Caherlodge News

Catherine Leonard [violin] & Hugh Tinney [piano]

Bantry House
Sunday 6th November at 3pm

Two of Ireland’s leading classical musicians, violinist Catherine Leonard and pianist Hugh Tinney, make a welcome return to Bantry House for a Sunday afternoon recital on Sunday November 6th at 3pm.

They will be performing a wonderful programme of music by Beethoven, Lutoslawski and Ravel.

Tickets are €18, €10 students and available online at www.westcorkmusic.ie or from West Cork Music on 027 52788.

Catherine and Hugh have toured frequently since they first joined forces a decade ago. In 2002, they collaborated in recording the critically-acclaimed CD From the Book of Longing by Irish composer Ian Wilson. Their second collaboration was a recording in 2007 of Beethoven’s Spring and Kreutzer Sonatas for RTÉ Lyric fm. The Journal of Music in Ireland commented, “Beguiling intimacy, quiet authority and carefully measured charm that Leonard and Tinney bring to bear throughout.”

Last Spring they performed to great acclaim on a Camerata Pacifica tour of Los Angeles and the West Coast of the United States. (” Empathetic, collective poise and personality were evident here,” Santa Barbara News Press)
Catherine Leonard is a regular guest at Ireland’s most prominent festivals including the West Cork Chamber Music Festival and Music in Great Irish Houses. A highly regarded soloist, she is Principal Artist for the California-based chamber ensemble Camerata Pacifica. They perform an eclectic repertoire spanning the body of chamber music.
Dublin-born Hugh Tinney has performed in more than thirty countries throughout Europe, the United States, South America and the Far East. One of the best-loved pianists in Ireland, Hugh has made a huge contribution to the musical life of this country. His interest in contemporary Irish music has led to new works commissioned from Raymond Deane and Ian Wilson.

There are still a few tickets available for our next two concerts – Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Brendan Begley perform in St Brendan’s Church, Bantry on Saturday October 1st and Resurgam sing Songs of Farewell in St Fachtna’s Cathedral, Rosscarbery a week later. Tickets as usual from West Cork Music

Record numbers of schools throughout County Cork have been applying for the four education projects which will take place before Christmas. These projects are run under Cork County Council’s Tuning Up programme and are organised and managed by West Cork Music.

Don’t forget that the East Cork Early Music Festival takes place in October. More details are listed below.

West Cork music are delighted to announce that the two celebrated sisters of Irish traditional music, Maighread and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, are in concert tomorrow night Friday 12th August in Bantry House. In a special, candle-lit Níos Deanaí performance at 10.30pm, they look set to make it a night to remember.

The good news is that there are still a few seats left for this performance.
So, book your tickets online at www.westcorkmusic.ie or by ringing the office on 027 52788. Or get them on the door on the night. Tickets are €15.

Maighread was a member of Donal Lunny’s Coolfin and has released a number of solo albums including the pivotal No Dowry and with her sister Tríona has been half of the quartet ‘T with the Maggies’. Tríona has performed with both Skara Brae and the Bothy Band. She recently released her latest album The Key’s Within.

Begins Tuesday 9th – 14th August and as usual the line up is great.The opening venue is St Brendans Church with Martin Hayes on fiddle and Dennis Cahill guitar, Michelle O’Sullivan concertina and also The Begley family on guitar, concertina,accordian and fiddle. Begins at 19.30 There are concerts also on at the Maritime and of course Bantry House which is a fantastic setting for any concert and on Sat 13th you have John Flanagan singer, Brendan Dolan piana, Jose Manuel Neto portuguese guitar. Dennis Cahill and Martin Hayes will be also playing that night in the late night i.e 22.30 time. Many more wonderful musicians and singers so get booking www.westcorkmusic.ie or Lo call 1850788789

West Cork Literary Festival continues Bantry’s Fortnight of Festivals

The West Cork Literary Festival continues the following week from Sunday 3 July to Saturday 9 July. Writers including David Mitchell, John Banville, Hisham Matar, Michael Morpurgo, Michael Holroyd, Hugo Hamilton and John Boyne will be joined by actor David Soul, actress Niamh Cusack, playwright Marina Carr, poet Brian Turner, screenwriter Peter Sheridan and many more. Lynne Truss hosts the Literary Tea, RTÉ’s Sunday Miscellany takes place in St Brendan’s Church and book launches include the launch of the 2011 Fish Anthology. Workshops cover such topics as Fiction, Poetry, Travel-Writing and Freelance Journalism.

For more details contact the office on 027 52788 or log on to

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan will be opening the Festival in Bantry House.

The musical action starts that evening and the good news is that there are still a few tickets left for the Opening Concert at 8pm. The Festival is delighted to welcome the acclaimed Australian composer and viola player, Brett Dean as this year’s Composer-In-Residence and fittingly he opens the concert with a performance of his own work, Intimate Decisions. Brett will be reappearing throughout the week and will be directing the Young Composer’s Forum the following afternoon.

With concerts from morning to late night, Bantry will come alive to the strains of beautiful music including works by Schubert, Ravel, Stravinsky, Beethoven and Liszt, all of which will be performed in the Stars in the Afternoon concerts in St Brendan’s Church. These concerts are a perfect chance to catch some of the finest classical musicians in the world today. Star violinist Nicola Benedetti, leading Irish tenor Robin Tritschler, French pianist Cédric Tiberghien, American violinist Tai Murray and British clarinettist Julian Bliss are just some of those taking to the stage for these popular concerts at 4pm

Violin & Bow making Exhibition at The Old Cinema in the center of Bantry Town Friday June 24th – July 2nd, very popular and fascinating exhibit “an exhibition of new instruments and bows will run throughout the festival , you will be able to watch and discuss the skills of thiese craftsmen and the instruments will be played by performers from the festival so some of the great names e.g Youenn Bothorel, Mick de Hoog, Conor Russell and more and bow makers e.g Noel Burke, and Robert Pierce and the exhibition is there for the entire festival period.

The festival will run from June 24th -Saturday July 2nd. The opening concert at 20.00 with Brett Dean viola, Janacek Quartet, Pacifica Quartet, RTE Vanbrugh Quartet.
Tickets €40/€28/€12. Information at www.westcorkmusic.ie or call 1850 788 789

National music Day is on Friday April 6th at 6pm at St. Brendans church, The Square. I have been to some concerts in this church and the acoustics are perferct a wonderful venue. The RTE Vanbrugh Quartet with Gregory Ellis, Keith Pascoe violins . Christopher Marwood cello and Simon Aspell viola. Haydn Quarten in D Minor Op.42, Beethoven Quartet in B latOp.130- Alla danza tedesca Cavatina. Auerbach Quartet No.3- Tango. Schubert Quartet in G major D887- first movement.

It is a busy month for West Cork Music with three concerts coming up in April as well as the launch of the West Cork Chamber Music and West Cork Literary Festivals.The Festivals will be launched in the Maritime Hotel, Bantry on Friday 8 April at 8pm. More details will be announced shortly. Celebrating the fact that this is also National Music Day, the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet will be giving a free, pre-launch concert in St Brendan’s Church that evening at 6pm

Tickets are now on sale for the Engegård Quartet concert in Bantry House on Saturday 9th April as well as the performance of Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and other works by the Fleischmann Choir and Cork School of Music Symphony Orchestra in Skibbereen on Sunday 17th AprilWe would also like to remind you that General Booking for the West Cork Chamber Music Festival opens on Thursday 28th April. If you don’t have your brochure yet, please ring the office on 027 52788 or email sarawcm@eircom.net.The West Cork Literary Festival brochure will be available shortly. If you would like to be added to the postal mailing list or join the literary e-shot list, please email sarawcm@eircom.net. The full programme details will be announced very shortly. In the meantime, workshops can now be booked online at www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie or by ringing the office on 027 55987/52788.