Eblana String Trio

Jonathan Martindale - violin
Lucy Nolan - viola
Peggy Nolan - cello

BEETHOVEN - String Trio in G major Op.9 No.1
IAN WILSON - ‘Bone Icon’, string trio no.2
DOHNANYI - Serenade in C major Op.10

The Eblana String Trio is a long established and highly acclaimed group championing the great music for string quartet minus one. Formed in 2006 at the Royal Northern College of Music, the trio has given countless performances throughout Ireland, the UK and beyond, winning praise from audiences and critics alike for their powerful interpretations of this often neglected repertoire.  Their 2021 album, “The King’s Alchemist” was selected as chamber CD of the Month in a 5-star review in BBC Music Magazine.

Their programme for this tour includes Beethoven’s G major trio Op.9/1, Ian Wilson’s second string trio ‘Bone Icon’ and Dohnanyi’s delightful Serenade

The Moonlight Tour by the Vanbrugh and Michael McHale, click here for dedicated page

21st January - Castlebar 6pm
22nd January - Dun Laoghaire 2pm
22nd January - Navan 6pm
23rd January - Sligo 3pm
26th January - Listowel 8pm (note change)
27th January - Cork 6pm (St Fin Barre’s Cathedral)
28th January -Waterford 6pm

The Vanbrugh

Keith Pascoe, violin
Marja Gaynor, violin
Simon Aspell, viola
Ed Creedon, viola
Christopher Marwood, cello

MOZART - String Quintet in C major K515
FRANCAIX - String Trio
BRAHMS - String Quintet in F major Op.88

The Vanbrugh and their guests present two classics of the string quintet repertoire alongside Jean Francaix’s delightful string trio. Adjectives have been heaped on Mozart’s C major quintet – effortless, elegant , sublime, majestic, joyful… call it what you will, they are all testament to its timeless appeal. We call it the ‘Champagne Quintet’! And then the Brahms F major quintet, written a century later is also all of these things and more. Written in the summer of 1882, it was a work that Brahms was particularly fond of, and from the gorgeous opening melody, through the exquisite slow movement, to the high octane finale, it is easy to see why.

The National String Quartet Foundation is Chamber Music Partner to UCC

Spero Quartet

Jennifer Murphy, violin
Brigid Leman, violin
David Kenny, viola
Yseult Cooper-Stockdale, cello

MOZART - Quartet in D major K.499 ‘Hoffmeister’
GARTH KNOX - Satellites
SHOSTAKOVICH - Quartet No.9

The Spero Quartet is an exciting new quartet formed in 2020, bringing together three of Ireland’s finest young musicians with Canadian violinist Brigid Leman. They present Garth Knox’s inventive and entertaining ‘Satellites’ alongside two of the lesser known greats from the repertoire. Of all Mozart’s quartets, K.499 manages to combine light, divertimento-like material with an extraordinary harmonic and contrapuntal depth. Shostakovich’s ninth quartet, from 1964, lives somewhat in the shadow of the eighth quartet, but is every bit its equal, memorable especially perhaps for its anguished pizzicato cadenzas and the long, unbearably sustained and intense build-ups in the last movement.

The Clarecastle, Cork and Dublin concerts will be attended by Garth Knox who will be talking about his work with the Contemporary Music Centre’s Linda O’Shea Farren. Thanks to CMC for making this possible.

Click here for a fascinating discussion by Garth Knox on youtube of ‘Satellites’ and the techniques he uses in the piece

Carducci Quartet

Matthew Denton
Michelle Fleming
Eoin Schmidt-Martin
Emma Denton

HAYDN - Quartet in E flat Op.33/2 ‘The Joke’
CORMAC MCCARTHY - ‘Murus’
RAVEL - Quartet in F major

The versatile and award-winning Anglo-Irish Carducci Quartet was founded in 1997 and has won numerous international competitions, including the Concert Artists Guild Competition 2007 and Finland’s Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition 2004. They return to Ireland this spring with a great programme including Cormac McCarthy’s crossover jazz-classical quartet commissioned by the Foundation and premiered by the Sonoro Quartet in autumn 2021. Ravel’s ground-breaking 1903 quartet itself holds the seeds of early jazz music and the concert will open with yet another masterpiece from the pen of Josef Haydn.

ConTempo Quartet

Bogdan Sofei, violin
Ingrid Nicola, violin
Andreea Banciu, viola
Adrian Mantu, cello
with Christopher Marwood, cello

HAYDN - Quartet in D major Op.76/5
JENNIFER WALSHE - Minard
SCHUBERT - String Quintet in C major

A classic programme from Ireland’s longest established quartet. Haydn’s D major quartet is full of miracles, particularly its bewitching slow movement and sparkling finale. Jennifer Walshe’s recent appointment as professor of composition at Oxford University confirms her status as one of Ireland’s most acclaimed and original composers. ‘Minard” is from 2003 and is scored for string quartet, two boomboxes, and a torch. Schubert’s monumental ‘cello quintet’ is perhaps the greatest of chamber music’s masterpieces

The tour concert programme is available for download here

The Vanbrugh

Keith Pascoe, violin
Marja Gaynor, violin
Simon Aspell, viola
Ed Creedon, viola
Christopher Marwood, cello

BRAHMS - String Quintet in F major Op.88
DVORAK - String Quintet in E flat major Op.97

The Vanbrugh and their guests present two of the greats from the string quintet repertoire. Brahms’ F major quintet, written in the summer of 1882, was a work that Brahms was particularly fond of, and from the gorgeous opening melody, through the exquisite slow movement, to the high octane finale, it is easy to see why. West Cork Music’s Francis Humphrys writes eloquently of Dvořák’s viola quintet: Its unquestioning overflowing of delicious tunes marks it as belonging to an age of innocence unlike the intellectual questing of most contemporary music, which is entirely alien to Dvořák’s world. Instead we have an irresistibly infectious joy in music making.