Frankie Gavin & De Dannan has been invited to tour China this month with the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, taking in the country’s largest concert venues.
The tour begins on Tuesday at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, as part of the World Expo Programme. The tour then moves on to the Suzhou Cultural Art Centre on Wednesday, and the Changchun Concert Hall on Thursday July 8.
The band and orchestra will also open the Beijing Festival summer season with two concerts at the prestigious Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11.
Each of these concerts will be broadcast to millions of people via television on Beijing TV and China Central TV stations. The concerts will also be broadcast live via a variety of media, including radio and web portals, as well as on 102 giant screens in Beijing’s shopping malls, squares, and landmarks.
Derek Gleeson, leader of the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, explained the reasons for partnering with Frankie and the band.
“I saw Frankie Gavin & De Dannan perform in New York earlier this year and the reaction was phenomenal,” he said. “The level of musicianship was breathtaking and as I hadn’t seen Frankie with this particular line up before I instantly knew that these guys would go down a storm in China.
“To have a room of people in New York, which included the head of Fox TV and other major US and global corporations, on their feet within 10 minutes is no mean achievement and I thought to myself ‘Imagine these guys with 70 other performers from the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra’, we got to talking and it’s happening in July.”
Frankie says he is “very excited” about the China tour and the opportunities it represents.
“We played in Singapore two weeks ago for a number of Asian concert promoters and they are all excited about seeing the band in China,” he said. “We have a number of other offers in also for that part of the world which is great.”
Frankie has already hit the ground running on this as the band are already scheduled to return to China in September, and a few months later again, perform at the Asian Games.
“Given our trips back and forth,” laughs Frankie, “I suppose we best brush up on our Chinese!”
