkashian, and Hélène Grimaud. He has also achieved great success as a soloist in orchestral concerts in Germany and abroad. Several works have been dedicated to Widmann by fellow composers: in 1999, he performed the premiere of Music for Clarinet and Orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm in the musica viva concert series; in 2006, he performed Cantus by Aribert Reimann with the WDR symphony orchestra, and in 2009, at the Lucerne Festival, the world premiere of Rechant by Heinz Holliger. In 2001, Jörg Widmann was appointed as the successor to Dieter Klöcker as professor of clarinet at the Freiburg Staatliche Hochschule für Musik where he also took up the post of professor of composition in 2009.

It is the string quartets which form the core of Widmann’s oeuvre: String Quartet No. I (1997), followed

by Choralquartett (2003/2006) and Jagdquartett which was premiered by the Arditti Quartet in 2003. This series was completed in 2005 by String Quartet No. 4 (first performance given by the Vogler Quartet) and Quartet No 5 with soprano, Versuch über die Fuge Attempt at a Fugue, premiered by Juliane Banse and the Artemis Quartet. The five string quartets are intended as a large cycle, with each individual work following a traditional form of setting.

Widmann has composed a trilogy of works for large orchestra on the transformation of vocal forms for instrumental forces consisting of the compositions Lied (2003/2007), Chor (2004) and Messe (2005). In 2007, Christian Tetzlaff and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie gave the premiere of Widmann’s first Violin Concerto. The same year, Pierre Boulez and the Vienna Philharmonic gave the first performance of Armonica for orchestra: Widmann combines the heavenly tonal colours of a glass harmonica above the orchestra to produce a homogeneously breathing body of sounds and sound effects. This was followed by Con brio, an homage to Beethoven, performed for the first time by the Bavarian Radio Symphony

Orchestra under the direction of Mariss Jansons.

Two music-theatre projects prove Widmann to be an outstanding composer for the stage: the opera Das Gesicht im Spiegel was chosen by the German magazine Opernwelt as the most significant first performance of the season 2003/04. Am Anfang (2009) is the result of a unique kind of collaboration between a visual artist and a composer; Widmann created the work together with Anselm Kiefer and conducted the world premiere on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Opéra Bastille in Paris.

Jörg Widmann has received numerous prizes for his compositions: the Belmont Prize for contemporary music from the Forberg-Schneider Foundation (1998), the Schneider-Schott Music Prize, the Paul Hindemith Prize (both in 2002), the Encouragement Award from the Ernst-von-Siemens Music Foundation, the Achievement Award from the Munich Opera Festival (both in 2003) as well as the Arnold Schönberg Prize (2004). In 2006, Widmann received the Composition Prize from the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und

Freiburg as well as the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize from the Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin and a full member of the Bavarian Academy of the Fine Arts, the Free Academy of the Arts in Hamburg and the German Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was composer-in-residence of the Berlin German Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna Konzerthaus.

“Volatile, energised and expressive” The Guardian (London)

Jörg Widmann was born in Munich on 19 June 1973. He studied the clarinet at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich with Gerd Starke and later with Charles Neidich at the Juilliard School in New York (1994-1995). He additionally began to take composition lessons with Kay Westermann at

PrinCiPaL Guest ConduCtor/ artistiC Partner

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September2012FINN FOLK & BAROQUE

Irish Chamber Orchestra

PEkkA kuuSISTODirector/Violin

kATHERInE HunkA Violin

MIllA VIljAMAA Harmonium

Einojuhani RautavaaraPelimannit (The Fiddlers) Op. 1Interspersed with 17th- century dance tunes by Samuel Rinda-Nickola

BachViolin Concerto No. 2 in E BWV 1042

BachConcerto for Two Violins BWV 1043

BartókDivertimento

Finnish firebrand Pekka Kuusisto has a passion for breaking barriers and is one of the most versatile of virtuoso violinists. He has an intuitive grasp of what makes music engaging and elicits the very best from the Irish Chamber Orchestra, with an enthusiasm that is electric.

Einojuhani’s suite, The Fiddlers, is based on old traditional tunes and Pekka uniquely intersperses original 17th century Finnish tunes with movements. Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in E, BWV1042, leaps to life in this sparkling performance, with delightful interplay between violin and harmonium

played by Milla Viljamaa. Katherine Hunka joins Pekka for one of Bach’s most celebrated works - his Concerto for Two Violins in D minor BWV 1043 has irresistible appeal. Bartók’s Divertimento, with its gypsy rhythms, is infused with Kuusisto’s quirky style where he encourages his players to take risks in expanding their palette of sounds.

LImERIcKUniversity Concert HallThursday 27 September 8pm (061) 331549www.uch.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

DUBLIN RDS Concert HallSaturday 29 September 8pm(0818) 719 300www.ticketmaster.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

cOLOgNE Kölner Philharmonie Sunday 7 October 4pm00-49 221 280280www.koelner-philharmonie.de€32 - €10

There was no gainsaying the skill and commitment with which it was all done, Kuusisto’s obedient servants all the way”The Irish Times

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OCTOBER 2012

mINImALISm & mELODY


kATHERInE HunkA Director/Violin

Philip GlassSymphony No. 3

SchubertRondo in A for Violin and Strings D. 438

Linda BuckleyFall Approaches

DvorákSerenade in E major for Strings, Op 22

Iconoclast Philip Glass celebrated his 75th birthday this year. His work is frequently characterised by repetitive and minimalistic structures and his Symphony No. 3 is exhilarating. Glass says that “all 19 players have been woven into the music” in a work which treats each performer as a soloist, making it very appropriate for the ICO. Schubert’s sublime Rondo in A for Violin and Strings D. 438 is fresh, ardently lyrical and lovable and based on a playful theme, it is light and virtuosic in the extreme for Katherine Hunka. Kinsale-born composer Linda Buckley’s Fall Approaches was inspired by evocative Icelandic poetry, steeped in beautiful melancholy, isolation and splendid landscapes. Dvorák composed his joyful and much-loved Serenade in E major for Strings, Op. 22 in less than two weeks and it remains one of his most popular works.

gALwAYSeapoint Leisure Centre, SalthillWednesday 17 October 8pm (Music for Galway)(091) 705962 or Opus 2, High Streetwww.tht.ie€20 ,€16 conc, €6 students

LImERcK University Concert HallThursday 18 October 8pm(061) 331549www.uch.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

SLIgOCanis Major, Clarion HotelFriday 19 October 8pm (Con Brio Sligo Music Association)(071) 9161518www.hawkswell.com€20

KELLS Headfort HouseSaturday 20 October 7.15pm(01) 2933060€75(Concert/Supper) in aid of Orbis Ireland

mALLOw St James’s ChurchThursday 25 October 8pm(Mallow Chamber of Commerce)(061) 331549www.uch.ie€18, €15

LISTOwELSt. Johns TheatreFriday 26 October 8pm (068) 22566www.stjohnstheatre.com€20

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The orchestra, directed from the violin by leader Katherine Hunka… were in fine form. The ICO gave it a performance of typically energetic chutzpah”The Irish Times

November2012wUNDERKIND


jöRg WIdMAnn Principal Guest Conductor /Clarinet

MendelssohnSinfonia No. 1, C major

WeberClarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op. 34, J182 arr. for String Orchestra

Widmann180 Beats Per Minute for String Sextet

MozartSymphony No. 41, C major Jupiter

Mendelssohn’s extraordinary precocity is nowhere more evident than in his early Sinfonias, where the range of invention far exceeds what might be expected even of so prodigiously talented a boy. He was eleven years old when he completed his first Sinfonia and is often compared to Mozart, the other wunderkind. His Jupiter, with its Olympian character, has the greatest of all Mozart’s symphonic finales. Between these two great works we feature the exciting sounds of Jörg Widmann, Principal Guest Conductor, clarinettist and composer. Ever-versatile, he performs Weber’s dramatic Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op. 34, J182, written by another 25-year-old wunderkind, and showcases one of his own eclectic compositions, 180 Beats Per Minute for String Sextet.

LImERIcKUniversity Concert HallThursday 22 November 8pm (061) 331549www.uch.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

wATERFORD Christ Church CathedralFriday 23 November 8pm(Waterford Music)www.waterford-music.org€15, €5 students

The audience was soon basking in the radiant glow of Widmann’s musical

brilliance… Widmann’s daring and intriguing choice deserves credit as does

the sharp and energetic performanceof his orchestra”

Sunday Business Post

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dECEMBER 2012cHRISTmAS IN ITALY


JONATHAN cOHENConducter

Irish Youth Chamber Choir

ICO Chorus & Soloists

VivaldiKyrie RV 587

HändelConcerto grosso op. 6, Nr. 3 E

HaydnSymphony No. 26 in D Minor (Weihnachtssymphonie ) Lamentatione

CorelliConcerto Grosso Op. 6, Nr. 8 Christmas Concerto

HändelDixit Dominus

Conductor Jonathan Cohen is a rising star and returns to work with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the ICO Chorus and for a first collaboration with the Irish Youth Chamber Choir. A festive baroque programme combines the choral elements with orchestra and is infused with a taste of Italy. It bears an obvious religious theme in the spirit of Christmas. As with the mass, Vivaldi’s celebrated Kyrie RV587 opens the choral festivities. Händel was inspired by Italian stars Vivaldi and Corelli and his choral explosion into genius, Dixit Dominus written in true Italian style, features alongside his Opus 6 concerto which was modeled on the concerti Op.6, of Corelli, who’s popular Christmas Concerto also features. Haydn too had a strong affinity to Italy and his Symphony No. 26 in D minor Lamentation was once entitled Weihnachts

Symphonie (Christmas), giving rise to the false supposition that it had a final Christmas pastoral movement. The title Lamentatione has more justification as evidence suggests that the symphony is based on the liturgical singing of the Passion of Christ, an Easter celebration. It is included due to its festive appeal.

LImERIcK University Concert HallThursday 13 December 8pm(061) 331549www.uch.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

The relatively young conductor Jonathan Cohen is an early music specialist. His approach was heard in his clear and direct tonal language. The dynamic nuances and precise playing gave the performance depth and colour… the performance grew into true musical enjoyment.”Friesch Dagblad

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February2013wUNDERKIND


gáBOR TákACS nAgy Principal Artistic Partner/Conductor

MozartSymphony No. 15 KV 124

HaydnSymphony No. 44 in E minor Trauer-Symphonie

INTERVAL

Rodion ShchedrinCarmen Suite after Bizet

Gábor Takács Nagy has worked with the ICO over many years but this concert marks his first collaborative performance as newly appointed Principal Artistic Partner. A powerful symphonic sound includes Mozart’s youthful Symphony No 15 KV 124 written in his formative years. With energy evident from the beginning, there is a refined simplicity which is addictive. Mozart admired the work of Haydn, especially his 44th symphony which is perhaps his crowning achievement. The Mourning Symphony was so called not because it is so sad but because Haydn loved it so much that he wanted it to be performed at his own funeral.

Gábor Tákacs Nagy has a warm relationship with Russian composer

LImERIcKUniversity Concert HallThursday 21 February 8pm (061) 331549www.uch.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

DUBLIN RDS Concert Hall DublinSaturday 23 February 8pm0818 719 300www.ticketmaster.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

Edge of the seat excitement was the atmosphere that conductor, Gábor Tákacs-Nagy and the ICO created in the orchestra’s first concert of 2012”…He drew such a brilliantly differentiated palette of colours and dynamics from the players that the excitement never let up”The Irish Examiner

Rodion Shchedrin having previously conducted his best known work, Carmen Suite after Bizet. This suite is a fantastic mix of all the familiar tunes dressed up in a way Bizet would never have imagined. Written for his wife, Maya Plisetskaya, Shchedrin has put his own hallmark on the music by scoring the suite for strings and percussion, forcing him to find inventive new sonorities to substitute for Bizet’s well-loved timbres. The big melodies are recognizable and the dramatic power of the score is complimented by Shchedrin’s interventions and Gábor brings the entire Suite together to great aplomb.

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20 SEASON 2012/2013


MArch 2013VIEw FROm THE VIOLA


ISABEllE VAn kEulEnDirector/Viola

MozartAdagio & Fuge. K546

BrittenLachrymae, reflections on a song by Dowland, for viola & string orchestra, Op. 48a

BrittenSimple Symphony

INTERVAL

HindemithTrauermusik for Viola and String Orchestra

Bridge’sThree Idylls for String quartet, Op. 6, No. 2.

BrittenVariations on a Theme of Frank Bridge

A violinist and violist of the highest calibre, Isabelle van Keulen is one of the most sought after and charismatic musicians of her generation. She directs this performance uniquely from the viola section and not surprisingly her programme features works by three violists who have been influenced by baroque music, styles and forms. When Mozart wrote his Adagio & Fuge K546, Einstein recognized a revolution and a crisis in his creative activity. The Adagio is reminiscent of a French overture in contrast to the Fugue which is full of Mozartean quality and is very rhythmic.

The ICO celebrates the centenary of the composer Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) with some of his landmark works. From his reflective and touching final work, Lachrymae (1976) to the bountiful Simple Symphony (1933) alongside the dynamic, diverse and emotionally vibrant Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge [1937]. Bridge’s

second movement of Three Idylls for String Quartet was the inspiration for the basic theme for Britten’s “Variations” so it is apt to include both. Hindemith’s extraordinarily moving Trauermusik dedicated to King George V also features.

Her taut musical intelligence and vivid sound combined with a fine instinct for the tender, searching quality of this music… absolutely magical.”The Guardian

LImERIcKUniversity Concert HallThursday 21 March 8pm (061) 331549www.uch.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

DUBLIN RDS Concert Hall DublinSaturday 23 March 8pm0818 719 300www.ticketmaster.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

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April 2013

VIRTUOSITY AD ABSURDUm


jöRg WIdMAnnPrincipal Guest Conductor/Clarinet

SERgEIj nAkARIAkOVTrumpet

RossiniIntroduction, Theme & Variations

MendelssohnString Symphony No. 2 in D

WidmannAd absurdum Konzertstück for Trumpet & Orchestra

INTERVAL

MendelssohnSymphony No. 4 Italian

Jörg Widmann continues his journey through the cosmos of Mendelssohn’s symphonies. The prodigious Mendelssohn wrote his set of twelve lost ‘Sinfonias’, or symphonies over two years – aged fourteen, and was greatly influenced by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Later, while living in Italy, he conceived his Italian Symphony which depicts the southern nature, the atmosphere and the Italian psyche. Rossini’s Introduction, Theme & Variations is a brilliant work for solo Clarinet and Orchestra and one of his rare works for instruments. In between, the ICO showcases the composer Jörg Widmann’s Ad absurdum. Widmann sets himself the task of testing trumpeter Sergeij Nakariakov to his virtuosic limit. Described as the “Paganini of

the trumpet”, Nakariakov was the obvious choice for Jörg Widmann’s masterful Ad Absurdum, which is almost impossible to perform. The theme of the work is the absurdity versus virtuosity encapsulating the soloist in a ‘home-made’ cage – ad absurdum.

LImERIcKUniversity Concert HallThursday 11 April 8pm (061) 331549www.uch.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

DUBLIN RDS Concert HallSaturday 13 April 8pm(0818) 719 300www.ticketmaster.ie€20, €18 and €10 students

SEASON 2012/2013 23

He’s truly a marvellous player, conjuring a long line in the Larghetto that was as tenderly beautiful as any performance I’ve heard.””Daily Telegraph

Nakariakov is an exceptional talent, thoroughly musical in his virtuosity and unexpectedly restrained in the exercise of his craft… clearly a charmer in more ways than one.”The Age, Melbourne, Australia


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RECEnT RElEASES

IRISH CHAMBERORCHESTRAAndrew Gourlay, Conductor

Anthony Marwood, Director

IRISH CHAMBER

John KinsellaHOMMAGE

HOmmAgE - john kinsella

Irish composer John Kinsella has a long-standing relationship with the Irish Chamber Orchestra which has performed his works over many years on tour throughout Ireland, Europe and the US. 2012 marked a significant milestone for the composer as he celebrated his 80th birthday with a world première of his Tenth Symphony, dedicated to, and performed by, the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Kinsella has been described as "the most significant Irish symphonist since Stanford," by BBC Radio 3. As a prolific Irish composer he has written more than 21 compositions for orchestra including ten symphonies.

His Symphony No. 9 was commissioned by the ICO following their performance of another work, Hommage à Clarence dedicated to Kinsella’s friend, the UK violinist

NIgHT mOVES

The Irish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Gérard Korsten, explore the transformation of day to night, from dusk to dark with threestunning works from the 18th, 19th and 21st centuries. Korsten’s exceptionally high artistic standards are widely recognized among orchestras worldwide.

Haydn’s tempestuous and operatically inspired 8th Symphony, Symphony No. 8 Le Soir (1761) marks Haydn’s stormy transition from Baroque to Classical style. The coming of the night is heralded by Elaine Agnew’s atmospheric The Moon (2002) described “as a quiet nocturnal evocation of the inner thoughts”. Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night (1899) is a late-Romantic work that delivers a passionate message against a gleaming, moonlit landscape.

Clarence Myerscough, who spent many years working in Ireland. Nocturne for Cello and String Orchestra is the slow movement of his Violin Concerto No. 2 arranged specifically for string orchestra. Prelude and Toccata is a display piece while Elegy for Strings is the slow movement from Symphony No. 9 with an alternative ending.

Enjoy the magic of Kinsella with the Irish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Andrew Gourlay and recorded at the ICO Studio at the University of Limerick, Ireland. Prelude and Toccata was recorded live at De Bartolo Hall Auditorium, Notre Dame University, Indiana and was directed by Anthony Marwood.

Regarded as his earliest instrumental masterpiece, this epic continuesto surprise and seduce audiences with its sensuousness and air of moonlit mystery.

“Speediness and volatility vie for supremacy in the playing of the Irish Chamber Orchestra. How much of that propensity for driving energy and explosive power is built into the ensemble’s musical DNA, and how much comes from the dynamic direction of Gerard Korsten, the South African-born conductor… cannot be determined on a single hearing.”Chicago Tribune

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THE IRISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: BRIngIng lIVE MuSIC TO yOuR COMMunITy

Sing Out With StringsThe ICO provides weekly workshops in singing, song-writing and violin tuition for 300 children across Limerick city. The project was established in 2008 by the Irish Chamber Orchestra as a Community Engagement Programme working within Limerick’s regeneration process. It includes three schools, Galvone National School, Southill Junior School and St Mary’s Boys National School. Inspired by El Sistema, the Venezuelan model of music education, which provides free instrumental and vocal tuition to children countrywide, Sing Out with Strings has gained a significant place within the musical fabric of primary music provision in Limerick ’s regeneration process. This important work has attracted local and national attention and recognition as an excellent model of instrumental music provision within primary schools. The

The Irish Chamber Orchestra has developed a comprehensive community engagement programme. Every time you buy an ICO ticket, you support this programme which brings live music from the concert hall directly to the community.

project addresses issues of inclusion, equality of access and provision and highlights the numerous benefits that a long-term project of this nature has on the children, school staff, parents and the wider community. Both at individual and collective levels, the project is uniting communities, building local pride, creating vehicles for expression, stimulating emotional responses and developing tangible musical knowledge and skills. Sing Out with Strings aims to continue to expand, contribute and strengthen the social, cultural and creative capital of communities within Limerick’s regeneration process.

World CarnivalSanctuary, a HEA funded initiative based at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, creates links between the University of Limerick and the many immigrant communities within the city.

The ICO provides weekly workshops for 120 children in one of Ireland’s most culturally diverse schools, Maria King Presentation Primary.

Music FactoryIs the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s sum-mer camp (8-12yrs). Children partici-pate in a range of activities from dance, drama and drumming to singing, song-writing, improvisation and visual art.

ConCordaConcorda is an exciting international summer programme of chamber music for young string musicians run by the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Association of Youth Orchestras. The course provides a rare platform for students from fourteen years upwards to discover and explore all aspects of string chamber music in an uncompetitive and inspiring environment.

Doras Luimní Composition ProjectDoras Luimní is a Limerick based non-governmental organisation supporting asylum seekers, refugees and all migrants. 2010 marked its tenth anniversary and, as part of this, the Irish Chamber Orchestra facilitated a course whereby pupils from Presentation Secondary School, Limerick composed a work ‘Many Voices, One Home.’ They performed the piece with ICO musicians.

Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin; Composition ProjectIrish composer Ian Wilson worked with ICO musicians with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. Together they have produced a piece for string quartet and soprano based on the experience of stroke. This composition was performed in Adelaide and Meath Hospital with soprano Deirdre Moynihan as part of

the National Centre for Arts and Health Concert Series.

The Limerick Lullaby Project; Mothers, Musicians, Midwives and MedicsThe Lullaby Research Team at the University of Limerick is a collaboration between the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Graduate Entry Medical School, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance and the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

Irish Chamber Orchestra Community VisitsThroughout the year, ICO musicians allow time to visit local voluntary organizations and charities and perform for audiences who are unable to attend concerts. Performances at St Gabriel’s School for Children with Special Needs, St Paul’s Nursing

Home, The Children’s Ark in Limerick Regional Hospital, Sisters of Charity and Milford Hospice has garnered overwhelmingly positive feedback.

AcademosThe ICO is resident at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the heart of an emerging college of Performing Arts at the University of Limerick. The Academy boasts a respected MA in Classical Strings, in which the orchestra plays a key role. Central to the course is the Irish World Academy String Ensemble, Academos is tutored by members of the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

Ceol na MaraCeol na Mara takes place each July in Connemara West Centre, Letterfrack and is designed to give string players of all ages and standards the opportunity

to meet and play music together under the guidance of ICO’s Oonagh Keogh, Director and violist Lisa Grosman.

Saturday Strings at the ICOAn innovative string programme for children run by ICO violinist Diane Daly, at the ICO Studios.


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HOW CAn yOu HElP?The Irish Chamber Orchestra inspires audiences of all ages with a passion and energy that is unique and strives to share its music in many diverse ways. Through renowned performances, community engagement work, the orchestra engages with audiences from all walks of life throughout Ireland and beyond. If you share our passion or would consider ways of helping the ICO visit our website on www.irishchamberorchestra.com

Funded by


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Forever Friends

Muriel CollinsBernard Doyle & Fionnuala SherryMaurice & Maire FoleyMáirín HagertyDr Miriam Hederman O’BrienAlison HunkaSean & Margaret JacksonJohn KelleherHilary & Mary LawlessBeverley & Anthony Mackay Bernard & Moira McNamaraHazel MinionEve MolonyMáire-Treasa Nic EochagáinBrian PattersonTommy & Ann-Elizabeth Riggs-MillerAndrew & Jenny RobinsonMary RyanNorma Smurfit

Family Friends

The Moriarty FamilyThe Moloney Family

Honorary Friends

Tom BriggsBrian ByrneLisa GrosmanDaphne HendersonJohn HorganMark Hely HutchinsonJohn KellyOonagh KeoghUrsula LeslieEamonn LawlorVictor MalirshPauline McLaughlinKathy MoynesFergal O’CeallachainKenneth Rice Malachy RobinsonLouis RodenBen RogersonBrian ScanlonHelmut SeeberMadeleine StauntonDr. Thérèse TimoneyDr. Mícheál Ó SúilleabháinMargaret QuigleyMary Robinson

Dr Edward WalshMary WalshJohn KellyGerard Watson

Individual Friends

Sheila & Gerry BolandSimon BoyleMaura BrannRita BrickFrances BrittonMichael & Sarah BrockMichael & Anne BuckleyDr. Gerard & Patricia BurkeRita ButlerMercedes ByrneTony BrownBrian & Sheila CallananDorothy CantrellFrank & Alison CaseyMay CaseyPhilippa CaseyJoseph & Breda ClarkinTom & Hazel CliffordMaureen ClunePat Coates Smith

Angela CoffeyMary CollinsJane ComanAvril CondellKevin & Máirin ConroyAnn CorcoranKieran & Oonagh CorrJackie CostelloJudy Denison-EdsonMargaret & James DoddJohn DonnellyMandy DonworthKathleen DowdallAndrea DoyleRoisin DoyleJoe DundonMaeve EarlieEvelyn FennellyMichael & Irene FentonBill & Maura Flood

John & Eibhlis FlynnEdward GabrielRita GahanMichael & Mary GalvinBarbara GeraghtyDrs Tessa Greally & Kevin KelleherDeirdre HanleyMark & Margaret Hely HutchinsonSonja HeidrichCarmel HigginsSylvia JonesEileen Kelly Noel & Marie KellyNuala KennedyPatricia KennedyBrendan &Susan LaneFrank & Caroline LarkinLiam & Anne LarkinPaul LynamGerry & Anne LynchOrla Mhic AthlaoichChookie & Louis MarcusBrian MartinMichael MinchMichael & Valerie MoloneyPhil MolonyProf. & Mrs E Moxon-BrowneProf. Noel MulcahyHugh & Brenda MurrayRichard & Andy McCarthyMichael & Vickie McClintockMarie McCormackNoreen McDonoghPJ McGoldrick

Vivienne McKechnieBrian McMahonElizabeth NesbittCatherine NevilleIde Ní ThuamaRichard and Anna NolanBrian O’BrienDonough O’BrienMary O’ByrneShelagh O’ConnellMariam O’DonovanSeán & Siobhán Ó DúillDr. Geraldine O’GradyJoan O’GradyAnne O’KeeffeDr Eithne O’SharkeyStephen & Oonagh O’SheaAnne O’SullivanFrank & Eugenie O’SullivanPaul & Jan O’SullivanDesmond & Johanna ParkerRoger PorrittGerard QuinnPeter & Marian RealSarah Ni RiainMichael & Breda RiceAlice RodenMichael RyanJohn & Mary ScanlanBreeda SherryGeoff SimpsonGerry & Ann SineyFrancis & Brid Stanley

Lord & Lady StevensonMargaret Harper & Richard StoopsAnne Marie StynesPeter SweeneyJudith TaggartMervyn & Marlyn TaylorMary ThornburySyl TuckerValerie WalkerEdward & Stephanie WalshElizabeth WalsheT.K. WhitakerSamuel WhiteDavid R Wilkins

Corporate Friends

CRHDakota Packaging LimitedDundon Callanan SolicitorsHoldfast Level Crossings JanuaryNash WinesPaddy Hoare Bldg & Civil EngineeringPrice Waterhouse CoopersSTL Logistics

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30 SEASON 2012/2013


PATROnS & PARTnERSHIPSThe Irish Chamber Orchestra nurtures lifelong rewarding partnerships while offering a range of benefits and sponsorship opportunities.If you are looking to develop relationships with key stakeholders or if you simply you want to expand your brand across the length and breadth of Ireland and further afield, the Irish Chamber Orchestra offers creative and rewarding solutions that will bring music to your ears. For further information on how you can help contact 061-202620 or [email protected].

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Patrons & Partnerships

Robert BallaghJim BarryJoe BuckleyLeslie BuckleyMichael BuckleyMaurice HealyJohn ShinnorsAnalog DevicesAtlantic PhilanthropiesSisters of Bon Secour Ireland Culture IrelandDept of Arts Heritage and the GaeltachtIris O’Brien FoundationIreland FundsJP McManus Charitable FoundationLimerick City Arts OfficeLimerick County Arts OfficeLimerick Enterprise Development Partnership (LEDP)

Owning its own home has been a long-time ambition for the Irish Chamber Orchestra. It is a valuable and inspiring resource for the orchestra, the University of Limerick and the local community.”Mary RobinsonChair of the Irish Chamber Orchestra 2002- 2007 Former President of Ireland 1990-97United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 1997-2002

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IRISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRAICO Studio

University of LimerickCastletroyLimerick


Irish Chamber Orchestra is a limited company registered in Ireland No. 82393Charity No. 8789

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