AUTUMN SEASON 2022

With the support of funding from the Arts Council and RTE Lyric FM, the National String Quartet Foundation presents an autumn season offering fifty concerts nationwide, given by ten groups, all of them including Irish or Irish-based musicians. The Foundation is also grateful for the support of University College, Cork, Cork City Council and Cork County Council and for the ongoing collaboration of the National Concert Hall in presenting these concerts in Dublin. Composer’s Voice events at selected venues are supported by the Contemporary Music Centre

Booking links are added to the listings below as we receive them, please click on the venues/date to access. Add your email address here if you would like to join our mailing list. We send out booking links and notifications ahead of each tour.

 

TOUR 1 - CONTEMPO QUARTET - September 6-18

ConTempo Quartet

Bogdan Sofei
Ingrid Nicola
Andreea Banciu
Adrian Mantu

This tour is promoted by RTE Supporting the Arts

Ina Boyle - Quartet in E minor [1934]
Jane O’Leary - Strings in the Air, Songs in the Stones [2021]
Brahms - Quartet in B flat Op.67 [1875]

The ConTempo Quartet opens our Autumn 2022 season with two Irish string quartets, Ina Boyle’s lovely E minor Quartet, written in Enniskerry in 1934, and a new piece by Galway’s Jane O’Leary. Brahms’ sunny, uplifting B flat major quartet was written in 1875 while he enjoyed a summer holiday in the beautiful German town of Ziegelhausen and it was to become his favourite of his three published quartets.

The ConTempo Quartet is resident ensemble of the Galway Music Residency

The Contemporary Music Centre’s Linda O’Shea Farren will host a Composer’s Voice interview with Jane O’Leary as part of the Dublin concert

Tour programme is available for download HERE

This tour is presented in collaboration with Galway Music Residency

TOUR 2 - BANBHA QUARTET - September 21-25

Banbha Quartet

Lidia Jewloszewicz-Clarke
Maria Ryan
Robin Panter
Aoife Burke

Mozart - Quartet in D major K.575 [1789]
Tom Lane - ‘Refractions’ [2022] †
Silvestrov - ‘Icon’ [2004]
Mendelssohn - Quartet in E minor Op.44 No.2 [1837]

† Commissioned by the Banbha Quartet with funds from The Arts Council

The Banbha Quartet was founded in 2020 by four of our most celebrated musicians. Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s beautiful, meditative ‘Ikon’ and a new work by acclaimed Dublin-based composer Tom Lane lie at the heart of their programme for this, their third tour for the Foundation. The concerts open with a delicate masterpiece by Mozart and end with Mendelssohn’s dramatic, virtuosic E minor quartet

The Contemporary Music Centre’s Linda O’Shea Farren will host a Composer’s Voice interview with Tom Lane as part of the Dublin concert. Click here for more information on this exciting young composer

Tour programme is available for download HERE

TOUR 3 - THE VANBRUGH & SPERO QUARTET - Sept 30 - Oct 2

The Vanbrugh and the Spero Quartet

Keith Pascoe
Simon Aspell
Christopher Marwood
Jennifer Murphy
Brigid Leman
David Kenny
Yseult Cooper-Stockdale

Mozart - Quartet in D major K.499
Garth Knox - ‘Satellites’
Tchaikovsky - Souvenir de Florence

A lavish double bill offers a reprise of the Spero Quartet’s spring performances of Mozart’s dazzling D major quartet K.499 and Garth Knox’s brilliantly inventive ‘Satellites’. For the second half of the concerts, three members of the Spero Quartet join the Vanbrugh for Tchaikovsky’s epic string sextet Souvenir de Florence.

Garth Knox’s fascinating video offering insight into his ‘Satellites’ is available on YouTube, please click here

The National String Quartet Foundation is Chamber Music Partner to UCC

Tour programme is available for download HERE

TOUR 4 - ESPOSITO QUARTET - October 5-9

Esposito Quartet

Mia Cooper
Anna Cashell
Joachim Roewer
William Butt

Shostakovich - Quartet No.4 in D major [1949]
Donnacha Dennehy - ‘Wig’ [2020]
Franck - Quartet in D major [1890]

Donnacha Dennehy’s ‘Wig’ was commissioned by the Foundation as a companion piece to Beethoven’s quartet Op.135. Entertaining and vital, as Donnacha’s music always is, it sits equally well on its own and is here surrounded by two lesser known masterpieces. Shostakovich’s fourth quartet belongs to the group of works of Jewish inspiration that were in part a reaction to the murder of Jews in German-occupied Europe and in part a protest against the resurgent spirit of anti-Semitism apparent in Russia. Although the quartet was written in 1949, it was not felt safe to premiere it until 1953, after the death of Stalin. César Franck wrote his dramatic and powerful string quartet in 1890, the last year of his life.

Tour programme is available for download HERE

TOUR 5 - PIROSMANI QUARTET - October 18-23

Pirosmani Quartet

Mairead Hickey, violin
William Hagen, violin
Georgy Kovalev, viola
Aleksey Shadrin, cello

Beethoven - Quartet in D major Op.18 No.3 [1798]
Sean Doherty - ‘Night Piece’ [2020]
Brahms - Quartet in A minor Op.51 No.2 [1873]

Cork violinist Mairead Hickey leads a star-studded lineup of international musicians. Beethoven’s Op.18 No.3 was by some accounts his first string quartet and from its lyrical opening to its fleet-footed finale it carries the hallmarks of the master’s genius. We lost many of Brahms’ quartets through his obsessive self censorship, but this magnificent A minor quartet is one of the three masterpieces that escaped his fireplace. Sean Doherty’s fine ‘Night Piece’ was written for Mairead Hickey’s Ortus Festival in Cork in February 2020.

Sean Doherty will introduce his work at the Waterford, Cork and Navan concerts

Tour programme is available for download HERE

TOUR 6 - LIVERPOOL QUARTET - November 2-6

Liverpool Quartet

Róisín Verity Walters
Sarah Hill
Dani Sanxis
Nick Byrne

Piazzolla - Four Seasons of Buenos Aires [1970]
Deirdre Gribbin - Merrow Sang [2007]
Zemlinsky - Quartet No.1 in A major Op.4 [1896]
Shostakovich - Quartet No.3 in F major Op.73 [1946]

(programmes will be drawn from these)

Róisín Walters’ Liverpool Quartet bring four great works on this tour, including their own arrangement of the impassioned tangos of Piazzolla’s extraordinary Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Still relatively unknown, Zemlinsky pursued a parallel compositional path to Schoenberg and this beautiful early masterpiece is a gem of Brahmsian late romanticism. Shostakovich’s third quartet is a heart-breaking musical commentary on the futility and pain of war and ranks amongst the finest quartets of the twentieth century. Deirdre Gribbin’s magical and mysterious Merrow Sang from 2007 vividly recounts a tale of merrow-maidens emerging from the sea during the burial of one of the Cantillon family of Ballyheigue.

Tour programme is available for download HERE

TOUR 7 - SOLAS QUARTET (1) - November 9-13

Solas Quartet

Katherine Hunka, violin
Marja Gaynor, violin
Cian Ó Dúill, viola
Aoife Nic Athlaoich, cello

with Ed Creedon, viola

Boccherini - Quartet in D major G.177 Op.15 No.1 [1772]
John Kinsella - ‘A Reeling Rhapsody’ for two violins [1989]
Amy Beach - Quartet Op.89 [1921]
Dowland - ‘Lachrimae Antiquae’ and ‘Earl of Essex, his Galiard’ [1605]
Mendelssohn - String Quintet in B flat Op.87 [1845]

The Solas Quartet first performed as the 2020 Quartet in online concerts during that autumn’s lockdown. Now we welcome them in real life splendour, led by Irish Chamber Orchestra leader Katherine Hunka, in a fascinatingly varied programme spanning five centuries and reflecting the wide-ranging musical talents and specialities of the quartet’s members. For the second half of the concert they are joined by Cork violist Ed Creedon for Mendelssohn’s brilliant B flat string quintet.

Tour programme is available for download HERE

TOUR 8 - THE VANBRUGH - November 18th

The Vanbrugh

Keith Pascoe
Marja Gaynor
Simon Aspell
Ed Creedon
Christopher Marwood
Maria O’Connor

BRAHMS - String sextet in B flat Op.18

A unique treat for our Cork audience, the Vanbrugh and their guests present one of Brahms’ most beautiful creations.

The National String Quartet Foundation is Chamber Music Partner to UCC

TOUR 9 - SOLAS QUARTET (2) - November 19-20

Solas Quartet

Katherine Hunka
Marja Gaynor
Cian Ó Dúill
Aoife nic Athlaoich

with Ed Creedon, viola

Boccherini - Quartet in D major G.177 Op.15 No.1 [1772]
John Kinsella - ‘A Reeling Rhapsody’ for two violins [1989]
Amy Beach - Quartet Op.89 [1921]
Dowland - ‘Lachrimae Antiquae’ and ‘Earl of Essex, his Galiard’ [1605]
Mendelssohn - String Quintet in B flat Op.87 [1845]

The Solas Quartet join us again for a weekend of concerts in County Cork

Tour programme is available for download HERE

CHARLEVILLE - Saturday 19th November at 2pm - Musica Fusion. Call 087 987 3379 for tickets
MITCHELSTOWN - Saturday 19th November at 8pm - Saint George’s Arts and Heritage Centre
YOUGHAL - Sunday 20th November at 3pm - The Mall Arts Centre - presented by Living Youghal

TOUR 10 - MARMEN QUARTET - November 24-29

Marmen Quartet

Johannes Marmen, violin
Laia Valentin Braun, violin
Bryony Gibson-Cornish, viola
Sinéad O’Halloran, cello

Bartok - Quartet No.4 in C major [1928]
Ian Wilson - ‘Rossiniana’ [2018]
Beethoven - Quartet Op.59 No.2 ‘Rasoumovsky’ [1808]

Cork cellist Sinead O’Halloran joined the Marmen Quartet in June of 2021 at a time when the quartet’s international star continues to rise, with a busy schedule including concerts at the Berlin Philharmonic, the BBC Proms and the Lucerne Festival. Their programme for this tour opens with one of Bartok’s greatest and most riveting masterpieces, its tightly symmetrical structure centred on a deeply atmospheric central movement. Ian Wilson’s slick and entertaining collage of famous Rossini themes is followed by Beethoven’s towering second Rasoumovsky quartet with, at its heart, a rapturous slow movement inspired by contemplation of the starry firmament.

Tour programme is available for download HERE

TOUR 11 - FICINO QUARTET - December 7-11

Ficino Quartet

Elaine Clark
Hugh Murray
Nathan Sherman
Yseult Cooper Stockdale

Schubert - Quartetsatz in C minor D.703 [1820]
Philip Glass - Mishima [1985]
Linda Buckley - ‘Circuit Bend’ [2022] †
Ravel - Quartet in F major [1903]

† Commissioned by the National String Quartet Foundation with funds from The Arts Council

The Ficino Quartet features four of our leading musicians and has toured annually for the Foundation since 2018. Here they present another fascinating programme including Philip Glass’s hugely popular ‘Mishima’, drawn from his 1985 soundtrack to Paul Schrader’s film on the life of author, playwright and latter-day Samurai, Yukio Mishima. The concerts also feature a new commission by Cork composer Linda Buckley, and Ravel’s evergreen string quartet from 1903.

The Contemporary Music Centre will host a Composer’s Voice conversation with Linda Buckley as part of the Cork and Dublin concerts

Tour programme is available for download HERE