THE celebrated Cork violinist Mairead Hickey will be performing at St Brendan’s Church in Bantry on Sunday, February 25th at 3pm, getting the ninth Ortús Chamber Music Festival off to a special start.
Mairead will be performing at the West Cork venue with Dutch musician Ella van Poucke on cello. The concert features Bach Cello Suite no 4 in E flat major BWV1010, Gliere 8 Morceaux Op 39, Telemann Violin Fantasia no 1 in B flat major, and Ravel Duo for violin and cello.
‘We are looking forward to our ninth festival in 2024 – with a wonderful group of musicians,’ said Mairead. ‘We encourage everyone to come along to a venue near you to enjoy the festival, whether you have been before or whether you are coming along for the very first time.’
The Ortús festival was founded in 2016 by Mairéad and Sinéad O’Halloran, who set it up with the goal of providing audiences with performances by some of the best musicians from Ireland and around the world.
This year the festival runs from February 25th to March 3rd in venues around Cork city and county, featuring 10 top chamber musicians.
This year the festival is curated by Mairéad.
As well as St Brendan’s Church in Bantry, other venues include MTU Cork School of Music, My Place Midleton, St George’s Arts Centre, Mitchelstown and St Peter’s Cork on North Main Street in Cork City.
The six different concerts in the Ortús 2024 Chamber Music Festival will give audiences a chance to enjoy Brahm’s beloved first piano quartet, Beethoven’s epic Archduke Trio, Schubert’s Grand Duo, songs by Ravel and De Falla and a varied programme of chamber music spanning the centuries, from the early music of Byrd and Carolan to more contemporary works by Perruchon and Sam Perkin.
The line-up also includes Irish musicians Alex Petcu (percussion), Kelley Petcu (voice), Seán Morgan-Rooney (piano), Aoife Nic Athlaoich (cello) and Siobhán Armstrong (harp) alongside Cork based violinist, Marja Gaynor, Dominican-Russian Karolina Errera and French pianist Jérémie Moreau.
Tickets for the concert in Bantry are priced from €10 for students to €25, and all details are available on ortusfestival.ie or see westcorkmusic.ie for tickets.
Meanwhile, chamber quartet the Ficino Ensemble will join pianist Finghin Collins as they perform music by Mozart, McKay and Penderecki at St Brendan’s in Bantry on Friday, February 2nd at 7.30pm. Tickets are priced at €20 or €10 for students. See westcorkmusic.ie
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