National Concert Hall CHAMBER MUSIC GATHERING Saturday 4 January 2020 | 11am | 1pm | 4.30pm nch.ie 01 417 0000 THE NATIONAL STRING QUARTET FOUNDATION The National String Quartet Foundation is a legacy of the work of the Vanbrugh Quartet. Resident Quartet to RTÉ from 1986 to 2013 and Artists in Residence at University College, Cork from 1990 until the retirement of violinist Gregory Ellis in 2017, the Vanbrugh Quartet gave nearly two thousand concerts throughout Ireland as well as enjoying a successful international career. The Foundation creates and sponsors projects which bring live chamber music to audiences nationwide. It is committed to supporting musicians who wish to explore and perform the string quartet repertoire and to helping concert promoters present this rich and rewarding music. The National String Quartet Foundation is supported by the Arts Council and by RTÉ. It is Chamber Music Partner to University College, Cork and also gratefully acknowledges the support of Cork City Council and Cork County Council. Please visit www.nsqf.ie for details of upcoming events and to sign up for email updates. The National String Quartet Foundation CLG is a registered charity No.20200357 Executive and Artistic Director: Christopher Marwood. Directors: John Horgan, David Stang, Carmel Best. Members: Deborah Kelleher, SimonTaylor, Virginia Teehan, Ian Wilson, Pauline MacSweeney WELCOME NOTE The National Concert Hall is delighted to host this fourth Chamber Music Gathering, once again bringing together many of Ireland’s finest young and established musicians for a day-long New Year celebration. Today’s eclectic programme features works by Beethoven, Glazunov, Schubert, Rimsky- Korsakov, Mozart, Hindemith and Tchaikovsky. The Chamber Music Gathering – presented in association with the National String Quartet Foundation – is a wonderful way to commence another year of chamber music recitals in the National Concert Hall with enchanting performances by a selection of our finest domestic musicians. The opening of the refurbished Kevin Barry Recital Room in 2016 provided a space to nurture this talent and the annual chamber music programme has gone from strength to strength ever since. Providing such opportunities for Irish musicians is at the heart of the National Concert Hall’s raison d’être and we are delighted that both the Gathering and the String Quartet Series have now established themselves as integral elements in our concert programme. The Chamber Music Gathering would not be possible without the steadfast efforts of the National String Quartet Foundation’s artistic and executive director Christopher Marwood who put together the programme for today’s event and to whom we are exceedingly grateful. Wishing you all a happy, peaceful and music-filled 2020. Maura McGrath Simon Taylor Chairperson CEO 1 CHAMBER MUSIC GATHERING 2020 11am Kevin Barry Recital Room Beethoven String Quintet in C major, Op. 29 Phoebe White violin | David Tobin violin Katherine Hunka viola | Seamus Hickey viola | Aoife Burke cello Glazunov String Quintet in A major, Op. 39 Gina Maria McGuinness violin | Christopher Quaid violin Fiachra de hÓra viola | Sinéad O’Halloran cello Gerald Peregrine cello 13.05 The Studio Schubert Octet in F major, D.803 Mia Cooper violin | Lidia Jewloszewicz-Clarke violin Ed Creedon viola | Willian Butt cello | Dominic Dudley double bass John Finucane clarinet | Greg Crowley bassoon | Hannah Miller horn Rimsky-Korsakov String Sextet in A major Sarah Sew violin | Maria Ryan violin | David Kenny viola Martin Moriarty viola | Peggy Nolan cello | Martin Johnson cello 16.30 University Church St. Stephen’s Green Mozart String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K.593 Katherine Hunka violin | Kate Fleming violin Fiachra de hÓra viola | Beth McNinch viola Aoife Nic Athlaoich cello Hindemith Clarinet Quintet Op.30 David Tobin violin | Jane Hackett violin | Lucy Nolan viola Sinéad O’Halloran cello | Macdara Ó Seiradáin clarinet Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence Op. 70 Róisín Walters violin | Phoebe White violin | Seamus Hickey viola Ed Creedon viola | Christopher Marwood cello | Zoë Nagle cello REMINDERS Mobile Devices Please ensure all mobile devices are switched off during the performance. Camera, Video and Tape Recording Cameras, video equipment and tape recorders are NOT permitted in the auditorium. Intervals and Timings Intervals vary with each event – for some concerts, there is no interval. Latecomers will not be admitted until there is a suitable break in the performance. 2 CAMERATA IRELAND RESIDENCY with BARRY DOUGLAS WEDNESDAY 29 JANUARY 2020, 8PM Barry Douglas piano/conductor | Camerata Ireland Beethoven Overture “Coriolan” Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” Tickets €35, €30, €25, €19.50 nch.ie 01 417 0000 3 CHAMBER MUSIC GATHERING 2020 AOIFE BURKE cello A native of Cork, Aoife studied at RNCM and the Folkwang Universität der Künste, graduating with a first- class BMus. (Hons.) and an LRSM Diploma in Performance with Distinction in 2014. She also holds a first-class MA in Performance from the CIT Cork School of Music, where she studied under Christopher Marwood. Aoife has collaborated with The Vanbrugh, Musici Ireland and the Gavin Bryars, Kirkos and Ficino Ensembles and she currently holds a residency at the Triskel Arts Centre, where she curates the Spotlight Chamber Music Series. As an orchestral player, she has toured Europe, Asia and the UAE extensively with the RTÉ Orchestras, RLPO, BBC NOW, ICO and Camerata Ireland, performing at the BBC Proms, and Würzburg Mozart, Naantali, Aldeburgh and Cheltenham Festivals, among others. WILLIAM BUTT cello William Butt was born in London and started his musical career early as a chorister in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. After graduating from the RNCM he continued his studies in Montreal. He has since enjoyed a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. He has performed and broadcast all the major concerti for RTÉ and the BBC. In recital he has regularly toured in Europe and China. As well as often performing the formidable solo sonatas of Ligeti and Kodály, he has recorded the suites by Britten and Bach for Warner Classics. William is a member of the Esposito String Quartet. Passionate about teaching, William is Senior Cello Teacher at the RIAM in Dublin and plays on a fine cello made by Giovanni Grancino in Milan (1690). 4 MIA COOPER violin Mia was appointed leader of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in 2006, and in this role has worked with musicians as diverse as Pavarotti to 2FM DJ Jenny Greene, and venues from the Vatican to the main stage at the Electric Picnic. Before moving to Dublin to take up her position, Mia was a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and a Guest Leader of many orchestras including the Philharmonia, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Mia is a member of the Esposito Quartet who have performed at venues across Ireland and at festivals in France, Mumbai, Lithuania, Spain and the U.K. Mia has recorded a wide variety of chamber music and teaches at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. ED CREEDON viola Ed Creedon enjoys a varied career as a viola player, performing chamber music, in recitals and as an orchestral musician. Last year he performed in the National Concert Hall Chamber Music Gathering, toured throughout Ireland with the Lir String Quartet, toured to Finland, France and India with Camerata Ireland and performed with Camerata Ireland and Barry Douglas. Recent chamber music highlights include performances with the Vanbrugh Quartet, as well as appearances with the Ficino Ensemble, the Piatti Quartet and repeat invitations to the Clandeboye Festival in Belfast and the Killaloe Festival of Chamber Music. For four consecutive summers he took part in the West Cork Chamber Music Festival’s Young Musician’s Programme. Ed comes from Cork and studied with Constantin Zanidache and Simon Aspell at the Cork School of Music. 5 CHAMBER MUSIC GATHERING 2020 GREG CROWLEY bassoon Greg Crowley is a bassoonist from Dublin. From the age of 12 he studied with John Hearne at the DIT Conservatory of Music & Drama. Having completed his undergraduate studies in 2019 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, he now studies part time on the Master’s course at RCS under the tutelage of David Hubbard, Alison Green and Graeme Brown. A regular freelancer in Scotland, he has played with many of the country’s finest orchestras including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera and Scotland’s contemporary music group the Red Note Ensemble. Outside of Scotland, he is currently on trial for bassoon positions with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. FIACHRA DE HORA viola Dublin-born Fiachra de hOra (20) is quickly becoming one of Ireland’s most prominent young musicians and is in regular demand as a soloist and chamber musician. He is in his first year of bachelor studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, studying with Nobuko Imai and Marjolein Dispa. As a soloist he has given a sold-out evening recital in the NCH Kevin Barry Recital Room and featured as a young platform artist with a recital in the Westport Festival of Chamber Music. He recently made his concerto debut performing Walton Viola concerto with the Ulster Orchestra. This is his third year taking part in the Gathering. 6 DOMINIC DUDLEY double bass Dominic Dudley was born in Dundee, Scotland, and started double bass at thirteen and continued his studies at the Guildhall School of Music with Thomas Martin. In 2019, after 25 years, Dominic retired from Section Leader (Principal/Solo) Double Bass with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. In recent seasons he has also been Guest Principal at the RPO, CBSO, Hallé, Oxford Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Swan.