FRENCH harpsichordist and musician Oli Garde will give a free concert at Kilgarriffe Church, Clonakilty on Friday October 30 at 8pm, offering a first introduction to an ambitious new cultural project: the proposed Foxglove Festival.

Oli Garde moved to Clonakilty with his family this year, drawn by his love of the region, its natural beauty and its way of life. An international performer with a particular interest in Baroque music and improvisation, he has appeared at prestigious venues including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Tokyo Opera City.

Since 2016, he has also been Artistic Director of France Baroque, a French association dedicated to promoting eighteenth-century culture around the world. He has already performed several concerts across County Cork, where his performances have been warmly received. He has also recorded music on a historic harpsichord preserved in Cork, reflecting his interest in the region’s musical heritage.
The proposed Foxglove Festival grows out of the same artistic vision that has shaped Garde’s career: bringing audiences together and breaking down barriers between classical and popular music, as well as between national musical traditions. At its heart is the belief that these worlds have much to say to one another, and that music can create connections across cultures and generations.

West Cork would be at the centre of this exchange, with Clonakilty as its epicentre. Drawing on Cork’s rich cultural life and Ireland’s distinctive, far-reaching musical traditions, the festival would use this local heritage as a starting point for a wider artistic journey around the world. The festival aims to celebrate the region and open doors to new encounters between musical styles, traditions and audiences, while remaining firmly rooted in Ireland’s rich musical heritage, from traditional Irish music to classical and popular music.

The October concert will offer a first taste of this vision, bringing together Irish composers such as Seán Ó Riada, Turlough O’Carolan and John Field with music from a wide range of traditions, including Béla Bartók, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Mozart and Beethoven, whose works reflect different relationships between classical and popular musical cultures. The programme will also feature unusual improvisations, rarely heard on the harpsichord and organ, drawing on both classical and modern influences, from film music to traditional and popular tunes, with plenty of humour along the way. All this will offer a glimpse of the musical diversity at the heart of the proposed Foxglove Festival, as plans develop for a possible launch in May 2027. Admission is free, with donations welcome.

Free tickets can be reserved via Eventbrite : Flight over the Foxgloves.