More Hugh Lane

Some more great free music at the Hugh Lane Gallery, with an extra treat for the next 3 Saturdays (1.05pm) when the 3 Irish pianists selected to participate in the 2012 Dublin International Piano Competition (which runs from May 4-15) showcase their programmes. On Sat 31 you can hear Ben Shaffrey play Beethoven, Brahms and Liszt; on Sat 7 April Nadene Fiorentini plays Berg, Ravel, Granados and Chopin; and on Sat 14 Marie Carroll plays Ravel, Messiaen and Chopin. Meanwhile back in the Sundays @ Noon slot Duos for Harp and Cello sees NSO veterans Andreja Malir and Martin Johnson team up for works by Ravi Shankar, Jane O’Leary and Tedeschi, while on Sun 8 pianist Peter Tuite continues his joint survey of the Complete Haydn Piano Sonatas. A concert featuring contemporary composers Jennifer Walshe and Alessandro Bosetti on Sun 15 promises to be something quite different: ‘both local artists and composers that have been exploring the uncharted territory between music, speech and noise in a variety of forms ranging from experimental radio play, opera, instrumental music and performance, making use of an extremely broad palette of unconventional sounds. Alessandro Bosetti's approach is close to sound anthropology and incorporates social, behavioral and sociological aspects while in Jennifer Walshe's work a big role is played by text, narratives and mischievous humor.' And on Sun 22 Paul Hillier conducts the National Chamber Choir in An Irish Colloquy, including Tarik O’Regan’s The Spring, Arvo Pärt’s The Deer’s Cry, Nicholas Maw’s Five Irish Songs, excerpts from Piers Hellawell’s Isabella’s Banquet and works by Enda Bates, David Fennessy and Frank Corcoran.www.hughlane.ie

Sundays@ Noon

Lots of good stuff in the Hugh Lane’s Sundays@ Noon series. On Sun 10 a Words & Music session with clarinetist Paul Roe and actor/storyteller Nuala Hayes includes Tom Johnson’s Bedtime Stories as Gaeilge and the intriguing prospect of a new work by Stephen Gardner, Quiet, based on a verbal exchange in the Dail between John O'Donohoe and Michael Ring. Music for Mandolin and Guitar on Sun 18 features Italian duo Roberto Bascia & Giovanni Calo in a journey through the Italian musical tradition, with works by everyone from Vivaldi to Morricone. Ensemble Avalon on Sun 25 play piano trios by Haydn and Laoibhse Griffin and Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello. www.hughlane.ie

Sundays@ Noon

Where else would you be of a Sunday@ Noon but at the Hugh Lane Gallery for some fab free music. Sun 5 Feb sees violinist Maria Ryan team up with Una Hunt on piano for a fascinating programme of Mozart’s Violin Sonata K301, Arvo Part’s Fratres and Szymanovski’s Violin Sonata Op 9. On Sun 12 the Ensemble Blumina, a trio of oboe, piano and bassoon, play works by Jean Francaix, Andre Previn and Francis Poulenc. Sun 19 sees the start of a major new series, with pianists Fionnuala Moynihan and Peter Tuite performing the Complete Piano Sonatas of Haydn in a series of 12 recitals over the next 2 years. The first concert features Sonatas in E flat major, C minor, C major and E minor. On Sun 26 there's music by Vivaldi and Handel with soprano Deirdre Moynihan, Laoise O'Brien on recorders, Kate Hearne on cello and David Adams on harpsichord. Afterwards you can head up to the Unitarian Church on Stephens Green for another free concert (bucket collection for the organ restoration fund) featuring young baritone Benjamin Russell and pianist David O'Shea. www.hughlane.ie

Sundays@ Noon

Coming up at the Hugh Lane on Sun Oct 30, renowned harpsichordist Malcolm Proud performs JS Bach’s 6 Partitas for Harpsichord over 3 concerts, with introductions from musicologist David Ledbetter. First off is Partita No1 in B flat Major and No 2 in C minor, you can hear No 3 in A minor and No 4 in D Major on Sun 27 Nov, with the final concert featuring No 5 in G Major and No 6 in E minor on Sun 18 Dec. And for something completely different, Sun 6 Nov sees the world premiere of Benjamin Dwyer’s Umbilical, the story of Oedipus, Jocasta and Laius in ten musical scenes for amplified baroque violin, double bass, harpsichord and tape, featuring Maya Homburger, Barry Guy and David Adams. www.hughlane.ie

Sundays@ Noon

Lovers of Brass will be heading in their droves to the Hugh Lane on Sun 9 (12 noon, admission free) for an Introduction to Brass courtesy of Vox Merus. featuring Simon Menin and Andrea Vonk on trumpets, Alex Kidston on tuba, the NSO’s Cormac O hAodain on horn and the RTECO’s Steve Mathieson on trombone. It’s a lovely programme, paying gentle (if that’s a word you can use around brass) homage to two TCD luminaries, the late Joe Groocock and Brian Boydell, with the former’s Quintet for Brass and the latter’s Five Blows for Brass Quintet, both written in 1984. Also on the programme, Daniel Barkley’s up to the minute Five Run Away Together and Malcolm Arnolds 1961 Quintet for Brass. On Sun 16 you can hear contemporary music from Ireland and Slovenia featuring Joze Kotar on clarinet and Luca Ferrini on piano. www.hughlane.ie

Short & Sweet

Over the past while I’ve come to realise that despite my best intentions, life has a habit of intervening in my blogging schedule, so for the next few months I’m going to keep things short and sweet – basic info and a link. But remember, if it’s on the blog it’s worth checking out.So here goes:

Sundays@ Noon at the Hugh Lane Gallery is a definite must for any city dweller. Free music in a fab gallery, what more could you want? On Sun 19 you can hear pianist Finghin Collins, currently associate artist with the NSO, playing Beethoven and Debussy, and on Sun 26 contemporary music group Concorde team up with acclaimed violist Garth Knox for The Viola: A Wild Beast Unleashed, 5 new compositions by Irish composers inspired by the afore-mentioned Knox. www.hughlane.ie

And in the same venue for a small fee, on Sat 18 @3pm you can here the National Chamber Choir under the baton of the brilliant Paul Hillier singing music by Brahms and his early music influences including the likes of Gabrieli and Palestrina. www.nationalchamberchoir.com

A new cross-arts project Movement of Sound is at the Backloft on June 19, a collaboration between Karen Power (composer / live electronics), Mary Nunan (dancer and choreographer), Deirdre O’Leary (clarinet/ bass clarinet) and Kate Ellis (cello), featuring Irish premiers by international composers; Saariaho, Tiensuu and Hyla. And speaking of the Backloft, there’s a free concert on Fri 10 @7pm featuring RawClassico aka soprano Frances Marshall and classical guitarist John Feeley, a combination of Italian arias and Celtic repertoire, all arranged by Feeley.

www.thebackloft.blogspot.com

Some good stuff coming up at Art Polonia’s Centre for Creative Practice, where you can indulge in everything from jazz, flamenco, electro-acoustic, experimental music performance, folk music, storytelling, documentaries and a German movie night. Check out their website @ www.artpolonia.org

Popular French-based pianist Ivan Ilic is back again at the NCH’s John Field Room for a lunchtime recital on Fri 24 June, including his own arrangements of French songs by Debussy, Fauré, and Ernest Chausson, as well as two rarely-heard works from 1930 by Ravel and Godowsky. www.nch.ie

Next show into the Gate Theatre is Brian Friel’s thought-provoking exploration of personal identity Molly Sweeney, which had its premiere there some 15 years ago. Previewing from Thur 23 and opening on Tue 28 June, this new production is directed by Patrick Mason and features Dawn Bradfield, Michael Byrne and Peter Hanly. www.gatetheatre.ie

At Project til Sat 18 June, Loose Canon return to their Shakespearian roots with their take on A Midsummer Night's Dream? (note that question mark). As they so eloquently put it, “Is it about fairies and pixies and the course of true love not running smoothly? Or is it about getting f*cked off your face – so f*cked off your face that you end up f*cking a donkey?” Sounds like some party. www.projectartscentre.ie

Sundays@ Noon

Some great music coming up at the Hugh Lane Gallery. On Sun 17 April the Irish Baroque Orchestra Chamber Soloists , led by Grammy-nominee Monica Huggett , play Schubert’s wonderful Quintet, giving audiences a rare chance to hear this masterpiece, with its unusual combination of 2 cellos, 2 violins and viola, performed on period instruments as audiences in the 1830s would have heard it. On Sun 24 pianist and Fulbright Alum Therese Fahy presents inter-changes: the first decade of Irish piano music in the 21st century prior to a US tour as part of the Imagine Ireland festival. Representing a cross-section of Irish contemporary music, from the traditional to the avant-garde, it features works by Siobhan Cleary, Ronan Guilfoyle, Jonathan Nangle, Kevin O'Connell, Ian Wilson, Michael Holohan and Bill Whelan. Guilfoyle turns up again on Sun 1 May when violinist Michael d’Arcy and pianist Izumi Kimura present ‘Celebrating Bartok’, with Sonatas for Violin and Piano by Ronan Guilfoyle and Bela Bartok, and a new work by Guilfoyle to celebrate Bartok’s 130th anniversary. Sun 8 features the Songs of Seoirse Bodley, with soprano Syvlia O'Brien, and on Sun 15 Annette Cleary and Lance Coburn play works for cello and piano by Rachmaninov and Webern. Concerts start at 12 noon and it’s all FREE, but get there early if you want to get a seat. www.hughlane.ie

Sundays@ Noon

Well, January certainly got a bit sluggish but hey, it’s a new month, so time to deslug. The Hugh Lane Gallery as always is a great place to be on Sundays @ Noon; today you can hear the resurrected music of Ina Boyle, a vanished Wicklow-based composer of the early 20th century who studied with Vaughan Williams and was the only female composer included in the Carnegie Collection of British Music. On Sun 13 sibling duo Joanne and David Quigley play Sonatas for Violin and Piano by Beethoven and Elgar, and the Irish premiere of Phillip Martin’s Mollification. There’ll be some pretty fancy fingerwork on Sun 20 when pianist Jonathan Plowright plays a scintillating mix of Chopin - including the Fantasie in F minor, 2 Nocturnes and a Scherzo - and Paderewski, from the Series de Morceaux Op 16. And on Sun 27 former NSO principal William Dowdall plays new music from Ireland and New Zealand for flute and electronics as featured on his new CD Breathe. And guess what, it’s all FREE.

Sundays@ Noon

The Hugh Lane Gallery’s free Sundays@ Noon series is back on track. On Sun 16 renowned Irish jazz composer, bassist Ronan Guilfoyle, blurs the lines between classical and jazz in his new improvising chamber group Trilogue, featuring Swiss jazz singer Sarah Buechi and Japanese contemporary classical pianist Izumi Kimura. With a repertoire of newly composed pieces by Guilfoyle and music by Bartok, Ligeti and Bach, Trilogue utilises the virtuosity of all three players and their experience of both improvised and composed chamber music to create a wide range of timbres, moods and dynamics. Just the thing to start the new year. On Sun 23 the Ensemble Avalon, featuring violinist Ioana Pectu-Colan, cellist Gerald Peregrine and pianist Michael McHale play an interesting programme including Debussy's Cello Sonata, Mozart's Piano Trio in B Flat and the world premiere of a new piece by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly. An interesting mix on Sun 30 sees well known soprano Virginia Kerr team up with pianist Therese Fahy for music by Andre Previn - his 1992 piece Honey and Rue - and Messiaen's Poemes pour Mi, dating from 1936. www.hughlane.ie

Barry meets Beethoven

The National Chamber Choir team up with Crash Ensemble for a celebration of the work of internationally renowned Irish composer Gerald Barry at the Hugh Lane Gallery on Thur 21 Oct, 7pm. The programme features the premiere of a new commission entitled Schott and Sons, Mainz, using text from Emily Anderson’s The Letters of Beethoven published in 1961, and also includes Beethoven, Barry’s setting of Beethoven’s sole surviving love letters to a mysterious ‘immortal beloved’. Soloist is British bass Stephen Richardson. www.nationalchamberchoir.com www.crashensemble.com

Sundays @ Noon

Sundays at Noon is back at the Hugh Lane Gallery: free music in great surroundings, what a civilized way to start your Sunday. This Sunday the Duo Nota Bene from Austria play works for violin and piano by Mahler, Reger, Schoenberg and Webern. On Sun 17 flautist William Dowdall gives the first of two concerts featuring music for flute and electronics from his new cd breathe, with works by John Buckley, Philip Hammond, Raymond Deane and Irish premieres by Stephen Matthews, Kevin O’Connell and Benjamin Dwyer. It’s the turn of Dulra on Sun 24 - Adrian Hart on fiddle, Kate Ellis on cello, Emer Mayock on flutes and Mel Mercier on percussion, joined by singer Caitriona OLeary, with music from their new cd Ecstasy. And on Sun 31 (that’s Halloween) Lorcán Mac Mathúna, Cathal Roche and Ian Wilson get together for Common Tongue, a trio combining sean-nós singing, improvising saxophone and live electronics. www.hughlane.ie

Sundays @ Noon

Brahms and Clara Schumann share the stage at the Hugh Lane Gallery on Sun 6 June when the Riverrun Piano Quartet (violin, viola, cello & piano) continue their occasional series surveying the piano quartets of Brahms. Legendary jazz pianist Simon Nabatov performs a solo shown on Sun 13; on Sun 20 Belfast-born pianist Michael McHale plays works by Brahms, Ian Wilson and Rachmaninov; and on Sun 27 Fionnuala Moynihan gives the final recital in her complete Mozart Piano Sonatas series. 12 noon, admission free. www.hughlane.ie

Sundays @ Noon

Free lunchtime music coming up at the Hugh Lane Gallery: On Sun 23 May Fionnuala Moynihan continues her chronological survey of the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas, playing No 12 in F, No 13 in Bflat and No 14 in C minor. On Sun 30 you can hear Bach’s Goldberg Variations arranged for String Trio by Dmitri Sitkovetsky, performed by Mia Cooper on violin, John Lynch on viola and Sarah McMahon on cello. www.hughlane.ie

Sundays @ Noon

If it’s Sunday it must be the Hugh Lane Gallery… On Sun 11 April composer/pianist Jane O’Leary of Concorde gets together with NSO principal cellist Martin Johnson for a programme of new works by O’Leary, Grainne Mulvey and Dermot McDermott. These three new pieces, specially commissioned by Johnson and developed through a collaborative process, give a fascinating account of the many facets of the cello in different contexts. There’s also a belated chance to hear the world premiere of James Wilson’s Sonata Op 172 for cello and piano, written for Johnson shortly before the composer’s death. Pianist Fionnuala Moynihan continues her chronological exploration of Mozart’s Piano Sonatas on Sun 18, playing No 9 in D, No 10 in C and No 11 in A. There’s something of a virtuoso treat on Sunday 25 when accordionist Dermot Dunne teams up with violinist Katherine Hunka for an vibrant mix of celebrated classics and works with a strong Latin flavour, with music by Biber, De Falla, Stravinsky and Ronan Guilfoyle. All concerts start at 12 noon but get there early and remember, it’s all FREE. www.hughlane.ie

Sundays @ Noon

More free music, this time at the Hugh Lane Gallery where the long-running Sundays @ Noon series continues to pull in the crowds - get there early if you want a decent seat. Berlin-based Irish tenor Paul McNamara does the honours on Sun 31 Jan, in the esteemed company of Australian pianist Philip Mayers. It's a double birthday celebration, with songs by Schumann and Wolf marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of the former and the 150th anniversary of the birth of the latter. Concerts in Feb include the rescheduled opening concert (from snow-bound Jan) of Fionnuala Moynihan's complete Mozart Piano Sonata series on Sun 7; cellist William Butt playing Kodaly's Sonata Opus 8 for violoncello solo on Sun 14; Mozart Sonatas for Violin and Piano performed by Mathieu van Bellen and Tadashi Imai on Sun 21; and the Clarion Trio (clarinet, viola and piano) playing trios by Mozart, Schumann and Rebecca Clarke on Sun 28. www.hughlane.ie

Sundays at Noon

It's your last chance to hear free music @ City Hall before the Sundays at Noon series returns to its home in the Hugh Lane Gallery. On Sun 24 the Eolina Quartet from Bulgaria are joined by folk singer Valya Balkanska and Petar Yanev on bagpipes (the Bulgarian kaba-gaida) to celebrate the 'Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture', no less. Then it's back to the Hugh Lane in June for 3 solo recitals in the Sean Scully Gallery. On Sun 7 violinist Ionan Pectu-Colan plays Bach & Teleman; Ronan Guilfoyle plays acoustic bass guitar on Sun 14 (the intriguingly titled 'Bass and the Abstract Truth - Alone with Four Strings') and on Sun 21 Malachy Robinson on double bass plays Ian Wilson's Schattentiefe.