If Music Be

Some fab music coming up over the next few days, kicking off at the NCH this evening (Wed 21) with the fascinating and highly dramatic pianist Rolf Hind, a brilliant exponent of contemporary music. The opening concert in the NewSoundWorld series, the two-piano programme mixes John Cage with eastern influences including Takemitsu and Tan Dun. www.nch.ie

Lots of stuff on Culture Night (Fri 23). At the NCH you can hear RTE Cor a nOg at 7pm, prior to the main NSO concert, and for a mere fiver, the RTE Vanbrugh Quartet at 10.15pm playing Mozart, Arvo Part and Donnacha Dennehy. The Contemporary Music Centre opens its doors til 10pm for a live Music and Installation Programme with the Spatial Music Collective, including Jonathan Nangle’s Trip the Light Fantastic, Brtian Bridges’ Collapsing Old Buildings, and works for harp and electronics by Linda Buckley and Enda Bates. www.culturenight.ie

The CMC’s new music::new Ireland salon series begins on Wed 28 at the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room with singer Tine Verbeke and cellist Martin Johnson (of Concorde) in a programme that includes James Wilson and Elaine Agnew. www.cmc.ie

Sundays at Noon at the Hugh Lane features upcoming young classical guitarist Pavlos Kanellakis on Sun 25 playing de Falla, Villa Lobos, Buckley and de Bromhead. On Sun 2 Oct the National Chamber Choir sing Bach, Brahms, Arnold Bax, Siobhan Cleary and Tarik O’Regan. www.hughlane.ie

September

Finally! Back on dry land and what a cool month September turns out to be. You can scarcely move without colliding with a bit of culture. First there’s the fab Fringe Festival aka Absolut Fringe, hurtling towards its second week with some tantalising goodies in store and a new festival club on uber-hip Parnell Square East. Long live the northside! And even better is the news that Macnas’s opening night show at Collins Barracks, cancelled because of adverse weather conditions, has been rescheduled for the Fringe’s closing night on Sun 25. Yippee!!! Get your tickets at the Fringe box office on Curved St. Dublin Contemporary is out and about with over 90 Irish and international artists on show at Earlsfort Terrace and various galleries. At 15 quid a ticket it might seem a bit pricey but there’s a lot of stuff to see, and for the final hour you can get an Art Bite for a fiver. And if you’re lucky you might get to take part in a special Roadworks walking tour as part of Culture Night on Fri 23. Musicwise, there’s interesting concerts from NewSoundWorlds on Wed 21 and Sundays@Noon on Sun 25, the RTE NSO are back in situ at the NCH, with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Ander Hillborg’s sinuous Clarinet Concerto on Fri 23. And then to cap it all, the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival kicks off on Thur 29 for a two week splurge. Happy hunting, culture vultures!

RTE Concert Orchestra

The RTE Concert Orchestra are having a pretty busy month at the NCH, with Fri evening and Tue lunchtime concerts. Fri 13 & Sat 14 sees the (once) gorgeous Anthony Andrews (remember him, the teddybear-clutching Sebastian of Brideshead Revisited?) taking on the role of Prof Henry Higgins in a concert version of My Fair Lady, with a starry cast that also includes the likes of Julian Ovenden of Foyle’s War/The Royal fame. Legendary French film composer Michel Legrand multitasks as conductor, pianist and singer in an evening of his classic movie music on Fri 20. Russell Watson, ‘the People’s Tenor’, reschedules his ash cloud cancellation on Sun 22; and the music of Bill Whelan is celebrated by an all-singing, dancing and playing cast including Julie Feeney, Zoe Conway and Declan Masterson on Fri 27. www.rte.ie

June

What else is on in June? Natural Shocks present a new play by Leo Butler at Project from Wed 9, fresh from a successful run at London’s Finborough Theatre (Critic’s Choice from the Independent on Sunday). In The Early Bird, real life couple Catherine Cusack and Alex Palmer play an ordinary couple whose lives are destroyed when their child disappears, with Butler delving deep into their troubled thoughts and fractured relationship. www.project.ie

Things have been a bit quiet at the Peacock of late but that looks set to change with Outsiders, a new work from economist and commentator David McWilliams previewing from Wed 9 and opening on Wed 16. Directed by Conal Morrison, McWilliams offers a vivid, humorous and uncompromising account of what is going on in Ireland in a show that is part stand up, part discussion, part social observation. www.abbeytheatre.ie

In the Peacock bar on Sat 12 comes the next installment of Werk, brainchild of the funky folk at Thisispopbaby, a late-night haze of neon and performance, live art and discotheque. 10.30pm til late. www.thisispopbaby.com

Flamenco singing sensation Concha Buika is at the NCH on Tue 15. The daughter of political exiles from Equatorial Guinea who grew up in Majorca, her dramatic approach to flamenco fuses the gypsy tradition with elements of jazz and soul. www.improvisedmusic.ie www.nch.ie

Two operas from dlr Glasthule Opera at the Pavilion Theatre from Wed 16-Sun 20, Bizet’s Carmen and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, both featuring up-coming young mezzos – Doreen Curran in the former and Raphaela Mangan in the latter, with acclaimed tenor Anthony Kearns taking on the role of Don Jose in Carmen. www.paviliontheatre.ie

Paris-based pianist Ivan Illic is at the NCH on Fri 18 for a lunchtime recital of Brahms, Chopin/Godowsky, Duparc and Chausson. On his now annual visit to Dublin Illic continues his survey of the Chopin Etudes in Godowsky’s challenging versions, and also premieres songs by Duparc and Chausson which he has transcribed for piano. www.nch.ie www.ivancdg.com

Christy Moore heads up a concert of performances and readings at the NCH on Sat 19 to celebrate the 65th birthday of incarcerated Burmese activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Freewoman of Dublin Aung San Suu Kyi. Organised by Keith Donald of Moving hearts, among those taking part are Eamon Dunphy, Marian Finucane, Damian Gorman, the Dublin Gospel Choir, Fiachra Trench, Carmel McCreagh, Deirdre Purcell, Brendan Graham, Niall Toner and Noel Eccles. www.nch.ie

Music in Great Irish Houses

Happy 40th birthday to the KBC Music in Great Irish Houses Festival which brings world-class Irish and international chamber musicians to historic and stately venues around the country. Great music in great surroundings is the order of the day, and this year’s festival which runs from Sat 12-Sun 19 June kicks off in Castletown House with highly regarded French ensemble Quatuor Ebene playing Mozart Bartok and Debussy, who the following evening morph into l’Autre Ebene and play jazz, pop and film music at the Sugar Club. Beaulieu House in Drogheda is the venue for Latvian violinist Baiba Skride and Danish cellist Jan Vogler playing Bach, Handel and Ravel on Sun 13, and the following day they too morph into the Skride/Vogler Trio playing Beethoven, Shostakovich and Brahms at Killruddery. Mahler, Schumann and Brahms from the renowned German Fauré Quartet at Killruddery on Tue 15; Brahms and Beethoven from violinist extraordinaire Arabella Steinbacher and pianist Robert Kulek at the National Gallery on Wed 16; tenor Robin Tritschler and acclaimed British pianist Simon Lepper with music for voice and piano by Brahms, Britten, Bax and Schumann at Emo Court on Thur 17; music for two pianos from 2 of our best known pianists Hugh Tinney and Finghin Collins at the RDS on Fri 18; and winding everything up back at Castletown on Sat 19, the award-winning Quatuor Ysaye playing Haydn, Brahms and Schumann. www.musicgreatirishhouses.com

Project Brand New

14 plays over 3 nights – that’s Project Brand New, a snapshot of what’s up and coming in the world of live performance. For a mere fiver you could be in at the start of the next big thing as established and emerging artists try out their latest work in progress. Previous shows that went on to greater things include the likes of Victor and Gord and Cirque de Légume, and this time around there’s everything from the latest in interactive digital technology to a rock musical about punks, as well as video sniffing, the choreography of secrets, a tragi-comedy set in the time of the Famine and a performance based on text messages. Something of a lucky dip, it all begins tonight Thur 29 April and runs until Sat 1 May. www.projectartscentre.ie

RTE National Symphony Orchestra

The dynamic William Eddins is back in town to conduct an all-American programme with the RTE NSO at the NCH on Fri 30 April. First off is the European premiere of Owls, a new piece by Andre Previn. Philip Martin is the soloist in Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto, and mezzo Fiona Murphy & baritone Owen Gilhooly join the RTE Philharmonic Choir for Hindemith’s setting of Walt Whitman’s When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d. There’s the world premiere of a new work by Jennifer Walshe on Fri 7 May, along with Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 6 (Pathetique); Brahms, Dvorak and Beethoven (Symphony No 7) on Fri 14, with Arabella Steinbacher the soloist in Dvorak’s Violin Concerto; a Viennese evening on Fri 21 with Schubert (Unfinished), Berg, Mozart and Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht. The NSO’s final concert of the season is on Fri 28, a great mix of Mozart, Beethoven and Berlioz. François-Frédéric Guy is the soloist in Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto, and the whole shebang comes to a dramatic end with Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. www.rte.ie

Dun Laoghaire - Life in the Day

An interesting show coming up at the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire on Fri 30 April. Dun Laoghaire - Life in the Day is a collaboration between jazz composer and bass player Ronan Guilfoyle, and musician and broadcaster Ellen Cranitch. Presented by dl Arts, it takes the form of a silent movie, filmed by Cranitch in and around Dun Laoghaire, that documents the ordinary day-to day life of this historic seaside town, with Guilfoyle’s specially composed score performed live by dlr Jazz Ensemble Metier. Guilfoyle, who’s lived all his life in the borough, celebrates his stomping ground through this evocative mingling of film, composition and improvisation. www.paviliontheatre.ie

Weird & Wonderful

Only how many days to Christmas? Natch the place is coming down with pantos and carols, but why not do something weird and wonderful instead. At Project you can get inside the Head of Hamlet, an installation courtesy of the inimitable George Higgs - part mask, part instrument, part theatre, part machine, resounding with electricity, wood, flesh, language and metal amid snatches of harmony, discord, rhythm and chaos – definitely a bit weird (free, til 19 Dec). Also at Project, a duet for fiddle and film features Caoimhin O Raghallaigh and virtual guests, with hardanger, 5-string viola, singers, dancers, spoken word and stop-motion animation (11 Dec). And Triptik, a collaboration between Ciotóg and Macushla Dance Club, is a dance triple bill featuring 3 internationally renowned choreographers, 5 professional dancers, 2 showband musicians and the ever-sprightly members of the Macushla Club for over 50s (16-19 Dec). www.project.ie

Or how about Christmas with Elvis at the Helix (16 Dec), featuring Mario Kombou who in 2005 was voted The Best Elvis Performer in the World, no less. And in a weird kind of ‘Ghosts of Christmas Past’ effect, Elvis will be joined on stage by Buddy Holly, Marilyn Monroe and Roy Orbison; and weirder still, it’s also playing at the Mick Jagger Centre in Dartford. www.thehelix.ie

Send the kids to the panto and give yourself a saccharine-free treat at Bewleys, where PurpleHeart are back with last year’s hit show The Santaland Diaries. Writer David Sedaris draws on his own experience to chart the wickedly funny journey of Crumpet, starving artist turned Macy’s Santaland elf, with humiliation turning to battle-weary bitterness as Crumpet is forced to contend with cranky parents, bratty children, career elves and drunken lecherous Santas. (til Sat 22). www.bewleys.ie

With all eyes on the North Pole at this time of year, the NCH (Kevin Barry Room) is heading to the other end of the snowy world on Mon 14 Dec for Nearest the South Pole, an event to commemorate the lecture given by explorer Ernest Shackleton in that very spot on that very date 100 years ago. Along with a presentation about the Antarctic and a rare recording of Shackleton’s own voice as he discusses the Nimrod expedition, there’ll be poetry by Derek Mahon, T.S. Elliot and Leland Bardwell among others and a new piece of music-theatre from Michael Holohan, Where a single footprint lasts a thousand years, performed by Donal O’Kelly. Could be quite wonderful. www.nch.ie

Bewleys

Things are hotting up at Bewleys where singer Susannah De Wrixon has teamed up with pianist Conor Linehan for a lunchtime cabaret show that rejoices in the many facets of the female psyche, with music from the likes of Benjamin Britten to Noel Coward, Stephen Sondheim, Randy Newman and Suzanne Vega. Nighttime shows in Aug include Honor Heffernan, a 130^th Birthday tribute to the Ukulele courtesy of the Sick & Indigent Song Club, and world/jazz music from Francesco Turrisi. www.bewleyscafetheatre.com

KBC Music in Great Irish Houses update

One of the hot tickets for this year’s festival has been British cellist Natalie Clein – her Beaulieu House concert on Friday 12 June is sold out, but a second concert has been scheduled for Thur 11 @8.30 at the Freemasons Hall on Molesworth Street, this time with accordion wizard Dermot Dunne. They play Bach, Pablo Casals, de Falla, Piazzola and the Irish premiere of Fyfe Dangerfield’s Eggshell Walker (great names!). Also as part of the festival, the inaugural Support Act tutoring and mentoring programme brings together pianist Philippe Cassard and violinist Laura Samuel with a number of upcoming chamber musicians, culminating in 3 lunchtime concerts at the National Gallery (Thur 11-Sat 13 June). www.musicgreatirishhouses.com

RTE Summer Music

Plenty of music from RTE at the NCH over the summer, ranging from light lunchtime fare of a Tuesday to more meaty programming for the evening concerts. The big screen makes an appearance in some of the more unusual concerts: Hitchcock – Dial M for Murder on Sat 20 June sees the RTE Concert Orchestra perform live to spine-tingling excerpts from some of the movie maestro’s most popular films including To Catch a Thief, Strangers on a Train and North by Northwest. And for something completely different, on Fri 7 and Sat 8 Aug the RTECO teams up with Warner Bros for the smash hit show Bugs Bunny on Broadway – the superstars of Looney Tunes cavorting to the music of cartoon composer extraordinaire Carl Stalling, including such delights as What’s Opera, Doc? and The Rabbit of Seville. Meanwhile Anuna bring their ethereal sounds to the NCH on Fri 17 July in a concert with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra; on Fri 31 the RTECO are joined by boy choir Libera, who have sung with everyone from Bjork to Pavarotti; and on Fri 14 Aug the brilliant Altan raise the roof with the RTECO, livelying things up with their sparkling trad. www.rte.ie/performinggroups

Great Irish Houses

For most people the music is the thing, and it’s an added bonus if the venue is special too - but it’s the best of both worlds in the KBC Music in Great Irish Houses Festival which runs from Sun 7 – Sat 13 June. Some great chamber music in some fab houses is the order of the day, and while some of the venues are well beyond the Pale, most of them are within relatively easy reach of Dublin. Cellist Daniel Müller–Schott and pianist Robert Kulek kick off proceedings at Emo Court in Laois, playing Shostakovich, Schubert and Mendelssohn on Sun 7. Closer to home, two concerts at Kilruddery House in Bray bring together pianist Hugh Tinney, clarinetist John Finucane and upcoming mezzo Tara Erraught for Schubert, Brahms and Spohr on Mon 8; and on Tue 9 the Navarra Quartet play Haydn, Shostakovich and Schumann’s delicious Piano Quintet with pianist John O’Conor. 

Sought-after Paris-based Quatuor Ebene make their Irish debut with hugely popular French pianist Philippe Cassard playing Beethoven, Ravel and Dvorak at the National Gallery on Wed 10, with a repeat performance at Fota House in Co Cork on Thur 11. A fascinating combination of guitar and cello featuring Xufei Yang and Natalie Clein playing everything from Vivaldi to de Falla is at Beaulieu House in Co Louth on Fri 12, and the final concert at Castletown House is an all-Schubert affair, with the Belcea Quartet playing the sublime Death and the Maiden quartet followed by the String Quintet with cellist extraordinaire Valentin Erben. www.musicgreatirishhouses.com

Dublin Handel Festival

1685 is one of those dates that every music student knows: the birth year of three incomparable composers, JS Bach, George Frideric Handel and Domenico Scarlatti. Less familiar are the years of their deaths, but Handel actually outlived the other two, shuffling off this mortal coil at the ripe old age of 74 on 14 April 1759 - exactly 250 years ago. Dublin, and specifically Temple Bar, has a special connection with Handel - it's where his most famous work Messiah received its first performance, on 13 April 1742 at Neale's Musick Hall on Fishamble Street. So double reasons to celebrate, and Temple Bar Cultural Trust are pulling out all the stops for this year's Dublin Handel Festival which runs from April 13-19.

There's a rake of free activities, walks, talks and workshops, lots of concerts and of course the annual Messiah in the Street on Mon 13 @1pm, a singalong version with Our Lady's Choral Society at that very spot on Fishamble Street. OLCS turn up again at the NCH on Tue 14 for the Handel 250 Commemoration Concert, the choir of Christ Church Cathedral give a full performance of Messiah on Thur 16, and you can also hear the Guinness Choir singing Solomon, the David Rees-Williams Trio giving baroque music a jazz makeover, Opera Theatre Company performing Acis and Galatea, counter-tenor Graham Joseph singing popular arias, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra playing the famous Water Music. And as an extra special treat, Joseph O'Connor has written a new play, Handel's Crossing, a theatrical re-imagining of the great man's arrival in Dublin in 1742 for that world premiere, which will be brought to life by Fishamble Theatre Company aboard the Jeannie Johnston. More info @ www.templebar.ie

Music at the Movies

Movie buffs will know all about the Dublin International Film Festival which opens today and runs at various cinemas until 22 Feb. Jam-packed with over 130 films, there's lots of mini-seasons to help you negotiate your way, including Turkish, Irish and French cinema; the Real to Reel documentary season which includes the Spinal Tapesque Anvil! The Story of Anvil! followed by a live performance from the eponymous band, as well as docs about uber-folkie Liam Clancy and jazz musician Jim McKay; and Out of the Past, showcasing a series of archive treasures including the ubiquitous but nonetheless fascinating Mise Eire, with its rousing O Riada orchestral score; and a true hidden gem, The Seasons, an amateur filmmaker's meticulous chronicle of a year in the life of a small Co Mayo village, filmed in 1935. Screening at the IFI on Feb 21, this unique silent movie will be accompanied by live music from harpist Cormac de Barra and Colm and Rossa O Snodaigh of Kila.

Free Music!

Sundays at Noon at The Hugh Lane Gallery is one of the most civilized ways to recover from whatever happened on Saturday night. Free music in amazing surroundings, how cool is that. Over the next two Sundays (8 & 15 Feb) you can hear all of Brahms'  Sonatas for Violin & Piano and Cello & Piano, played by violinist Gillian Williams and cellist Arun Rao (who together form the Duo Chagall) with Russian pianist Elisaveta Blumina. Concerts start at 12 noon, but this series is really popular so you need to get there early. More free music in fab surroundings on Sunday 15 when contemporary ensemble Concorde play New Music from Mexico at IMMA @ 3pm. All Irish premieres, and all written in the 21st century, the programme spans music for voice, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion and includes a dramatic piece for solo cello, electro-acoustic sounds and film projection (by Man Ray) from one of Mexico's best known contemporary composers, Javier Alvarez.