Music at Cork City Hall:
Music as guests gather in Concert Hall and as VIPs arrive
Strung
Strung are a contemporary Irish music ensemble comprising Maria Ryan (violin/vocals), Lucia Mac Partlin (violin), Séan Warren (cello) and Aonghus McCarthy (piano). While undergoing classical training at Cork School of Music, they maintained a participating interest in Irish traditional music. Their dynamic ensemble and unique backgrounds allow them to subtly integrate complex harmonies and innovative motifs, while staying true to the deep-rooted authenticity of traditional Irish melodies. Strung’s sound radiates with originality, yet has an understated energy that instantly captivates.
Music as the VIPs greet guests
Brid McGowan
Brid McGowan is a young harpist, from Ballina. She recently completed her studies in Cork CIT, and has been an active member of Ballyphehane Club Ceoil while based in Cork.
Music at Crawford Art Gallery:
Music at reception before dinner provided by the Doolan Quartet.
These are young musicians that are graduates of CIT and rising young stars of classical music. They are David McElroy, Rachael Masterson, Martha Campbell & Grace Coughlan. They won first prize in the Vanbrugh Chamber Music Competition at Cork School of Music this year, and are mentored by the National String Quartet Foundation.
Their programme will include Ian Wilson (an Irish composer based in Cork) and Mozart.
Poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa will read during the formal dinner.
Doireann Ní Ghríofa is a bilingual writer whose books explore birth, death, desire, and domesticity. Awards for her writing include the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the Michael Hartnett Prize, and a Seamus Heaney Fellowship. She frequently participates in cross-disciplinary collaborations, fusing poetry with film, dance, music, and visual art. She writes “with tenderness and unflinching curiosity” (Poetry Magazine, Chicago)
She lives and works in Cork, and most she is artist in residence with Cork Midsummer Festival for 2018.
She will read her poem Tinfoil / Scragall Stáin bilingually, verse by verse.
