BRINGING LIVE CHAMBER MUSIC TO YOU

AUTUMN SEASON 2024

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NSQF concert venues autumn 2024

TOUR 1 - CONTEMPO QUARTET - September 10-15

Tullamore - Mullingar - Limerick - Kenmare - Cork - Dublin

Tour promo accompanied by some of Beethoven's Op.59 No.3

Raymond Deane introduces his new Quartet No.7

Adrian Mantu introduces the tour programme

ConTempo Quartet

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

Mozart - String Quartet in D major K.499 [1786]
Raymond Deane - String Quartet No.7 [2024] †
Dobrinka Tabakova - On a bench in the shade [2004]
Beethoven - String Quartet in C major Op.59 No.3 Razumovsky [1808]

† First performances

Ireland’s longest established string quartet, the ConTempo Quartet, was founded in Bucharest in 1995 and has been based in Ireland since 2003 as Galway Music Residency’s Ensemble in Residence. They were also RTE’s Resident Quartet from 2014 until 2019 and have performed nearly 2000 concerts in 46 countries. Praised as a ‘fabulous foursome’ (Irish Independent) and noted for performances which are ‘exceptional’ (The Strad) and ‘full of imaginative daring’ (The Irish Times), the ConTempo Quartet has forged a unique place in Irish musical life.

Mozart’s D major quartet K.499 is one of the lesser played but its ingeniously intertwined lines create a fascinating and absorbing sound world. Raymond Deane is one of our most celebrated composers and this tour brings the first performances of his seventh string quartet. Dobrinka Tabakova has an ‘unwavering reverence for melody and clarity’ (Gramophone magazine), and her playful quartet On a bench in the shade takes its inspiration from ‘hot summers days, when people gather to talk in the shade’. Beethoven’s C major Rasoumovsky quartet completes the programme, its sparklingly virtuosic outer movements contrasting with a moody funeral march and a quaintly old-fashioned minuet.

Concert programme available for download HERE

Read more about Dobrinka Tabakova here
Read more about Raymond Deane here

TOUR 2 - PIROSMANI QUARTET - September 25-29

Clifden - Cork - Wexford - Castlepollard - Dublin

Tour promo

Dave Flynn introduces his quartet 'The Cranning'

Pirosmani Quartet

Mairead Hickey, violin
William Hagen, violin
Natanael Ferreira, viola
Aleksey Shadrin, cello

Mozart - String Quartet in D major K.575 [1789]
Dave Flynn - The Cranning [2005]
Dvořák - String Quartet in G major Op.106 [1895]

Mairéad Hickey’s remarkable Pirosmani Quartet returns for a second tour by popular request, bringing together four stars of the international chamber music circuit. They open with Mozart’s charming D major Quartet K.575, the first of his three quartets written for the cellist King of Prussia. Alongside her stellar career as a classical violinist, Mairéad has also won eight world Irish fiddle titles and there could be no-one better to present Dave Flynn’s stunning trad-classical crossover quartet, The Cranning. Dvořák’s G major quartet is one of his most joyful and memorable works, sure to leave you singing all the way home.

Click here for a fascinating interview with composer Dave Flynn including insight into his quartet ‘The Cranning’ which will be played on this tour

CONCERT PROGRAMME AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE

TOUR 3 - THE VANBRUGH & FRIENDS October 4-6

Cork - Carrigaline - Kilkenny

Vanbrugh & Friends

Keith Pascoe, violin
Marja Gaynor, violin
Simon Aspell, viola
Ed Creedon, viola
Christopher Marwood, cello
Maria O’Connor, cello

Rimsky-Korsakov - String Sextet in A major [1876]
Schubert - String Quintet in C major D.956 [1828]

Monumental, intimate, dreamy, earthy, triumphant, despairing… Schubert’s extraordinary string quintet is all of these things and more. It was the last completed work of the terminally ill 31 year old composer and is one of the greatest and most loved chamber music works . Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1876 string sextet is, by contrast, a seldom played rarity, but it is full of charm and invention, exploiting the rich sonority of the six instruments to the full and featuring a lyrical and expressive slow movement.

The National String Quartet Foundation is Chamber Music Partner to UCC

CONCERT PROGRAMME FOR MINANE BRIDGE / KILKENNY AVAILABLE HERE

CONCERT PROGRAMME UCC AVAILABLE HERE

TOUR 4 - ESPOSITO QUARTET - October 9-13

Mullingar - Carrick-on-Shannon - Kenmare - Cork - Dublin

Joachim Roewer introduces Beethoven's Quartet No.5

Mia Cooper introduces Janacek's 'In the Mists'

Mia Cooper introduces Wolf's 'Italian Serenade'

Paul Frost introduces 'An Old Song Half Forgotten'

Esposito Quartet

Mia Cooper, violin
Anna Cashell, violin
Joachim Roewer, viola
William Butt, cello

Beethoven - String Quartet in A major Op.18 No.5 [1800]
Paul Frost - An Old Song, Half Forgotten [2023]
Janáček - In the Mists (arr. Tomáš Ille) [1912]
Wolf - Italian Serenade [1887]

The Esposito Quartet comprises four of our most distinguished musicians with a combined wealth of experience as recital artists, orchestral leaders and teachers, who have been playing as a quartet since 2010. The Quartet's name honours Michele Esposito, pianist and composer, who for forty years from 1888 was the initiator for much of the chamber music making in Dublin through the establishment of The Royal Dublin Society concert series.

Their programme opens with Beethoven’s light-hearted A major quartet from his Op.18 set of six quartets, written as he was turning 30 years of age. Modelled on Mozart’s A major quartet K.464 written just 15 years earlier, it features an extraordinary set of variations and a scampering, energised finale. Paul Frost’s An Old Song, Half Forgotten, written for the Abbey’s 2023 play of the same name, is followed by Tomáš Ille’s magical, achingly beautiful arrangement for string quartet of Janáček’s piano work In the Mists. Hugo Wolf’s Italian Serenade is the desert, rounding off a wonderful programme

CONCERT PROGRAMMES AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD:

All venues except Triskel, Cork
Triskel, Cork

Click on the venues for bookings (where available):

MULLINGAR - Wednesday 9th October at 8pm - Áras an Mhuilinn - presented by Mullingar Arts Centre
*** PLEASE NOTE THIS CONCERT IN MULLINGAR HAS BEEN CANCELLED ***
CARRICK-ON-SHANNON - Thursday 10th October at 8pm - The Dock
KENMARE - Friday 11th October at 6pm - Carnegie Arts Centre
CORK - Saturday 12th October at 1pm - Triskel Arts Centre (Beethoven, Frost, Janáček)
DUBLIN - Sunday 13th October at 3pm - National Concert Hall

back to season overview

TOUR 5- SOLAS QUARTET - October 16-20

Listowel - Ennis - Cahir - Youghal - Bantry

Solas Quartet

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

Dave Fennessy on chamber music, rock music, Mozart and his quartet 'Felt'

Katherine Hunka introduces Dave Fennessy's 'Felt'

Solas Quartet plays Marja Gaynor's arrangement of 'Lord Mayo'

Solas Quartet plays the violin duets from Borodin's Nocturne

Solas Quartet plays part of the Romanze from Fanny Mendelssohn's string quartet

Haydn - String Quartet in G major Op.76 No.1 [1797]
Dave Fennessy - felt [2002]
Trad arr. Danish String Quartet - Two Danish tunes from Wood Works: Vigstamoin & Ribers #8
Smetana - Quartet No.1 ‘From My Life’ [1876]

The Solas Quartet is a Cork-based group led by Irish Chamber Orchestra leader Katherine Hunka. For their fourth NSQF tour they bring another programme full of variety and originality. Haydn’s celebrated G major quartet Op.76 No.1 is one the greats, its playful opening movement followed by a gorgeous chorale, a witty scherzo and a virtuosic finale. Dave Fennessy’s musical career has progressed from school rock band, through guitar and composition studies in Dublin and Glasgow, and on to winning numerous international accolades for his music. The Danish Quartet’s album of arrangements of Danish folk tunes Wood Works has attracted a huge following and the Solas Quartet brings you two of the best of them. Smetana’s autobiographical masterpiece From My Life is always a highlight of any programme; through its four movements, this extaordinary quartet truly conveys a sense of the span of a lifetime.

CONCERT PROGRAMME AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE

TOUR 6 - LIR QUARTET - October 24-27

Waterford - Kilkenny - Castlepollard - Dublin

Brahms's C minor quartet in 2 minutes, with the Lir Quartet!

Harry O'Connor introduces his 'Summer Idyll'

The Lir Quartet plays the Romanze from Brahms Op.51 No.1

Lir Quartet

Siobhán Doyle, violin
Kirsty Main, violin
Ed Creedon, viola
Killian White, cello

Harry O'Connor: Summer Idyll [2024] †
Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat major [1834]
Brahms: String Quartet in C minor Op.51 No.1 [1873]

† First performances

The outstanding Lir Quartet was formed in 2016 at Barry Douglas’ Clandeboye Festival. They come together this year for the first time since the pandemic, working as NSQF Fellowship Quartet at the ConCorda chamber music course in August, followed by a five concert summer tour of Cork and Kerry. This autumn they bring their superb summer programme to four venues nationwide.

They open with a new quartet by Kerry composer Harry O’Connor, the recently announced winner of the NCH's Jerome Hynes Young Composers Award. A graduate of MTU Cork School of Music, Harry is continuing his composition studies at Oxford where the Castalian Quartet premiered his fine Summer Idyll earlier this year. Fanny Mendelssohn’s 1834 string quartet remained unpublished until 1988 but is now a core and much loved work in the quartet repertoire. Brahms’ C minor quartet is one of the greats, its dramatic and impassioned outer movements contrasting with the sublime beauty and lyricism of the Romanze and the relaxed musings of the third movement.

CONCERT PROGRAMME AVAILABLE HERE

TOUR 7 - LUMIERE QUARTET - November 6-10

Ballina - Cork - Tullamore - Kilkenny - Dublin

Caterina Schembri introduces Grüner Strahl

Claire Duff introduces Mendelssohn Op.13

Lumiere Quartet

Claire Duff, violin
Elaine Clark, violin
Nathan Sherman, viola
Carina Drury, cello

Mozart - String Quartet in C major K.465 Dissonance [1785]
Caterina Schembri - Grüner Strahl [2024] †
Mendelssohn - String Quartet in A minor Op.13 [1827]

† First performances. Commissioned by the Lumiere Quartet with funds from the Arts Council

The Lumiere Quartet is an exciting new group led by acclaimed Irish Baroque Orchestra leader Claire Duff, playing with classical bows on gut strings and offering fresh interpretations of two iconic string quartets: Mozart’s Dissonance Quartet and Mendelssohn’s A minor quartet as well as a new work by Caterina Schembri

Famous for its tense and mysterious opening, Mozart's Dissonance Quartet relaxes into an outpouring of gorgeous melodies. Mendelssohn wrote his A minor quartet at the age of 18, just a few months after Beethoven's death in 1827, and it was both a homage to the great composer and a departure towards the new musical world of Romanticism.

This sense of transition is the inspiration behind Caterina Schembri’s new quartet Grüner Strahl. This title is the name of a rare meteorological phenomenon that sometimes occurs at sunset or sunrise - a green flash above the sun that lasts for a few seconds before disappearing, a fleeting moment of transformation. 

Grüner Strahl was commissioned by the Lumiere Quartet for this tour, with funds provided by the Arts Council.

CONCERT PROGRAMME AVAILABLE HERE

TOUR 8 - THE VANBRUGH & Friends - November 15-17

Cork - Kenmare - Birr - Bantry

The Vanbrugh & Friends

Keith Pascoe, violin
Marja Gaynor, violin
Simon Aspell, viola
Ed Creedon, viola
Christopher Marwood, cello
Maria O’Connor, cello

Vanbrugh & Friends play part of the Schubert Quintet

Vanbrugh & Friends play part of Rimsky-Korsakov sextet

Rimsky-Korsakov - String Sextet in A major [1876]
Schubert - String Quintet in C major D.956 [1828]

Monumental, intimate, dreamy, earthy, triumphant, despairing… Schubert’s extraordinary string quintet is all of these things and more. It was the last completed work of the terminally ill 31 year old composer and is one of the greatest and most loved chamber music works . Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1876 string sextet is, by contrast, a seldom played rarity, but it is full of charm and invention, exploiting the rich sonority of the six instruments to the full and featuring a lyrical and expressive slow movement.

The National String Quartet Foundation is Chamber Music Partner to UCC

To open the concerts at UCC on Friday 15th November and in Bantry on Sunday 17th, MTU Cork School of Music’s Gealach Quartet performs Shostakovich’s short, charming and brilliant first quartet:

THE GEALACH QUARTET
Kseniia Yershova, violin
Ellen O’Connell, violin
Ilona Adams, viola
Alina Obreja, cello

Shostakovich – String Quartet No.1 [1938]

Concert programmes available here:
UCC
KENMARE, BIRR
BANTRY

TOUR 9 - BANBHA QUARTET - November 19-26

Letterkenny - Mullingar - Manorhamilton - Thurles - Cork - Dublin - Castleconnell

Banbha tour promo!

Maria Ryan introduces Schubert’s Quartet ‘Death and the Maiden’

Lidia Jewłoszewicz-Clarke introduces Beethoven’s F minor Quartet Op.95

Sean Doherty introduces Varsouviana - Variations on Shoe the Donkey

Banbha Quartet

Lidia Jewloszewicz-Clarke, violin
Maria Ryan, violin
Séamus Hickey, viola
Aoife Burke, cello

Beethoven - String Quartet in F minor Op.95 [1810]
Seán Doherty - Varsouviana - Variations on Shoe the Donkey [2024] †
Schubert - String Quartet in D minor Death and the Maiden [1824]

† First performances

The Banbha Quartet brings together four of Ireland's finest musicians and is one of a new generation of string quartets nurtured by the National String Quartet Foundation and building a following amongst audiences. For their fifth tour they present popular masterpieces by Beethoven and Schubert alongside a new work by Donegal fiddler turned renowned composer Seán Doherty. Inspired by the mix of Irish and Polish musicians in the Banbha Quartet, Sean’s latest string quartet celebrates the Mazurka, originally a Polish folk dance, made famous by Chopin’s piano works and also incorporated into the Donegal fiddle tradition.

CONCERT PROGRAMME AVAILABLE HERE

SPECIAL EVENT

ST. CATHERINE’S CULTURAL CENTRE, KINSALE - November 30

MTU Cork School of Music and St. Catherine’s Cultural Centre present two outstanding young quartets playing music by Beethoven and Mendelssohn in the lovely setting of St Catherine’s.

Please click here to book your tickets on Eventbrite.com

Beethoven - String Quartet in C minor Op.18 No.4
played by the Olympia Quartet

Mendelssohn - String Quartet in A minor Op.13
played by the Meliora Quartet

SPECIAL EVENT

VANBRUGH & FRIENDS IN ABBEYFEALE - December 6

Glórach Theatre, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick

The Vanbrugh & Friends

Keith Pascoe, violin
Marja Gaynor, violin
Simon Aspell, viola
Ed Creedon, viola
Christopher Marwood, cello
Maria O’Connor, cello

Rimsky-Korsakov - String Sextet in A major [1876]
Schubert - String Quintet in C major D.956 [1828]

Monumental, intimate, dreamy, earthy, triumphant, despairing… Schubert’s extraordinary string quintet is all of these things and more. It was the last completed work of the terminally ill 31 year old composer and is one of the greatest and most loved chamber music works . Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1876 string sextet is, by contrast, a seldom played rarity, but it is full of charm and invention, exploiting the rich sonority of the six instruments to the full and featuring a lyrical and expressive slow movement.

CONCERT PROGRAMME AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE

This is a free event, but please book your seats by clicking on the link:
ABBEYFEALE, CO. LIMERICK - Friday 6th December at 8pm - Glórach Theatre - presented by Limerick Arts Office

This project is funded by Creative Ireland and Limerick City and County Council through
Creative Ireland Made in Limerick 2024.

back to season overview

TOUR 10 - FICINO QUARTET - December 4-8

Castlebar - Rosscarbery - Kenmare - Cork - Dublin

Ailbhe McDonagh introduces Beethoven’s A minor quartet Op.132

Amanda Feery introduces From Ashes

Garrett Sholdice introduces Beethoven Reflected, the Ficino Quartet’s programme in Cork and Dublin

Ficino Quartet

Elaine Clark, violin
Lynda O’Connor, violin
Nathan Sherman, viola
Ailbhe McDonagh, cello

CASTLEBAR / ROSSCARBERY / KENMARE

Haydn - String Quartet in B flat major Op.76 No.4 Sunrise [1797]
Amanda Feery - From Ashes [2019]
Beethoven - String Quartet in A minor Op.132 [1825]

The Ficino Quartet comprises four of our most decorated musicians who have been playing as a quartet for many years and have featured in every NSQF season. This autumn they present one of Beethoven’s greatest masterpieces, his A minor quartet Op.132. Perhaps most famous for its moving slow movement, the Holy song of thanksgiving of a convalescent to the Deity, the quartet as a whole depicts a quite extraordinary range of emotions, from the urgency and searching of the opening, through the homely conversations of the second movement and the radiance of the slow third movement, to the glorious finale. Amanda Feery’s From Ashes was written in 2019 as a prelude to the Beethoven quartet, introducing and exploring some of its motifs and ideas. They open with Haydn’s famous and always popular Sunrise quartet.

CORK / DUBLIN

Beethoven - String Quartet in A minor Op.132 [1825]
Amanda Feery - From Ashes [2019]
Garrett Sholdice - The Secret Cause [2019]
Cora Venus Lunny - Theft [2019]
Benedict Schlepper-Connolly - Foreign Hand [2019]

For its Cork and Dublin concerts, the Ficino Quartet presents a revival of its memorable contribution to the National String Quartet Foundation's 2020 Beethoven Reflected project, marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. The Foundation commissioned Amanda Feery, Garrett Sholdice, Cora Venus Lunny and Benedict Schlepper-Connolly to write short works inspired by and reflecting Beethoven’s breathtaking A minor quartet Op.132. The four pieces are performed as introductions to each of the quartet’s movements, creating a seamless whole with a multiplicity of new resonances and connections.

PROGRAMME FOR CASTLEBAR / ROSSCARBERY / KENMARE AVAILABLE HERE

PROGRAMME FOR CORK / DUBLIN AVAILABLE HERE

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