West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival’s ‘Winter Weekend’ returns
The West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival’s Winter Weekend returns with three days of world-class performances at Russborough this November.
Featuring the Irish debut performance of the captivating Turkish cellist Jamal Aliyev as well as performances featuring world-renowned Irish soprano Ailish Tynan, the award winning Berlin-based Amatis Trio, and more.
It’s time to come in from the cold and enjoy world-class chamber music in the intimate and exquisite surroundings of Russborough House & Park in Blessington, Co. Wicklow. The West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival’s ‘Winter Weekend’ returns from 10-12 November with 4 extraordinary concerts to choose from.
Acclaimed Wicklow pianist and the festival’s Founder/Artistic Director Fiachra Garvey opens the Winter Weekend on Friday 10 November 8pm with Turkish cellist Jamal Aliyev. Celebrated by Classic FM as one of the “30 of the most brilliant young classical musicians playing today”, Jamal made his solo debut at the BBC Proms in 2017, performing for the celebrated film music composer John Williams’ 85th Birthday with the BBC Concert Orchestra. He has been captivating audiences all over the world ever since. Jamal and Fiachra have selected a programme that will treat audiences to the understated elegance of Eccles’ much-loved Sonata in G minor, before gradually shifting gears into the passionate exuberance of high Romanticism, with masterpieces by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms that span the 19th century.
Saturday 11 November at the Winter Weekend begins with a Rising Stars concert at 1pm featuring Irish Chamber Brass, a quintet featuring some of Ireland’s very finest young brass musicians: Nathan McDonnell and Erick Castill, trumpets; Peter Mullen, French horn; Daniel Boon. Trombone and Adam Buttimer, tuba. Irish Chamber Brass will perform a lively programme that includes the world premiere of the winning work from the West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival Composition Competition 2023, presented in partnership with Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland.
At 8pm on Saturday 11 November Amatis Trio present a programme titled Iuvenis Anima (Young Soul). All four featured works by Amanda Feery, Beethoven, Lili Boulanger and Mendelssohn were written when their composers were under the age of 35 and demonstrate both the flourishing energy of youth and a deep awareness of the ups and downs of human emotion. Regarded as one of the leading ensembles of their generation, the Amatis Trio (Lea Hausmann, violin; Samuel Shepherd, cello & Mengjie Han, piano) are celebrated for their energy, communication and passion. Regularly featuring in international festivals like the BBC Proms, Verbier Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival, they received rave reviews for their debut tour of Ireland in 2018 and will make their West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival debut this year.
World renowned Irish soprano Ailish Tynan joins pianist Fiachra Garvey for the festival’s closing concert on Sunday 12 November 3pm. Regarded as one of the finest singers on the world stage, Ailish is a former winner of the Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and is blazing an international career as an opera singer, recitalist and recording artist. Ailish and Fiachra present a wide-ranging programme that sets unforgettable Romantic songs by Schubert, Schumann and Strauss and popular songs by Barber and Herbert Hughes, alongside music inspired by the sensual and evocative poetry of James Joyce, W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney.
Tickets €10-€38 + booking fee from www.westwicklowfestival.com
The West Wicklow Festival is funded by the Arts Council and supported by Wicklow Arts Office, the Apollo Foundation and RTÉ Supporting the Arts.