If you like your festivals a little more relaxed than the beer fuelled experiences around the country for the next few months, then the KBC Great Music in Irish Houses might be the one for you. It runs in a variety of venues around Dublin and Ireland from June 9th to 14th. Full list of events is below.

Tickets are priced from €10 to €50 and are available from the National Concert Hall Box Office www.nch.ie and by telephone on 01 417 0000.

Anniversary of WB Yeats’ birth celebrated as 40 Irish and international artists perform in one of Ireland’s original music festivals

Ireland’s longest-running chamber music festival has been launched for 2015 with a programme featuring over 40 performers in ten unique venues over six days.

KBC Great Music in Irish Houses will take place from June 9th – 14th, presenting Irish and international artists who will excite audiences with an array of performances from Beethoven to Brahms and Ravel to Reich, together with a day-long series of concerts to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of WB Yeats, whose work has inspired composers and musicians for decades.

The KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Festival will open in the Samuel Beckett Theatre at Trinity College with the sensational, critically-acclaimed Colin Currie Group, led by the musical phenomenon that is Colin Currie and comprising the UK’s finest percussionists. The group has taken on the role of ambassador for the work of Steve Reich and will perform captivating scores from the composer including an Irish première, Reich’s Quartet, written specifically for the charismatic Currie and his energetic musicians. Currie says that the aim of the group is to bring this (Reich’s) music to as wide an audience as possible. “We are driven by its magical allure, its energy and its sheer excitement,” he said.

The grandeur of Castletown House, the Festival’s founding home, is the setting for a rare performance of Handel’s masterpiece, Apollo e Dafne, by the award-winning and festival-debuting Ensemble Marsyas, led by Irish bassoonist, Peter Whelan.

The first of two ‘sister acts’ of the Festival are Latvian siblings Baiba and Lauma Skride whose programme by Scandinavian composers, Sibelius and Nielsen, marks two further 150 birthday milestones this year, along with WB Yeats.  The stunning National Botanic Gardens will play host to a concert by the American Escher Quartet, an ensemble acknowledged for its profound musical insight and tonal beauty whilst Killruddery House is the backdrop to a programme of composition giants, Beethoven and Brahms with a performance from three of Ireland’s leading musicians; pianist Hugh Tinney, violinist Michael d’Arcy and cellist Christopher Marwood.

Beethoven, Shostakovich and Stravinsky will provide a wake-up call to festival goers on Saturday morning, 13th June as the German Armida Quartett, which swept the board at the prestigious ARD International competition in 2012, performs at Belvedere House in Dublin. .

Dublin Musical Saunter

Following the success of last year’s Dublin Musical Saunter, a day-long mini festival within the Festival, this year’s Saunter will focus on the 150th anniversary of the birth of WB Yeats and the influence his work has had on the musical world.  Taking place on 14th June, The Dublin Musical Saunter will include performances from acclaimed artists including tenor, Robin Tritschler; pianist Hugh Tinney; William Dowdall, flute; Matthew Manning, Oboe; The Vanbrugh Quartet and the Festival’s second pair of sisters, Deirdre and Fionnuala Moynihan, soprano and pianist, respectively. Interestingly, the Saunter will feature four different arrangements of Yeats’ poem, The Salley Gardens, a work included in the repertoire of many celebrated singers.

A special performance will take place at the Dublin Writers’ Museum featuring Soundweave, (Paul Roe Clarinet and actress, Nuala Hayes) and the Festival will conclude with John Taverner’s  To a Child Dancing in the Wind, performed by Lynda Lee, William Dowdall, Simon  Aspell and Andreja Malir in the sensitively restored Chapel Royal at Dublin Castle.  The Festival programme was  devised by Artistic Director, Ciara Higgins, who has been involved with KBC Great Music in Irish Houses for many years.

2015 CONCERT SCHEDULE

Tuesday, June 9th at 8.00 pm – Samuel Beckett Theatre at Trinity College Dublin – Colin Currie Group

Wednesday, June 10th at 8.00 pm – Royal College of Physicians of Ireland – Baiba Skride (violin) – Lauma Skride (piano)

Thursday, June 11th at 8.00 pm – National Botanic Gardens – Escher Quartet

Friday, June 12th at 8.00 pm – Killruddery House – Hugh Tinney (piano), Michael d’Arcy (violin), Christopher Marwood (cello)

Saturday, June 13th at 12.00 noon – Belvedere House, Dublin – Armida Quartett

Saturday, June 13th at 8.00pm – Castletown House – Ensemble Marsyas with Peter Whelan (director)

Sunday, June 14th – The Dublin Musical Saunter

Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane at 12.00 noon – Deirdre Moynihan (soprano) and Fionnuala Moynihan (piano)

The National Concert Hall at 3.00 pm – Robin Tritschler (tenor), Hugh Tinney (piano), William Dowdall (flute), Matthew Manning (oboe) and the Vanbrugh Quartet

Dublin Writers’ Museum at 6.00 pm – Soundweave – Paul Roe (clarinet) and Nuala Hayes (actor)

Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle at 8.30 pm – Lynda Lee (soprano), William Dowdall (flute), Simon Aspell (viola) and Andreja Malir (harp)

Full details here –  http://www.greatmusicinirishhouses.com/