BRINGING LIVE CHAMBER MUSIC TO YOU

SPRING SEASON 2025

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NSQF concert venues Spring 2025

TOUR 1 - CARDUCCI QUARTET - January 14-19

Tullamore - Listowel - Ennis - Rosscarbery - Cork - Kilkenny - Dublin

Carducci Quartet

Matthew Denton, violin
Michelle Fleming, violin
Eoin Schmidt-Martin, viola
Emma Denton, cello

Haydn - String Quartet in D major Op.20 No.4 [1772]
Donnacha Dennehy - STAMP (to avoid erotic thoughts) [2008]
Caroline Shaw - Entr’acte [2011]
Shostakovich - Quartet No.9 [1964]

Featuring two Cork musicians, the Carducci Quartet is one of the longest established and most admired string quartets on the world stage. They return for their latest tour of Ireland with a beautiful programme including one of Shostakovich’s finest string quartets, marking the 50th anniversary of his death in 1975.

Haydn’s D major Quartet Op.20 No.4 is one of earliest of his many string quartet masterpieces. From the exploratory, expansive opening movement, through a poignant slow movement, a robust Minuet alla zingarese (gypsy-style) to the virtuosic finale, this extraordinary music is engaging and entertaining throughout.

Donnacha Dennehy’s Stamp combines elements of related 14th century dances, the Italian Saltarello and the French Estampie, both of which feature complex, wrong-footing rhythms which Donnacha exploits with clear delight.

Caroline Shaw’s intriguingly evocative and very popular Entr’acte turns a chord progression in a Haydn quartet (Op.77 No.2) into a dreamlike journey on a harmonic rollercoaster.

Shostakovich’s wonderful ninth string quartet was written in 1964 and is full of vivid characterization, expression and contrast. The stark and cataclysmic vision of the fourth movement leads to an extraordinary finale concluding with a long, exhilarating and life-affirming build-up.

Click on the venues for bookings (when available):

TULLAMORE - Tuesday 14th January at 8pm - Esker Arts Centre
LISTOWEL - Wednesday 15th January at 8pm - St. John’s Theatre and Arts Centre
ENNIS - Thursday 16th January at 8pm - glór
ROSSCARBERY - Friday 17th January at 8pm - St. Fachtna’s Cathedral - presented by Barrahane Music
CORK - Saturday 18th January at 1pm - Triskel Christchurch (Haydn, Dennehy, Shostakovich)
KILKENNY - Saturday 18th January at 7.30pm - Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle - presented by Music in Kilkenny
DUBLIN - Sunday 19th January at 12pm - Hugh Lane Gallery (Haydn, Dennehy, Shostakovich)

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TOUR 2 - VANBRUGH & FRIENDS

UCC, CORK

Vanbrugh & Friends

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

Brahms - String Quintet in B minor Op.115 [1891]

This is Brahms’ own alternative version of his famous clarinet quintet, with the clarinet part being played by a solo viola. It may never have been played before in Ireland and who better to take on this monumental challenge than the Vanbrugh’s Simon Aspell?

The Gealach Quartet - Kseniia Yershova, Ellen O’Connell, Ilona Adams and Alina Obreja - will open this concert with the first movement of Debussy’s string quartet

CORK UCC - Friday 24th January at 1.10pm - Aula Maxima - free admission, presented by UCC’s FUAIM series

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TOUR 3 - SONORO QUARTET February 5-9

Castlebar - Rathmore - Birr - Cork - Kilkenny - Dublin

Sonoro Quartet

Sarah Jégou-Sageman, violin
Jeroen De Beer, violin
Séamus Hickey, viola
Léo Guiguen, cello

CASTLEBAR / RATHMORE / BIRR / KILKENNY

Donnacha Dennehy - Chorale [2023]
Shostakovich - Quartet No.5 [1952]
Debussy - Quartet [1893]

CORK / DUBLIN

Donnacha Dennehy - Chorale [2023]
Osvaldo Golijov - Tenebrae [2000]
Shostakovich - Quartet No.5 [1952]

The outstanding Sonoro Quartet, featuring Cork violist Séamus Hickey, returns for a third tour for the Foundation.

Donnacha Dennehy’s Chorale was premiered at the 2023 West Cork Chamber Music Festival. The composer writes that when this piece first opens it may seem unusual that it has the title Chorale. But gradually chorales emerge from these whirling maelstroms of heightened anxiety, like mists emanating from storm patterns… Some of these harmonies are taken from a Bach chorale with the text ‘your word was for a long time obscured’

Osvaldo Golijov’s hauntingly beautiful Tenebrae reflects both the brutality of human conflict and the parallel perspective of the earth’s serene progress through space. It was written in 2000 when the composer found himself caught up in the latest wave of violence in the Middle East but then just a week later visited the New York planetarium with his 5 year old son, viewing the earth as a small dot amongst the stars of the cosmos

Shostakovich wrote his fifth quartet in the last months of Stalin’s repressive rule over the Soviet Union. This was a time when, accused by the authorities of writing music that “dwells too much on the dark and fearful aspects of reality,” Shostakovich had been forced to read a humiliating apology and to promise to mend his ways. He composed a series of patriotic cantatas and film scores to please Soviet officialdom, while wisely delaying publication of this quartet, his ‘real’ music, until after Stalin’s death. It is a work of great contrasts with many moments of sublime beauty, but, unsurprisingly, dark shadows are always lurking.

Debussy was a contemporary of Impressionist painters Monet and Renoir and the miraculous swirling colours and textures of his music offer a clear musical parallel to their paintings. His superb 1893 string quartet remains a popular favourite amongst audiences

Click on the venues for bookings (when available):

CASTLEBAR - Wednesday 5th February at 8pm - Linenhall Arts Centre
RATHMORE - Thursday 6th February at 7.30pm - Knockaseed House
BIRR - Friday 7th February at 8pm - Birr Theatre and Arts Centre
CORK - Saturday 8th February at 1pm - Triskel Arts Centre
KILKENNY - Saturday 8th February at 7.30 pm - Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle - presented by Music in Kilkenny
DUBLIN - Sunday 9th February at 12pm - Hugh Lane Gallery

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TOUR 4 - ORA QUARTET - March 5-9

Waterford - Carrick-on-Shannon - Clonmel - Cork - Dublin - Tinahely

Ora Quartet

Siún Milne, violin
Molly O’Shea, violin
Ali Comerford, viola
Yseult Cooper-Stockdale, cello

Elizabeth Maconchy - Quartet No.3 [1938]
Caroline Shaw - Blueprint [2016]
Ailbhe McDonagh - Lore Quartet [2023]
Florence Price - Quartet in A minor [1935]

The Ora Quartet is one of a number of fine new Irish string quartets building a strong reputation. This tour, in conjunction with Finding a Voice festival, marks International Women’s Day on March 8th and presents four outstanding works by women composers.

Elizabeth Maconchy was born in England in 1907 to Irish parents and was a prolific and successful composer through much of the twentieth century. The third of her thirteen quartets is among the most popular and was written with Europe on the cusp of yet another war; it is dramatic, yearning and very much according to her feeling that ‘the best music is an impassioned argument’.

Grammy award-winning composer Caroline Shaw wrote ‘Blueprint’ in 2016. It is hypnotically beautiful, full of inventive conversation and bearing many traces - especially the comically brilliant ending - of the quartet which was its blueprint, Beethoven’s B flat major quartet Op.18/6 La Malinconia

Ailbhe McDonagh’s ‘Lore Quartet’ was commissioned by NSQF and first performed by the Ficino Quartet - with the composer as cellist - in December 2023. Its three short movements (Dolmen - Fairies - Púca) take us on a journey through some of Ireland’s most treasured myths and legends

Florence Price’s music has been re-discovered in the last ten years or so and it is a treasure trove of over 300 compositions. Her gorgeous A minor quartet will surely become a regular feature of string quartet programmes in the coming years

MARKING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY MARCH 8th

in association with




Click on the venues for bookings (when available):

WATERFORD - Wednesday 5th March at 7.30pm - Garter Lane Arts Centre - presented by Waterford Music
CARRICK-ON-SHANNON - Thursday 6th March at 8pm - The Dock
CLONMEL - Friday 7th March at 7.30pm - Main Guard - presented by Finding a Voice
CORK - Saturday 8th March at 1pm - Triskel Arts Centre (Maconchy, McDonagh, Price)
DUBLIN - Sunday 9th March at 12pm - Hugh Lane Gallery (Maconchy, McDonagh, Price)
TINAHELY - Sunday 10th March at 6pm - Courthouse Arts Centre

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TOUR 5 - VANBRUGH & FRIENDS

Cork - Tullamore - Galway

Vanbrugh & Friends

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

Mozart - String Quintet in C major K.515 [1787]
Brahms - String Quintet in B minor Op.115 [1891]

The Vanbrugh and their guests present two more of the greats from the quintet repertoire. Adjectives have been heaped on Mozart’s C major quintet – elegant , sublime, majestic, joyful, bewitching… call it what you will, they are all testament to its timeless appeal. We call it the Champagne Quintet, after its bubbly opening!

The Brahms Quintet may never have been played in Ireland before, it is hard to know. It is Brahms’ own alternative version of his famous clarinet quintet, with the clarinet part being played by a solo viola. No-one better to take on this monumental challenge than the Vanbrugh’s Simon Aspell.

The UCC concert will be opened by the Meliora Quartet - Cillian O Cathasaigh & Kate Ní Shé , violins, Kseniia Yershova, viola and Oscar Casey, cello - playing the first movement of Beethoven’s E minor quartet Op.59 No.2 Razoumovsky

TOUR 6 - CONTEMPO QUARTET

Limerick - Bray - Castletownshend - Cork - Dublin

ConTempo Quartet

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

Mozart - String Quartet in D minor K.421 [1783]
Rhona Clarke - Pas de Quatre [2009 rev 2023]
Beethoven - String Quartet in E minor Op.59 No.2 Rasoumovsky [1806]

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 minor quartet K.421 is the second in the set of six quartets that Mozart dedicated to Haydn, famously describing them as his children and as ‘the fruit of long and laborious efforts’. It is the only one of the set in a minor key and the prevailing mood of intense darkness sets in memorable relief those precious moments where the music moves into a major key and the clouds lift.

Rhona Clarke’s ‘Pas de Quatre’ was written for the ConTempo Quartet in 2009. The title (A Dance for Four) is inspired by the movement between the players as they direct and interact with each other. 

Beethoven wrote his set of three Rasoumovsky Quartets in 1806, commissioned by the Russian Ambassador in Vienna, Count Andrey Rasoumovsky. The famously edgy and brittle first movement gives way to one of Beethoven’s most gorgeous creations, the slow second movement which he marked ‘to be played with deep feeling’. The intricate Scherzo is followed by a wild and spectacularly virtuosic finale.

Click on the venues for bookings (when available):

LIMERICK - Sunday 30th March at 3.30pm - University Concert Hall
BRAY - Wednesday 2nd April at 8pm - Mermaid Arts Centre
CASTLETOWNSHEND - Friday 4th April at 8pm - St. Barrahane’s Church - presented by Barrahane Music
CORK - Saturday 5th April at 1pm - Triskel Arts Centre
DUBLIN - Sunday 6th April at 12pm - Hugh Lane Gallery

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TOUR 7 - VANBRUGH & FRIENDS - April 11-13

Kilmallock - Kinsale - Fota

Vanbrugh & Friends

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

STRING QUINTET FAVOURITES!

A programme of jewels from the string quintet repertoire including movements from:

Boccherini - String Quintet in E major G.402 [1802]
Mozart - String Quintet in C major K.515 [1787]
Beethoven - String Quintet in E flat major Op.4 [1795]
Brahms - String Quintet in G major Op.111 [1890]
Brahms - String Quintet in B minor Op.115 [1891]
Dvořák - String Quintet in E flat major Op.97 ‘American’ [1893]

Click on the venues for bookings (when available):

KILMALLOCK - Friday 11th April at 8pm - Friar’s Gate Theatre - presented by Lime Tree Theatre
KINSALE - Saturday 12th April at 8pm - St Catherine’s Cultural Centre
FOTA - Sunday 13th April at 3pm - Fota House - presented by Irish Heritage Trust

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TOUR 8 - CONTEMPO QUARTET with Christopher Marwood - April 26

Sligo

ConTempo Quartet

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

Mozart - Quartet in D minor K.421
Rhona Clarke - Pas de Quatre [2009 rev. 2023]
Schubert - String Quintet in C major D.956 [1828]

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 minor quartet K.421 is the second in the set of six quartets that Mozart dedicated to Haydn, famously describing them as his children and as ‘the fruit of long and laborious efforts’. It is the only one of the set in a minor key and the prevailing mood of intense darkness sets in memorable relief those precious moments where the music moves into a major key and the clouds lift.

Rhona Clarke’s ‘Pas de Quatre’ was written for the ConTempo Quartet in 2009. The title (A Dance for Four) is inspired by the movement between the players as they direct and interact with each other. 

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 .

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