The distinguished violin and piano duo of Catherine Leonard and Hugh Tinney will tour to Roscommon Arts Centre today, Friday October 15 at 8pm. This duo has a special affinity with Beethoven’s music and will perform two of his sonatas for violin and piano (No.3 and No.10 ). They will also play James Wilson’s Sonata No.5 written for the duo in 2001 together with Debussy’s sonata which Leonard describes as being “full of fantastical elements and jazzy rhythms”.
Dublin-born Hugh Tinney first gained international recognition by winning first prize in two international competitions, the 1983 Pozzoli in Italy and the 1984 Paloma O'Shea in Spain. He has performed in more than 30 countries as a soloist and chamber musician. He teaches at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and has been a jury member in a number of international music competitions.
From Cork, Catherine Leonard also has a highly successful international career playing in prominent festivals, recital series and venues such as the Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Her many international prizes included the use of a valuable Guadagnini for three years from a private foundation in the Netherlands. In Ireland she won the use of the Heineken violin for three years and she now plays a Francesco Ruggieri violin made in Cremona in 1672.
Catherine and Hugh have performed together as a duo since 2000 in Ireland and abroad including in Sweden and Finland, with recent performances in California for Camerata Pacifica where Catherine is Principal Artist. This is the first of a three-year series with Beethoven Sonatas which will culminate in their performing all 10 sonatas in 2012. Tickets for this magical concert are available at Roscommon Arts Centre’s box office on (090 ) 6625824.
