Kilkenny Arts Festival 2022 first announcements made today

Kilkenny Arts Festival has unveiled details of first announcements for this year's festival which includes some exciting artistic offerings.

The festival, which continued to present work across 2020 and 2021, in different ways and to smaller audiences due to restrictions, is looking forward to welcoming back audiences in full force to the Marble City from August 4 to 14.

The full festival programme will be announced in mid-June but today a number of first announcements were shared.

Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival, the award-winning team that brought you A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing, join forces once more to present a new take on Shakespeare’s classic – The Tempest. The acclaimed Carducci String Quartet will perform one of the great cycles ever written for the string quartet, Shostakovich’s 15 Quartets to be performed over six days in St. John’s Priory.
One of the world’s premier period ensembles Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin present a rich programme featuring the music of ‘Handel and Friends’ which will showcase the vibrant music scene of Baroque London while Irish band, Bell X1 join forces with genre-hopping Dowry Strings to reimagine their sounds, creating fresh new arrangements that set each song against a backdrop of lush, gorgeous strings.
Another festival highlight promises to be The Irish Baroque Orchestra and Tara Erraught performing songs and arias associated with legendary singer Giusto Tenducci at St. Canice’s Cathedral.
Malcolm Proud returns to Kilkenny Arts Festival to perform Bach’s complete masterwork The Well-tempered Clavier, Book I over two unmissable concerts in St John’s Priory.
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and the Irish Chamber Orchestra will finally perform to live audiences Róisín ReImagined, a stunning collaboration co-commissioned by the ICO and Kilkenny Arts Festival. Featuring Nic Amhlaoibh, musician and producer Dónal O’Connor, Irish Chamber Orchestra, and six composer/arrangers; Cormac McCarthy, Paul Campbell, Linda Buckley, Sam Perkin, Niamh Varian-Barry, and Michael Keeney – Róisín ReImagined breathes a whole new life in to the Sean Nós repertoire.
Another highlight will be a performance by renowned Mezzo-Soprano Ailish Tynan who returns to Kilkenny Arts Festival for a special Opera Gala night with the Irish Chamber Orchestra performing a selection of some of the best-loved repertoire from Mozart, Puccini, Lehar, Verdi and more.
Opera Collective Ireland and Kilkenny Arts Festival present Handel’s masterpiece ‘Semele’ with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin in partnership with dynamic choral ensemble Sestina. One of the richest and most compelling of all Handel operas, Semele sees the return of the creative team behind the critically acclaimed production of Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses and a star studded cast that includes Kelli-Ann Masterson, Jade Phoenix, Andrew Gavin, Dominica Williams, Gerben Van der Werf and Edward Hawkins.
Another highly anticipated performance will be Ireland’s flagship choral ensemble Chamber Choir Ireland, led by Paul Hillier, return to Kilkenny Arts Festival for a performance of Tchaikovsky's sublime large-scale work, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom while grammy award-winning violinist Johnny Gandelsman returns to Kilkenny to perform his unique version of the complete set of Bach’s cello suites.
 For more see www.kilkennyarts.ie