Festival Classical Music Programme
MEDIA RELEASE - 44th Belfast Festival at Queens – Classical Music Programme
The breathtaking voice of one of the world’s leading tenors, the funky sounds of an unusual pairing and a 50th birthday celebration of one of Northern Ireland’s highly respected composers are just some of the highlights of the Classical Music programme at Ireland’s biggest international arts festival, the Belfast Festival at Queen’s, which runs from 19th October to 4th November.
Topping the bill at this year’s festival is The Ulster Bank Opening Concert on Friday 20th October at the Waterfront Hall, featuring world-renown Argentine tenor José Cura, with the Ulster Orchestra. Maestro Cura, who has been hailed in the media as the successor to the Pavarotti-Domingo-Carreras triumvirate and baptised as "the fourth tenor", was the first artist to sing and conduct simultaneously both in concert and on recordings.
He is a compelling actor, charismatic stage performer, and has starred in performances at major opera houses around the world. For his performance at the Belfast Festival at Queen’s - his only UK and Ireland appearance in 2006 - Cura will once again sing and conduct arias and overtures from some of the world’s greatest operas. Following his Belfast Festival at Queen’s appearance, Cura will head to New York where he will play Cavaradossi in Franco Zefferelli’s production of Tosca at The Met.
This year’s Closing Concert features one of the world’s most highly regarded pianists, Dmitri Alexeev, who will join the Ulster Orchestra on Friday 3rd November to celebrate the Shostakovich anniversary year with a performance of the Russian master’s Piano Concerto No 1 in C minor, Op 35, featuring Paul Young on trumpet and Finnish conductor Tuomas Ollila.
Described by The Daily Telegraph as of one of “the most remarkable pianists of the day”, Alexeev has enjoyed a top-level international career and has appeared as a recitalist and as a soloist with the major orchestras throughout Europe, Japan, Australasia, the Far East and the United States.
Also joining the Ulster Orchestra on stage will be English soprano Janice Watson, a former winner of the Kathleen Ferrier memorial award, who will perform the Northern Ireland premiere of one of the most popular pieces of modern classical music, Symphony No 3 Op. 36 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’, written by the acclaimed Polish composer Henryk Gorecki. The evening will open with the orchestra performing Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten, Arvo Part’s tribute to what he saw as the unusual purity of Britten’s music.
Distant Light (Clonard Monastery, Friday 27th October) is a concert of two wonderful halves, one for strings and one for wind, as the Ulster Orchestra marks its own 40th birthday with a celebration of two composers’ birthdays – Pēteris Vasks and Mozart.
The music of 60 year old Latvian Vasks is infused with a strongly spiritual sense and a real concern for the beauty of life and the ecological and moral issues which threaten that beauty. Cantabile from 1979 is “an expression of joy”; Distant Light, a violin concerto from 1997, is “nostalgia with a touch of tragedy.
Mozart at 250 is marked with a performance of his Serenade, the Gran Partita, for 13 wind instruments. It’s a mix of robust dances, easy-going charm, and a poignant, very personal slow movement.
The highly popular Coffee Concerts (presented in association with BBC Radio Ulster) return with Derry-born saxophonist Gerard McChrystal and Australian guitarist Craig Ogden, who have spent the past year developing an original repertoire combining the natural jazz roots of the saxophone with folk and Celtic influences to produce some funky new works. This year sees the release of their new album pluckblow, which features new music from Ireland, Australia, UK and Germany. They will perform at the Great Hall at Queen’s University on Saturday 28th October.
The Callino Quartet, which was described by the Irish Times as “the most polished young string Quartet that Ireland has recently produced”, make their Belfast Festival at Queen’s debut on Saturday 4th November. Now in its sixth year, the Quartet regularly appears in festivals and concerts throughout Europe and has collaborated with such established and diverse artists as the Vanbrugh and Vogler String Quartets and the Paris-Bastille Wind Octet.
Soprano Anna Devin and mezzo Nora King, mezzo - two of Ireland’s finest young singers - will perform a programme to include songs by Mozart, Schumann, Rossini and Philip Martin on Saturday 21st October at the Great Hall, Queen’s University.
This year’s BBC Invitation Concert will feature the world premiere of a major new work by Belfast-born composer Deirdre Gribbin. Gribbin wrote Goliath for percussion and orchestra but has used the distinctive drumming patterns of the Lambeg Drum complement the symphony orchestra. This performance at the Ulster Hall on Sunday 22nd October will also feature virtuoso solo percussionist Colin Currie.
Some of Ireland’s top singers will dazzle audiences at the Great Hall at Queen’s University on Wednesday 1st November as part of the National Chamber Choir, an independent, full time professional ensemble. The choir’s repertoire spans the period from 11th century chant to the music of the 21st century.
This year sees one of Northern Ireland’s most accomplished chamber choirs, The Priory Singers, celebrate its 20th anniversary and to mark the occasion the group will perform the Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina from the gallery of the Black & White Hall on Saturday 4th November.
Fresh from the success of her Wigmore Hall debut, Irish pianist Maria McGarry makes her way to the festival to perform one of two events which celebrates the legacy of the former Chancellor of Queen’s, Sir Tyrone Guthrie.
McGarry, recipient of the coveted Artist Diploma in Performance from the Juilliard School in 2003, has been performing regularly in major venues across Europe, North America and Asia. She has received consistent praise from critics for her intuitive musicianship, depth of interpretation and uniquely personal style and will delight audiences at the Sonic Arts Research Centre on Saturday 21st October as part of the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig. This recital is sponsored by The Belfast Telegraph.
Composer Piers Hellawell will celebrate his 50th birthday this year and to mark the occasion the festival will hold two events in his honour. The Schubert Ensemble, one of Britain’s leading exponents of chamber music for piano and strings will perform two of Hellawell’s works at the Great Hall on Wednesday 25th October, while Scandinavia’s leading brass players, the Stockholm Chamber Brass, will perform the UK premiere of Hellawell’s most recent works on Thursday, 26th October at the Sonic Arts Research Centre.
Tickets for these events are currently on sale from the Festival Box Office on telephone 028 90971197 or online from www.belfastfestival.com, where full programme details are also available.
ENDS.
For further information, please contact Sarah Hughes, Communications Officer, Belfast Festival at Queen’s on telephone 028 90971398 or email s.hughes@qub.ac.uk
Classical Music Programme – Belfast Festival at Queen’s – Event Listings
The Ulster Bank Opening Concert 2006 - José Cura and the Ulster Orchestra
With the Ulster Orchestra
DATE: Friday 20 October
TIME: 8 PM
VENUE: Belfast Waterfront Hall
TICKETS: £15, £32.50, £40, £49.50, £57.50
Coffee Concert – Anna Devin and Nora King
DATE: Saturday 21 October
TIME: 11am
TICKETS: Admission Free
BBC Invitation Concert
Date: Sunday 22 October
Time: 8pm
Venue: Ulster Hall
Tickets: Admission Free
Coffee Concert - The Callino Quartet
DATE: Saturday 4 November
TIME: 11am
VENUE: The Great Hall, QUB
TICKETS: Free
Coffee Concert - Gerard McChrystal and Craig Ogden
Date: Saturday 28 October
Time: 11.00am
Venue: Great Hall, QUB
Tickets: fREE
National Chamber Choir
Date: Wednesday 1 November
Time: 7.45 pm
Venue: Great Hall, QUB
Tickets: £8
The Priory Singers
Date: Saturday 4 November
Time: 10.00 pm
Venue: Black & White Hall
Tickets: Free
Maria McGarry
DATE: Saturday 21 October
time: 8pm
VENUE: Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC)
Tickets: £6
Stockholm Chamber Brass
Date: Thursday 26 October
Time: 8pm
Venue: SARC
Tickets: £15 / £10
Schubert Ensemble
Date: Wednesday 25 October
Time: 8pm
Venue: Great Hall
Tickets: £15 / £10
Distant Light – The Ulster Orchestra 40th birthday celebration – (programme includes Vasks and Mozart)
DATE: Friday 27 October
TIME: 8pm
VENUE: Clonard Monastery
TICKETS: £13.50 / £10
Tickets for these events will be on sale from Thursday 7th September from the Festival Box Office on telephone 028 90971197 or online from www.belfastfestival.com, where full programme details will also be available.
The breathtaking voice of one of the world’s leading tenors, the funky sounds of an unusual pairing and a 50th birthday celebration of one of Northern Ireland’s highly respected composers are just some of the highlights of the Classical Music programme at Ireland’s biggest international arts festival, the Belfast Festival at Queen’s, which runs from 19th October to 4th November.
Topping the bill at this year’s festival is The Ulster Bank Opening Concert on Friday 20th October at the Waterfront Hall, featuring world-renown Argentine tenor José Cura, with the Ulster Orchestra. Maestro Cura, who has been hailed in the media as the successor to the Pavarotti-Domingo-Carreras triumvirate and baptised as "the fourth tenor", was the first artist to sing and conduct simultaneously both in concert and on recordings.
He is a compelling actor, charismatic stage performer, and has starred in performances at major opera houses around the world. For his performance at the Belfast Festival at Queen’s - his only UK and Ireland appearance in 2006 - Cura will once again sing and conduct arias and overtures from some of the world’s greatest operas. Following his Belfast Festival at Queen’s appearance, Cura will head to New York where he will play Cavaradossi in Franco Zefferelli’s production of Tosca at The Met.
This year’s Closing Concert features one of the world’s most highly regarded pianists, Dmitri Alexeev, who will join the Ulster Orchestra on Friday 3rd November to celebrate the Shostakovich anniversary year with a performance of the Russian master’s Piano Concerto No 1 in C minor, Op 35, featuring Paul Young on trumpet and Finnish conductor Tuomas Ollila.
Described by The Daily Telegraph as of one of “the most remarkable pianists of the day”, Alexeev has enjoyed a top-level international career and has appeared as a recitalist and as a soloist with the major orchestras throughout Europe, Japan, Australasia, the Far East and the United States.
Also joining the Ulster Orchestra on stage will be English soprano Janice Watson, a former winner of the Kathleen Ferrier memorial award, who will perform the Northern Ireland premiere of one of the most popular pieces of modern classical music, Symphony No 3 Op. 36 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’, written by the acclaimed Polish composer Henryk Gorecki. The evening will open with the orchestra performing Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten, Arvo Part’s tribute to what he saw as the unusual purity of Britten’s music.
Distant Light (Clonard Monastery, Friday 27th October) is a concert of two wonderful halves, one for strings and one for wind, as the Ulster Orchestra marks its own 40th birthday with a celebration of two composers’ birthdays – Pēteris Vasks and Mozart.
The music of 60 year old Latvian Vasks is infused with a strongly spiritual sense and a real concern for the beauty of life and the ecological and moral issues which threaten that beauty. Cantabile from 1979 is “an expression of joy”; Distant Light, a violin concerto from 1997, is “nostalgia with a touch of tragedy.
Mozart at 250 is marked with a performance of his Serenade, the Gran Partita, for 13 wind instruments. It’s a mix of robust dances, easy-going charm, and a poignant, very personal slow movement.
The highly popular Coffee Concerts (presented in association with BBC Radio Ulster) return with Derry-born saxophonist Gerard McChrystal and Australian guitarist Craig Ogden, who have spent the past year developing an original repertoire combining the natural jazz roots of the saxophone with folk and Celtic influences to produce some funky new works. This year sees the release of their new album pluckblow, which features new music from Ireland, Australia, UK and Germany. They will perform at the Great Hall at Queen’s University on Saturday 28th October.
The Callino Quartet, which was described by the Irish Times as “the most polished young string Quartet that Ireland has recently produced”, make their Belfast Festival at Queen’s debut on Saturday 4th November. Now in its sixth year, the Quartet regularly appears in festivals and concerts throughout Europe and has collaborated with such established and diverse artists as the Vanbrugh and Vogler String Quartets and the Paris-Bastille Wind Octet.
Soprano Anna Devin and mezzo Nora King, mezzo - two of Ireland’s finest young singers - will perform a programme to include songs by Mozart, Schumann, Rossini and Philip Martin on Saturday 21st October at the Great Hall, Queen’s University.
This year’s BBC Invitation Concert will feature the world premiere of a major new work by Belfast-born composer Deirdre Gribbin. Gribbin wrote Goliath for percussion and orchestra but has used the distinctive drumming patterns of the Lambeg Drum complement the symphony orchestra. This performance at the Ulster Hall on Sunday 22nd October will also feature virtuoso solo percussionist Colin Currie.
Some of Ireland’s top singers will dazzle audiences at the Great Hall at Queen’s University on Wednesday 1st November as part of the National Chamber Choir, an independent, full time professional ensemble. The choir’s repertoire spans the period from 11th century chant to the music of the 21st century.
This year sees one of Northern Ireland’s most accomplished chamber choirs, The Priory Singers, celebrate its 20th anniversary and to mark the occasion the group will perform the Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina from the gallery of the Black & White Hall on Saturday 4th November.
Fresh from the success of her Wigmore Hall debut, Irish pianist Maria McGarry makes her way to the festival to perform one of two events which celebrates the legacy of the former Chancellor of Queen’s, Sir Tyrone Guthrie.
McGarry, recipient of the coveted Artist Diploma in Performance from the Juilliard School in 2003, has been performing regularly in major venues across Europe, North America and Asia. She has received consistent praise from critics for her intuitive musicianship, depth of interpretation and uniquely personal style and will delight audiences at the Sonic Arts Research Centre on Saturday 21st October as part of the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig. This recital is sponsored by The Belfast Telegraph.
Composer Piers Hellawell will celebrate his 50th birthday this year and to mark the occasion the festival will hold two events in his honour. The Schubert Ensemble, one of Britain’s leading exponents of chamber music for piano and strings will perform two of Hellawell’s works at the Great Hall on Wednesday 25th October, while Scandinavia’s leading brass players, the Stockholm Chamber Brass, will perform the UK premiere of Hellawell’s most recent works on Thursday, 26th October at the Sonic Arts Research Centre.
Tickets for these events are currently on sale from the Festival Box Office on telephone 028 90971197 or online from www.belfastfestival.com, where full programme details are also available.
ENDS.
For further information, please contact Sarah Hughes, Communications Officer, Belfast Festival at Queen’s on telephone 028 90971398 or email s.hughes@qub.ac.uk
Classical Music Programme – Belfast Festival at Queen’s – Event Listings
The Ulster Bank Opening Concert 2006 - José Cura and the Ulster Orchestra
With the Ulster Orchestra
DATE: Friday 20 October
TIME: 8 PM
VENUE: Belfast Waterfront Hall
TICKETS: £15, £32.50, £40, £49.50, £57.50
Coffee Concert – Anna Devin and Nora King
DATE: Saturday 21 October
TIME: 11am
TICKETS: Admission Free
BBC Invitation Concert
Date: Sunday 22 October
Time: 8pm
Venue: Ulster Hall
Tickets: Admission Free
Coffee Concert - The Callino Quartet
DATE: Saturday 4 November
TIME: 11am
VENUE: The Great Hall, QUB
TICKETS: Free
Coffee Concert - Gerard McChrystal and Craig Ogden
Date: Saturday 28 October
Time: 11.00am
Venue: Great Hall, QUB
Tickets: fREE
National Chamber Choir
Date: Wednesday 1 November
Time: 7.45 pm
Venue: Great Hall, QUB
Tickets: £8
The Priory Singers
Date: Saturday 4 November
Time: 10.00 pm
Venue: Black & White Hall
Tickets: Free
Maria McGarry
DATE: Saturday 21 October
time: 8pm
VENUE: Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC)
Tickets: £6
Stockholm Chamber Brass
Date: Thursday 26 October
Time: 8pm
Venue: SARC
Tickets: £15 / £10
Schubert Ensemble
Date: Wednesday 25 October
Time: 8pm
Venue: Great Hall
Tickets: £15 / £10
Distant Light – The Ulster Orchestra 40th birthday celebration – (programme includes Vasks and Mozart)
DATE: Friday 27 October
TIME: 8pm
VENUE: Clonard Monastery
TICKETS: £13.50 / £10
Tickets for these events will be on sale from Thursday 7th September from the Festival Box Office on telephone 028 90971197 or online from www.belfastfestival.com, where full programme details will also be available.
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