Culture Night 2016 Waterford

Culture Night is a great incentive to get my performing skates on. Last year I enjoyed playing in Greyfriars' Gallery adding a salon ambiance to the exhibition space. This year my contribution was a more formal affair. I resurrected  a programme that I had performed in Ennis Library in 2011 with some changes. In Synge Songs, I aimed to create the mood of an Edwardian drawing room soirée which would chime nicely with the prevailing spirit of 1916 remembrance. I was delighted to be invited by Tom Hosford to use the wonderful space at St Patrick's Gateway Centre, a 17th century Methodist Church still used for worship. The interior has been beautifully restored and it has the most excellent acoustic for strings. I was wonderfully accompanied by composer and pianist Marian Ingoldsby. Earlier in the week I had spoken to TC Kelly's granddaughter, Rachel Kelly  about her forthcoming performance of his songs. She spoke about how well they sit in her voice. I love his beautifully crafted  piano and violin arrangements of Irish airs and included three of them in my programme.  They sit nicely under the fingers and the piano parts are full of interest.

I agreed with pianist Stephen Hough's recent remarks regarding length and timing of events. He advocated more early evening events and more shorter performances. The event ran for an hour at an early evening time of 6.30pm which meant patrons could go on to another event. The evening was unashamedly sentimental and nostalgic in mood and I relished every moment. of the playing but

more than that I  enjoyed that sense of connecting with the audience.  Thanks to everyone who came along.

(I hope to do it again. Follow me on twitter @fidleir or  drop me a line on email cdstringschool@gmail.com  if you'd like  to be notified of any future engagements)

As both Marian and I are committee members of Waterford-Music, I took the opportunity to announce the programme for the forthcomning season which kicks off with a perormance by David Power uilleann piper and Camerata Kilkenny on September 29th.


Later in the evening the Barrack Street Concert Band gave an alfresco performance in Bailey's New Street. In the calm  clear evening air they impressed with their tight well schooled sound in a selection that straddled several genres. I have to declare an interest in that my sister is in the clarinet section. Catch them in their annual concert at Theatre Royal Friday 30th Sept when their guest will be West End star David Shannon.


http://www.culturenight.ie/regional_event/tea-time-synge-songs-in-st-patricks-gateway/

Synge Songs Set List St Patrick’s Gateway

The Lark in the Clear Air F  arr TC Kelly

Sally Gardens WB Yeats arr Herbert Hughs

2 Planxties Carolan G /Gmi  TC Kelly

Anach Cuain D Mode  viola

Baidin Fheilimi  A  arr TC Kelly

Scenes That are Brightest Eb / Marble Halls Eb  Wallace /Balfe

Chopin Raindrop Prelude 

Autumn: poem by Helen Sheehan 

Salut d’Amour  D Elgar

Jeanie with Light Brown Hair  D Foster/ Oft in the Stilly Night Thos Moore

Carolan's Concerto arr O Suilleabháin

Loves Old Sweet Song JL Molloy

The Coolin  arr Michele Esposito

Waterford-Music:Launch Season 74

Waterford Music Committee members ^{Elizabeth Twohig, Pat Grogan , me , Jim Walsh, Eamonn Phelan}         photo John Power

                                            

September has been a busy month as I prepare to return to teaching commitments. I have also been working on  PR for Waterford Music, a society dedicated to bringing the very best performers of the classical music world to perform here in Waterford, something they have been doing for 73 years. The Large Room is a fantastic venue and the acoustic is perfect. I have been struck by how genuinely delighted overseas performers have been to discover it. It is about the same size as the Wigmore Hall in London, the premier London venue where most of our visitors have performed. A new series opens Thursday with an evening of violin and piano duos with Finghin Collins and Elizabeth Cooney dedicated to the memory of founding member William Watt. Details of all eight recitals have now been confirmed and are on the website. www.waterford-music.org

We had a very jolly time with Mayor John Cummins who graciously  came along to help us with our launch photocall. Although not a pianist himself, he tells me that his aunt, Sr Redemptoris was a renowned piano teacher at the Mercy Convent and introduced many young players to the pleasure of playing piano.

Press Release 

Waterford-Music has just released details of their Autumn series of chamber music recitals at the Large Room, City Hall.  September sees the arrival of two major figures of the international piano scene to release magical sonorities from one of Waterford’s treasures- the house Steinway at The Large Room at City Hall. Acclaimed Irish pianist, Finghin Collins arrives on September 17^th and French virtuoso, Phillipe Cassard follows a week later on 24^th September.

Secretary of Waterford-Music Vincent Byrne explains- ‘Following their highly successful summer tour including a sold-out Galway Arts Festival recital, violinist Elizabeth Cooney and Finghin Collins join us at The Large Room to perform a programme of works by Schubert, Szymanowski and Elgar.   Cooney wowed a Waterford audience at the WIT Sports Hall earlier this year when she joined the RTE NSO on their tour. This will be an excellent opportunity to hear this terrific player in a more intimate chamber music setting in the excellent acoustic at City Hall.  Collins is one of Ireland’s leading pianists and a great favourite of Waterford Music since his first appearance here in 1997 when he stood in at short notice for the indisposed Russian pianist, Vladimir Ashkenazy. It is a busy time for Collins who directs the forthcoming New Ross Piano Festival amongst many other engagements. ‘We are delighted to have this wonderful Irish duo to open our Autumn schedule’ said Byrne.

A week later on September 24^th, Phillipe Cassard arrives on the Mall for a solo piano recital. Since winning the very first piano competition a quarter of a century ago, the French virtuoso has gone on to establish himself in the first rank of the world’s great pianists, much admired for his mellifluous tone and subtlety of phrasing.

The French accent continues when  the ladies of the brilliant Quatour Zaïde, arrive in Waterford for an  October date. The quartet’s daring and élan has garnered them many prizes at international competitions since their formation a mere five years ago. The distinguished Austrian cellist, Florian Kitt brings our 2015 proceedings to a close in November with a wonderful diverse 20th century programme.

Pat Grogan,  treasurer of  WM reports that during the Summer, a major figure of the piano world visited Waterford. But his name probably won’t ring a bell.  ‘Ulrich Gerhartz is a master technician who travels the world working on pianos for manufacturers Steinway. We are delighted to report that Mr Gerhartz gave our house Steinway C a tip-top rating’ said Mr Grogan.

Tickets are keenly priced at €15 and we have great value season ticket deals available with a family subscription of €150 for 8 recitals which is fantastic value to hear artists of international standing. Our mission is to continue to bring the best Irish and international classical performers to perform in Waterford and we are already looking ahead to our 75^th season next year said Pat Grogan.

 You can hear the Steinway C piano played by superb soloists in the elegant Georgian assembly room, The Large Room at City Hall on September 17^th and 24^th September. All recitals begin at 8pm www.waterford-music.org

A Whirl on a Waterford Carousel

It was marvellous to see the Theatre Royal full with an midweek audience of young and old for the inaugural production of a brand  new musical society, The Waterford Musical Society presented Carousel, a musical penned by Rogers and Hammerstein after the success of Oklahoma. A mix of emotions pervaded the atmosphere in the Viking Triangle at the eagerly anticipated debut.  Excitement, pride, nostalgia and glee and regret too made for  a bittersweet cocktail that in some ways chimed with the dark musical itself.
Carousel has a fairly  grim clunky  plot that  doesn't sit easily into the musical genre. That said, it has great gags and terrific show stopping members including the iconic Liverpool anthem. An extra round of  virtual buala bos here for these five elements I particularly loved about the production.

Great esprit de corps @WfdMusicalSoc #Carousel @DavidHennessy5 A bit of post show buzz in i/w with Karen Hearne https://t.co/KTZOuLwbLx

— Fidleir (@fidleir) April 30, 2015

1 A live band in the pit!  Oh the luxury of real and not synthetic brass, reed and strings emanating from the pit under director, Wayne Browne. I've noted with apprehension, the drift towards using backing tracks for musical productions. I would prefer to listen to the rehearsal pianist live than the a sophisticated backing. I've heard perfectly acceptable solutions with two pianos. I won't fork out for a show if I know backing tracks are providing the accompaniment.

2 The Costumes. Cast and chorus look splendid in vintage costumes. In particular, we loved  the tableau of colourful circus performers in the first scene.

3The Carousel. Having a horse in a show is usually  a good thing.  Lots of pretty horses on the carousel. The on stage assembly of the carousel was super slick.  We were just sorry it didn't feature again in a later scene.

4 Super performances all round.  With an elegant stage presence and a clear strong voice, star of the show was Lupita de Bháil as Nettie Fowler, an aunt Ella type role.  At school in Presentation, I remember Lupita Sheehan creating sets for the school shows but I was unaware of her stage talents until last night. Indeed I was delighted to see at least one Pres girl of my era on stage. Lovely to see a mix of generations involved in the production

5 Best Cameo.  Des Manahan has given so much pleasure to audiences in his many comic roles for societies throughout Ireland. Dressed in silver to match his hair, Des added his own unique blend of gravitas and humour  in the cameo role of Starman.

Venue Notes: The audience in the balcony were a bit fidgety. There was a lot  of unnecessary movement that was irritating and did spoil some quieter moments such as Billy's soliliquay.  If someone does exit for whatever reason, they should not be readmitted until an interval or at least they should  only be admitted between songs and  encouraged to sit on  spare seats on the periphery rather than making their way back to middle of a row .  In this theatre, this requires other patrons to stand interrupting the proceedings for everyone in the vicinity. I was distracted when a staff member made his way through the balcony to deliver popcorn  during a song. .

Convincing Crusaders: Sidorova and Avital at Waterford City Hall

There is something so ephemeral about the notes emanating  from the instruments heard at City Hall, Waterford  last night. The diminutive  mandolin,  produces the most fragile of string timbres demanding quite furious finger plec action to keep the sound waves aloft. We don't think of the accordion as being delicate but from the first squeeze on the bellows, the sound is on a countdown to extinction. The collision of these two vaguely deliquescent musical forces is a rare enough occurrence.  The combination  mixed with  double measures of the platform charisma of Avi Avital and Ksenija Sidorova proved an explosive cocktail.

Much of the first half  presented a fresh take on familiar violin repertoire. Most of it worked brilliantly. Bartok's Romanian Dances sounded as though they might have been  original conceived for such a duo.The familiar gems of De Falla's Spanish Dances shimmered and  Kreisler's Prelude and Allegro lost some of it's pomposity- no bad thing at all. Only in a Bach Partita transcribed for solo mandolin, was I conscious of the limitations  of pizzicato strings to produce the sostenuto needed to fully express the depth of Bach's Chaconne

Ian Wilson 

Composer, Ian Wilson was in The Large Room to introduce his piece Spilliaerts Beach,   a neo- impressionistic musical response to the painting Moonlit Beach by the Belgian painter. Wilson has two pieces premiering next week, at Drogheda and Cork Choral Festival.
Schnittke sounded a bit daunting
Not a bit.

Soloists with Latvian guests

Revis Fairytale was a smashing showcase for solo accordion evoking the humour and pathos of Gogol's stories, delivered with great charm and flair by Sidirova. Then it was off to a more grown up milieu  of Buenos Aires nightlife for a slice of   Piazzola's, Tango Nuove The final concerto by 20th century composer Budashkin gave both a chance to show off their impressive virtuosity and drew the audience to their feet.  Following sustained applause there was  a Czardas lollipop before the charismatic duo  were released from the podium  to meet audience members.

 Photo Plaza Waterford Peter Crann 

With their great flair, skill and charm,  Sidirova and Avital are bright sparks on the classical music scene and  convincing crusaders for these somewhat exotic instruments.  A wonderful,  entertaining  finale to the 73rd Waterford-Music season.

Related Posts Preview Cathy's Reviews http://cathydesmond.blogspot.ie/2015/04/accordion-and-mandolin-globe-trotters.html

 several radio interviews  Marty /Arena




Béla Bartók (1881- 1945)
Romanian Folk Dances
Jocul cu Bâtă | Brâul | Pe Loc | Buciumeana | Poarga Românească | Mărunţel


Manuel de Falla (1876–1946)
From “Siete Canzoni Popolari Spagnole”
6 Canzoni Popolari Spagnole
El Paño Moruno | Asturiana | Jota | Nana | Canción | Polo


J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750)
Partita BWV 1004 in D minor / Chaconne
Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962)
Prelude and Allegro
Ian Wilson
Spilliaert's Beach

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)
Revis Fairytale
1. Chichikov’s Childhood 2. Officials 3. Waltz 4. Polka

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Histoire du Tango
Café 1930 | Night-club 1960

Nikolai Budashkin (1910-1988)

Concerto in A mino

Finale 

Joining the dots at Greyfriars

The Waterford Municipal Collection has many very fine works. Connections is an exhibition that seeks to explore the links between works from various periods from 1860 to the present.  The exhibition opened officially tonight at Greyfriars Municipal Art Gallery.  I spoke to curator, Ruth Brennan at the launch. You can hear that interview here. 

listen to ‘Ruth Greydriars’ on audioBoom

There was a pleasant ambience in the former ecclesiastical space and plenty of interest in the 30 selected works. I liked the Card Players by Eileen Murray which has been moved from it's usual spot in the Theatre Royal for the exhibition.


The exhibition also includes some of the most prominent pieces from the Municipal Collection, including While Grass Grow (1936) by Jack B. Yeats, curator Ruth Brennan's favourite painting.


Ruth refers to Donald Teskey described in notes provided as a living contemporary 'Expressionist landscape painter'


Admission to Greyfriars Municipal Art Gallery is free. Opening hours: 10am – 5pm Tuesday – Saturday (including lunchtimes). Connections runs until Sunday, 10th May.





Les Retrouvés Danny Lartigue

Siobhán Doyle String trio at Edmund Rice Centre

A visit to the Edmund Rice Heritage Centre has been on my to do list. I was glad to get notice of a chamber music event there tomorrow evening. Siobhán Doyle has impeccable Waterford connections. Her grandfather Jim is a stalwart member of Waterford Male Voice Choir. Her dad Seamus is one of the driving forces behind the music project at St Agnes Crumlin. I am looking forward to hearing  these rising stars of the classical music scene.  Here is an extract from the press release. See you there!

'Siobhán Doyle (violin) and Clíona Ní Choileáin (cello) are final year students at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Both former leaders of their prospective sections in the National Youth Orchestra, their music careers have seen them perform in China, the USA, the United Arab Emirates and extensively throughout Europe. 

Caoilfhionn Ní Choileáin is a prizewinning guitarist from Cork. Currently learning with Jerry Creedon at the CIT Cork School of Music, she has also played for John Williams, one of the world's foremost guitarists.

Individually, they have all performed at the Áras an Uachtaráin. All keen chamber musicians, they have each attended the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, receiving masterclasses from world renowned artists.,

Waterford New Music Week: Meet Sue Rynhart

Waterford New Music Week is coming up all next week. I attended the launch and my preview piece is in the print version of the Irish Examiner today. More details on WNMW facebook page here

One of the emerging artists to feature is Sue Rynhart.  I enjoyed hearing Sue at a Kaleidoscope gig recently and she sent me this e interview ahead of her Waterford appearance. In 2014 she released a much admired debut album, Crossings with bassist Dan Bodwell which explored an intersection between jazz and contemporary music . Sue Rynhart will conduct a improvisation workshop as well as a daytime recital with bassist Andrew Csibi in Waterford City Library on Wednesday 25th March.

 New Music is a major feature of your work with many contemporary composers featuring in your repertoire. At what point did creating your own material become  significant ?.

About three years ago creating my own material became a significant part of my work. I had taken abreak from performing and focused on creating 

Who has influenced you most in arriving at your own individual style?
I think the music I have created is probably influenced on one hand by the music that I have performed; choral works from medieval to the present day, solo vocal repertoire including early music songs, Aria Antiquae, Lieder, atonal music, folk songs,  jazz standards & popular song and on the other hand music that I have listened to. I improvise regularly with vocalists Dorothy Murphy, and Tuula Voutilainen and this experience has certainly allowed me to become more confident and creative with my voice and musical ideas. 

In my music I can hear idioms of modes, scales and rhythm patterns that I have really internalized through practicing and I can certainly hear some odd meters that I am comfortable with through singing with Dylan Rynhart's Fuzzy Logic . So to name some major influences , I would say Byrd, Weelks, Tallis, Purcell, Dowland, Alban Berg, Tori Amos, Stina Nordenstam, Sinead O Connor, Gillian Welch, Public Image Limited, Orbital, Prince, Bobby McFerrin, Norma Winstone, Gentle Giant... I could go on and on.

What area was your post grad in?

I studied an MA in Historical Studies at NUI Maynooth under the direction of Dr, Patrick Devine and Dr Barra Boydell. Highlights were surveying information on music and entertainment in Irish newspapers from 1800's and transcribing Lute Tablature into modern staff notation. My thesis was on the secular songs of Sir Andrew Stevenson best known for his piano accompaniments for Thomas Moore's Melodies. Stevenson was a Lay Vicar Choral at Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin, a post I also enjoyed when I completed my MA

Any future projects you'd like to flag?

Abigail Smith, a brilliant songwriter and composer recently released her album 'Fall into Silence' . I had the pleasure of singing backing vocals for her.

I sing on a regular basis with Dylan Rynhart's Fuzzy Logic Ensemble at Listen at the Wellington

I will be singing in an opera based on Finnegan's Wake by Sean MacErlaine 21st -14th May 

I am looking forward to being interviewed by Bernard Clarke forhis radio programme Nova on RTE Lyric FM in April to talk about my  album.

Q& A with Pianist Michael McHale

Michael Collins. the most distinguished British clarinettist returns to the Georgian Large Room, Waterford on Thursday (Feb 12th). Collins is one of the many fabulous international artists introduced to Waterford-Music audiences by John Ruddock, the Limerick impresario who died last year.  He will be partnered by  Belfast native, Michael McHale.

I asked Michael McHale  for an e interview and heard about his new projects and his forthcoming recital. 

 At a mere 31 years, Michael McHale has moved off the lists of ‘rising stars’ and  has firmly established himself among the first rank of pianists with an international career that has taken him all over the world to major venues in Europe, Asia, North and South America. McHale has had a broad musical education. One wonders how he has managed to fit so much in. As a teenager he gigged in a jazz band  around Belfast as well as playing cello in youth orchestras. In tandem with his paino studies he picked up a double first at Cambridge.  He first came to prominence when he was among the prize winners of the Axa Dublin Piano Competition  competition in 2006. His reputation was cemented when he took first prize at the prestigious Terence Judd/ Hallé competition in 2009.

 In addition to developing a busy carer as a concert soloist and chamber musician, he has made time to record two solo albums. His debut solo recording The Irish Piano was released in 2012 and got rave reviews. British music critic,  Norman Lebrecht praised the album selecting it as CD of the week describing it thus- The Irish Piano' is a scintillating and sometimes whimsical recital that takes John Field as its starting point and spreads out across the whole of the island's music… McHale strikes just the right tone of contemplative wonderment and mischievous mythology… Fascinating from start to stop…"Just released on the Naxos label , McHales’ second solo album ‘Miniatures and Modulations’ combines the efforts of Belfast musicians across two centuries.  Composer Phillip Hammond dips into the treasure trove of airs collected by Edward Bunting at the 1792 Harp Festival and uses these ‘miniatures’ as the basis  for a set of freestyle  ‘modulations’.    New solo recording projects include an album of Schubert and contemporary interludes for Ergodos.

Little taster of our fab artists Michael Collins/ Michael Mc Hale from The Lyrical Clarinet http://t.co/1ndB2LO234 FEB 12 #Waterford
— Waterford-Music (@Waterford_Music) February 4, 2015

  In great demand as a concerto soloist, McHale is also much sought after as a chamber musician. In May he teams up with London Winds at the Wigmore Hall and he is just back from playing with James Galway in Lucerne. He will back in the studio to record an album of flute and piano works by Schubert, Prokofiev and Liebermann with the incredible Icelandic flautist Stefan Hoskuldsson (Delos label). 

 Reviews for previous albums have been unanimous in their praise. A  BBC Music Magazine review  noted  ‘ It’s hard to imagine this varied programme better played than it is here by Collins and Michael McHale. They’re technically impeccable and stylistically flexible’. 

How did the association with Collins come about?

I first met Michael at Barry Douglas's Clandeboye Festival in Co. Down, where we were both guest artists and performed some chamber music together. We got on really well, and subsequently Michael invited me to do a few duo recitals with him, and we've been performing together ever since! He's an exceptional musician so it is always a great pleasure to share the stage with him.

How did you arrive at the programme?

Our programme is inspired largely by our latest album, released this month, which features the Brahms clarinet sonatas and a sonata by Carl Reinecke. It's our fifth album together for the Chandos label and we were both delighted with how it turned out. We've also included in our concert programme Weber's virtuosic Grand Duo Concertant to spice things up even further!

Highlight of last year?

I was fortunate to enjoy many great musical experiences in 2014 both at home and abroad - but the highlight for me must be my début with the amazing Minnesota Orchestra at their newly refurbished Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, performing Mozart's A major Concerto K.488 with my good friend Courtney Lewis conducting, live on radio, in front of a packed house and standing ovation - what a thrill!

What are you looking forward to most in 2015?

I'm very excited to perform one of my favourite works, Beethoven's 4th concerto, in July with the RTÉ NSO. And it's always a joy to return to London's Wigmore Hall, where I perform a coffee concert in May with London Winds and an evening recital in September with Michael Collins.

I also have a few new albums coming out in 2015, which I hope will be well received - there is a solo album of wonderful Irish music by Philip Hammond: Miniatures & Modulations (Naxos' Grand Piano label - see video), another solo disc of Schubert Impromptus op.90 with contemporary interludes (Ergodos label) and an album of flute and piano works by Schubert, Prokofiev and Liebermann with the incredible Icelandic flautist Stefan Hoskuldsson (Delos label).

With airports becoming increasingly stressful,  how do you cope with the hassle of travelling?

I guess it's an occupational hazard - although the one silver lining with travelling so regularly is that one can join up with the frequent flyers' clubs and then avail of the priority check-in, fast-track security and airline lounges - this can make all the difference and over the course of a year save a lot of time.

What did you study in Cambridge?

I read Music at Cambridge - and although the degree was almost entirely academic, I was fortunate to study many disparate areas of music, such as composition, analysis, history, score reading, figured bass realization, film music, science of music, etc etc - some of which has hopefully ended up informing and enriching my approach to performance.

Where is your home base when not travelling?

I'm based in London, and have been for 10 years, since studying for two years as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music. It's a wonderful city, and when I'm there I regularly go to concerts and gigs of all different kinds of music. It's a real artistic melting pot, and importantly it also has many well-connected airports!

Any repertoire /chamber music collaboration on your wish list in the long term

Another great highlight of 2014 was working with Camerata Pacifica (in California) - as well as playing some solo Schubert, I enjoyed a wonderful collaboration with violinist Paul Huang (see video) - I hope very much to return to give more concerts with this superb ensemble in the future.

I know you've played in Waterford before (I am told you were first to play the new piano in Christchurch). . How do you think the acoustic /setting  will suit the combination?

Yes that was a lovely evening at Christchurch with their new Yamaha piano! I've played in Waterford many times, and I particularly love the Steinway piano at City Halls, it's a beautiful instrument, and impressively well maintained, too. My last two concerts there were a solo recital and a chamber music performance with the Cappa Ensemble. Michael has played all over Ireland in every possible venue you could imagine, stretching back to the 1980s and his great friendship with (the late) John and Doreen Ruddock, to whom we will be dedicating our concert. The setting will be absolutely perfect and we're both very much looking forward to it.

 Michael Collins and Michael McHale perform at The John Ruddock Memorial Recital Georgian Large Room City Hall Waterford Feb 12^th as part of Waterford-Music Season http://www.waterford-music.org/ 8pm  €18/5

McHale play new work by Hammond last night on  Bernard Clark's Nova slot RTELyricFM Listen back here http://t.co/g4CYU4IbOk 

Listen to Aedin Gormley's interview  http://t.co/B8Cp9lPInD

Review Brahms CD on Nemmblog.com

Top Brass for Waterford1100

As readers of this blog will be aware, I have been fortunate to attend many remarkable events, some good and some superb and have attempted to describe most of them, as best I can.  I am not often stuck for words but  I feel at a loss to know what to say about last night. Leaving the Cathedral in Barronstrand Street Waterford, tingling all  over from the musical perfection presented by the ensemble and the palpable sense of occasion, just one problem niggled. Attempt to record it in mere words I must-but just how to do justice to the ladies and gentlemen of the Black Dyke Band.

Expectations were high. Would they live up to the hyperbole. Perhaps there was an element of exaggeration in the accounts?  Not a bit. No one in the 800 strong audience can have been in any doubt as to why Black Dyke  are described as the best brass band in the world. This was Olympian gold medal perfection in silver and brass performance.

Apart from the jaw dropping technical virtuosity, the impossible pianissimos, the shimmering warmth of the timbre, the  thrilling climaxes, we loved the choreography with the ensemble slickly reforming to suit each  number and a bit of  big band shaping in lighter numbers. Soloists emerged at the front to do their bit before being reabsorbed in the brass fold. The stereo effect of a group located in the organ loft engulfed us further in rich sonority.

This is an ensemble of soloists. How warm and pleading was Katrina Marzello's baritone solo in the Mario Lanza number, Be My Love. Richard Marshall conjured up a pirouetting Miss Blue Bonnet on cornet. Still a teenager, Jonathan Bates excelled in a tenor horn solo. In a change to the programme, Christopher Binns presented a fresh jazzy version of Danny Boy. the Work by Karl Jenkins and the extraordinary Triumph of Time by Peter Graham represented the 20th century in thrilling and unfamiliar new work. The biggest cheers were reserved for Cork man Gary Curtin who did impossible things on his euphonium. Carnival of Venus was full of technical fireworks but it was the baritone duo in encore piece, Highland Cathedral with twin snare drummers  that will live in my memory. Mere words added another layer in a narrative on the band's history in Paul Lovatt-Cooper's Immortal. Amid the bravura, Crimond featuring the hymn, The Lord's My Shepherd resonated perfectly  with the cathedral setting.

Despite the professionalism of  playing standard, there was a sense of the amateur in the best sense of the word,  in the sheer joy and exuberance. The band beamed at us and at each other. Everyone from Musical director Nicholas Childs down throughout the ranks seemed to be having thoroughly marvellous time. I can report that in true amateur spirit, there was no roadie crew and each member picked up their own stands and packerd up the van just like an ordinary village band  .

Just to show my critical faculties are working, I note that the programme carried listing and biographies but was  light on programme notes on the pieces. It would have been good to read some background on the unfamiliar pieces.

As Caroline Senior, director of Garter Lane Arts Centre said in her introduction this was a fitting way to celebrate Waterford 1100. We say thank you to Liam Daly and Symphony Club of Waterford, Waterford Cathedral  and Imagine Festival Waterford for presenting such a wonderful evening in one of our most historic churches. Bravo tutti!.

Free Imagine : Round up of the Best of Free Events

'The mix is complemented by the festival’s other distinguishing strand; its genuineness as a community festival, backed by many free events'  Kevin O Sullivan Irish Times  at Imagine Launch 2014

Call me a cheapskate but one of the things I love about Waterford Imagine Festival and indeed Spraoi, the street festival extravaganza is their accessibility and their 'arts for all' inclusiveness. With many free events, lack of funds should not be a stumbling block to firing your Imagination. Here is a roundup of the best free, no strings attached events you can enjoy at this year's Imagine Arts Festival.  

** Highlight Booze Blaas and Banter: Jordan's Bar Sat 25th 9am -12pm One of my personal favourite  events of the year. Who could forget Catherine Foley recalling the visit of Dan Shanahan to deliver oil and the trip down memory lane as everyone joined in with her evocation of the childhood skipping games. Teena O Connor reading from her father's memoir of fighting in the Spanish Civil brought a lump to everyone's throat. John Molloy's memoirs of his life as a merchant seaman are just wonderful. I am proud to have been invited to add to the musical interludes to the banter. I am working on some melodies with a World War 1 theme for this year's event.

listen to ‘Catherine Foley reads her Sunday Miscellany piece about growing up in Waterford’ on audioBoom

Author John McKenna reads from his 5th novel Joseph Saturday 18th Oct 3pm Greyfriars Gallery
Ernest Shackleton Illustrated Talk by Michael Smith. Tuesday 21st Oct 7.30pm Central Library

Festival Heads Mark Graham: Geoffs Bar Tues 23rd 6.30pm Irelands' favourite festival junkie and blogger Mark Graham may have curtailed his journalistic activities but Mark will be at Imagine displaying his splendid photographs taken on his festival odyssey at Geoff's Bar. I dare say we will hear him read in his own inimitable voice. Well I am hoping we do. How good was it to hear those Deise dulcet tones on the national airwaves from time to time.


Cat Dowling and Band .The Vic: Sat 25th 11pm Not familiar with this artist but by all accounts she has a terrific voice and writes great stuff. You can hear her at Victoria House Tramore, one of Tramore's oldest and most popular pubs in a late night gig


WIT Book Fair New Used and Antiquarian Books Sat 18th 

Trad Festival Club Dooley's Hotel As part of The John Dwyer Festival Midnight -2am Fri Sat 17/18th Oct

History and Heritage Weekend: Continuing on where Booze Blaas 'n Banter left off, there are two afternoons of history talks, Sat and Sun, at St Patrick's Gateway Centre.  This year, the theme is Waterford's contribution to the Great War. Among the contributors will be Emmet O Connor (Sat 2.00pm)   and the series is put together by James Doherty who will present images of Waterford during the war on Sunday .

Parade of Light LET THERE BE LIGHT. Here's hoping the thunder and lightening will blow over for the very first Parade of Light at Imagine. Staring at the Bull Post Ballybricken at 6pm, hildren bearing willow lanterns will make their way to the Park. It promises to be dee'light' ful.

Lots of art exhibitions all over the place including Gerald Scarfe at Port Building and Patrick Morrison restrospective at Greyfriars Gallery  will be  a must see for art buffs.



Drama: Hurrah for Jim Nolan who is pivotal in making Waterford a beacon for theatre in Ireland We mourn the loss of our regional theatre company, Red Kettle but as director Ollie Bresin put it ,
very important for a city to tell it's own stories and Jim does it more eloquently and dramatically than most. We heard Jamie Beamish read from his play Dreamland at the launch. Jim Nolan launches the print version on Fri 17th at 6.30pm at The Book Centre

WIT Theatre Studies students present a reading by candlelight of a new play by Demot Curraoin Good Shepherd Chapel 7.30 pm Thurs 23rd Oct

 Ballybricken Documentary  by Mark Power 5pm Sun St Patrick's Church

Health Symposium Mad Men  Musician, Dylan Tighe and writer, Michael Harding discuss mental health with chairman Dr Mark Rowe of Prescription for Happiness seminars St Patrick's Church  4pm
 Weds 22 Oct

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE

Fire Your Imagination at Imagine 2014

Imagine Arts Festival Waterford  16-26th October




Imagine Arts Festival  is almost upon us and there is a just a fortnight or so to peruse the programme and savour the anticipation of the impressive range of events lined up for this eclectic arts festival.  Here is my pick of the highlights of the  first three days.
Imagine 2014

Gary Curtin Euphonium

Black Dyke Band: Saturday 18th Oct Cathedral Barronstrand St 
The tradition  of Brass Bands associated with the industrial heartland of the North of England may have waned with the closure of the mines and cessation of the mills but some of the very best brass bands in the world are still found in this corner of England . Roy Keane is not the only Mayfield man to be excelling in Manchester arenas Embedded in The Black Dyke Band is Gary Curtin, a virtuoso euphonium  player from Cork.  The draw of hearing one of their own in

the only Irish appearance of the Black Dyke Band has led to a run on tickets and a move to a larger venue. Expect an influx of buses bearing Leeside brass fans to descend on the Cathedral on Saturday.
I asked Liam Daly, administrator of SCOW Symphony Club of Waterford,  what is so special about Curtin. "An amazingly talented musical and technically versatile musician to have come from the Banks of the Lee, to have studied at the Cork School of Music, to grace the stages of some of the greatest concert halls in Europe,and to hold the Solo Euphonium position with with one of the worlds greatest Brass Bands is a testament to his talent"   

Anja Poche Lipfert with Camerata Kilkenny  Thursday 16th Oct

Listeners to Gloria, RTE's sacred music programme will have heard Tim Thurston wax lyrical about the Calmus Ensemble from Leipzig who performed at the Borris River Arts Festival recently.  Anja Poche Lipfert, soprano with the ensemble returns to perform with the Kilkenny based Baroque ensemble led by Malcolm Proud at the harpsichord. The concert is part of the Waterford Music series and takes place in the elegant Georgian Large Room at City Hall . The programme will feature music by JS Bach. Waterford Music work hard to bring a regular offering of attractive  chamber music  to Waterford despite having their funding slashed . You can check out the full schedule for the Waterford Music series here 

Jim Nolan Book Launch Book Centre Friday 17th Oct. 6.30pm
The Gallery Press launch Dreamland by Waterford playwright Jim Nolan at The Book Centre.

Art Exhibition.
Gerard Scarfe's political cartoons are on view in The Waterford Port building on O Connell St from 7.00pm Sat 17th October

Lots more to choose from with two World Music ensembles at Garter Lane on Thurday and one man theatre presentations at Theatre Royal and Central Hall. The John Dwyer Trad Weekend will be in full swing with sessions all over the Quay. Legendary box player , Mairtin O Connor is headlining the bill on Saturday night at Dooley's Hotel.




John Adams in Waterford  Modern music buffs may like to note that Io Sone l'Amore, the film scheduled for Film and Feast evening on Sat 18th features a score by modern minimalist composer John Adams. I think I might have warmed to Nixon in China if it came with some lovely Chinese grub.