In three weeks’ time, Ireland’s new international festival of cello and classical music begins in venues across Galway.
From Saturday, May 18, Music for Galway will present ‘Cellisimo’, billed as a week of classical highlights at the edge of Europe to run until Sunday, May 26.
The festival will be formally launched by former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, who is expected to speak on the importance of communicating the urgency of climate change.
In a statement she said: “Music is one of humankind’s greatest communication tools, a unifying and democratic agent for change; a medium through which we can tell the stories and experiences of humanity and help each other to find empathy and understanding and instigate change in our own lives, those of our families and friends and our wider communities.”
Cellissimo will include 27 concerts across Galway city and county, with more than 500 musicians, performers, composers, singers, dancers, actors, storytellers, game designers and speakers from across the world taking part.
With community celebrations, student focused events, a film screening, a gaming event with live score, a mystery cello trail on Inishbofin Island, a photography exhibition, and a melting pot of Irish trad and classical sounds at the late-night Festival Club at Hyde Hotel each evening, Galway city and county is set to experience a classical makeover.
Full programme and tickets at www.cellissimo.ie
