The Galway Music Residency has revealed the theme of this year’s lunchtime classical concerts around the county will be The Celtic Calendar.
On the first Tuesday of each month, GMR’s resident ConTempo Quartet will mark the passing of special dates, including Ostara [Easter], Michaelmas and the Winter Solstice.
ConTempo’s first performance will be at 1.10pm, next Tuesday, February 6, at St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church in Galway city where Imbolc - now known as St Brigid’s Day – will be marked.
The Romanian musicians will perform a repertoire on the theme of light, marking movement from the darkness of winter to the light and hope of spring. Works will include Haydn’s Sunrise Quartet, Terry Riley’s Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector, and Juhi Bansal’s Cathedral of Light. Galway poet Moya Cannon will open the concert with a reading of her poem A Song at Imbolc, originally commissioned for Galway 2020.
Connemara audiences may enjoy the programme a day earlier on Bank Holiday, Monday, February 5, at 7pm, in Oughterard Courthouse.
Formed in 1995 in Bucharest ConTempo Quartet is an ensemble of international standing. The quartet was chosen as Galway Music Residency’s Ensemble in Residence in 2003, and continues to captivate audiences throughout the city and county with its repertoire of classical, contemporary, folk and traditional music.
Entry to all concerts is free. Donations are welcome. No booking required.
