Major orchestral collaborations for Marble City Music Festival in Kilkenny

This May, Kilkenny’s Marble City Music Festival enters a new phase of artistic ambition with major orchestral events featuring international violinist Patrick Rafter, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and the Galway-based Luminosa String Orchestra.

Presented in two of Kilkenny’s most historic venues, the concerts reflect the festival’s continued growth, strengthening national artistic partnerships while bringing large-scale orchestral performances to the heart of the city.

The first concert takes place on Friday, May 8 at St. Canice’s Church on Dean Street , where Patrick Rafter joins forces with Luminosa String Orchestra to perform and direct Antonio Vivaldi’s iconic Four Seasons. One of the most celebrated works in classical music, these vivid and virtuosic concertos remain as electrifying today as they were three centuries ago. Included in the programme is also Elgar’s magical serenade for strings.

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One week later, on Friday, May 15 at St. Canice’s Cathedral, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra appears under Rafter’s baton in The Great Romantics, an expansive programme of orchestral favourites.

The evening features music from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Elgar’s Salut d’Amour and Sospiri, Amy Beach’s Romance, and Rossini’s brilliant Overture to The Barber of Seville. The concert forms part of an artistic collaboration between Patrick Rafter and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, following earlier performances together and ahead of a recording project planned for release later this year.

Artistic director Patrick Rafter said: “These collaborations reflect the direction in which the festival is moving — bringing Ireland’s finest musicians to Kilkenny and building upon a strong and growing reputation for joy-filled, world-class concerts.”

Tickets available from www.marblecitymusicfestival.com