ICO ANNOUNCES SPRING/SUMMER SEASON 2025

Irish Chamber Orchestra presents an eclectic array of concerts that will seduce and set hearts racing. Join us and experience an unparalleled mastery of music as we continue our theme of Shared Spaces throughout the Spring/Summer season 2025.

Enjoy the saxophone in a new light and be amazed by the extraordinary Jess Gillam, a BBC Young Musician finalist, and the youngest-ever soloist to perform at the BBC Proms. CPE Bach and Nadia Boulanger will charm and dazzle as you’ve never heard alongside the push and groove of music by David Bowie, David Heath and John Harle. Jess’s unique perspective will fill you with joy! Find your groove with Gillen in Galway, Balbriggan and Limerick on the 6, 7 and 8 February.

Thomas Zehetmair showcases Beethoven 4, his much-loved symphony, full of invention and unexpected turns. From water nymphs to mythology, hear how Mendelssohn was inspired by the mermaid Melusine in his magical overture The Fair Melusine. Piper Mick O’Brien brings The Mórrigan, the great warrior-queen goddess of Celtic mythology, to life in Áine Mallon’s extraordinary new work The Morrígan. Enjoy this world premiere in Dublin, Waterford and Limerick on 13, 14 and 15 March.

In April, revel in Henning Kraggerud’s interpretation of Vivaldi’s iconic Four Seasons as he intersperses three of his own imaginative and charming works between the Seasons. Immerse yourself in the experience as Kraggerud shares his love for this great music, contrasting Vivaldi’s moods between the seasons, merging the magic of old and new. Not to be missed in Dublin, Limerick and Newport-Mayo on the 10, 11 and 12 April.

Irish Chamber Orchestra collaborates with Ireland’s inaugural and all-island dance company Luail on Chora, a triple bill of new dance works by acclaimed choreographers Maria Campos and Guy Nader, Liz Roche, and Mufutau Yusuf. This ambitious exchange between dance and live contemporary and baroque music will mesmerise. Don’t miss this fantastic alliance as we perform Chora in Wexford, Dublin, Belfast and Cork.

At the end of May, ICO returns to the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival for performances of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Lismore Castle, Co. Waterford. Immerse yourself and enjoy the tangled web of relationships heading for catastrophe. Britten’s magical orchestration and melodic invention will enchant and entice you. Blackwater Valley Opera Festival runs from 26 May-2 June.

Kristian Bezuidenhout - playing piano

ICO Associate Artist Kristian Bezuidenhout returns with another pairing of Beethoven’s popular piano concerti. Be amazed by the remarkable Second concerto, written in profound deafness. Feel its energy as it brims with zest and surging exuberance. Beethoven’s much-loved masterwork, his Fourth concerto will sweep you away with its beauty. Don’t miss this Beethoven showcase in Limerick, Kerry and Dublin on 19, 20 and 21 June.

Revel in colourful collaborations in creative spaces unique to Irish Chamber Orchestra. As Ireland’s national chamber orchestra, we are lucky to call the University of Limerick home, while also regularly touring Ireland and internationally. TThe Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon fund us.

LISTINGS

February 2025

Irish Chamber Orchestra Jess Gillam Saxophone Katherine Hunka Director

BACH TO BOWIE
Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. 2 in D major MWV N2
C.P.E. Bach: Flute Concerto in A Minor: III. Allegro Assai
Dave Heath: The Celtic
Elaine Agnew: Twilight
Boulanger (arr. Vennart): Cantique

Bowie (arr. Vennart): Life on Mars
John Harle (arr. Perkin): RANT!

  • Thursday 6 February Town Hall Theatre, Galway, 8.00pm | Tickets: €30, €25, €10, €5 (plus €1 booking fee) Tickets www.tht.ie 091 569777.
  • Friday 7 February The Lark Concert Hall, Balbriggan, Dublin, 7.30pm | Tickets: €30, €25, €10, €5
  • Saturday 8 February University Concert Hall, Limerick, 7.30pm | Tickets: €30, €25, €10, €5

March 2025

Irish Chamber Orchestra Thomas Zehetmair Conductor Mick O’Brien Uilleann Pipes

BEETHOVEN 4
Mendelssohn: The Fair Melusine Op. 32
Áine Mallon: The Morrígan (world premiere)
Beethoven: Symphony No.4, Op.60, B-flat major

  • Thursday 13 March | Whyte Recital Hall, RIAM, Dublin, 7.30pm | Tickets: €30, €25, €10, €5
  • Friday 14 March | Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford, 7.30pm | Tickets: €30, €15
  • Saturday 15 March | University Concert Hall, Limerick, 7.30pm | Tickets: €30, €25, €10, €5

April 2025

Irish Chamber Orchestra Henning Kraggerud Director/Violin

THE FOUR SEASONS
Vivaldi: Concerto No.1 in E major “Spring”
Kraggerud: Victimae Paschali
Vivaldi: Concerto No.2 in G minor “Summer”
Kraggerud: Variation Suite for Violin and Cello

Vivaldi: Concerto No.3 “Autumn”
Kraggerud: Preghiera
Vivaldi: Concerto no.4 “Winter”

  • Thursday 10 April | Whyte Recital Hall, RIAM, Dublin,7.30pm | Tickets: €30, €25, €10, €5
  • Friday 11 April | University Concert Hall, Limerick, 7.30pm | Tickets: €30, €25, €10, €5
  • Saturday 12 April | St. Patrick’s Church, Newport, Mayo, 7.30pm | Tickets: €25, €20, €10 U/10’s Go free

May 2025

Irish Chamber Orchestra Luail Dance Company

CHORA

  • 9 May | Wexford Opera Festival
  • 13 May | Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin 7.30pm | Tickets: €26.50 – €56.50
  • 18 May | Lyric Theatre, Belfast, 6pm | Tickets: £15-£20
  • 28 May | Cork Opera House, Cork, 8pm | Tickets: €30
Irish Chamber Orchestra Blackwater Valley Opera Festival 26 May – 2 June 2025

Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

  • Wednesday 28 May | Lismore Castle Tickets on sale Feb. 25
  • Friday 30 May | Lismore Castle Tickets on sale Feb. 25
  • Saturday 31 May | Lismore Castle Tickets on sale Feb. 25
  • Sunday 1 June | Lismore Castle Tickets on sale Feb. 25

June 2025

Irish Chamber Orchestra Kristian Bezuidenhout Director/Piano

BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 2 & 4
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60

  • Thursday 19 June | University Concert Hall, Limerick, 7.30pm | Tickets: €30, €25, €10, €5
  • Friday 20 June | Siamsa Tire, Tralee, Kerry, 7.30pm | Tickets €30, €25, €10, €5
  • Saturday 21 June | Whyte Recital Hall, RIAM, Dublin, 7.30pm | Tickets: €30, €25, €10, €5

Bookings: www.irishchamberorchestra.com