by Rose Rushe
Photo: Elan Sicroff
IRISH Chamber Orchestra had a razzle dazzle 2014 with a suite of exceptional collaborations, broadening its base and bringing dance and theatre works into the mix. There was Patrick Mason’s ‘My Brother Peter’, initiated by orchestra leader Katherine Hunka, which had actor Bosco Hogan take passages of correspondence between composer Pyoter Illych Tchaikovsky and staid brother Modest. Nocturnes and serenades by a string selection punctuated the intimacy of this concept written and produced by Patrick Mason.
This piece had it all: insight, revelation and was a thing of interest and beauty.
That work saw the ICO move to the proscenium ease of Lime Tree Theatre. To orchestrate Ballet Ireland’s ‘Carmen’, ICO never looked better than torch lit at the Milk Market’s Big Top, level with the dancers in terms of being visually memorable.
Photo: Ewa Figaszewska
In November, Fidget Feet’s aerial breeze with hoops and slings at regular home UCH was magic; now Fidget Feet base their skillset in Limerick for a year. Again, City of Culture made much of these occasions possible, ICO working with other funding partners such as The Arts Council, patrons, Friends of and naturally, audiences.
On to this year’s portfolio from the Plassey based Irish Chamber Orchestra. The performance calendar for Limerick begins on February 5 with the world premier of ‘Nimbus’ by rising young composer Sam Perkins, reports the orchestra’s Charlotte Eglington.
For the same concert, she tips that Hungarian cellist Istvan Vardai will return to give us Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor and there will be works by Shostakovich, ‘Prelude’, ‘Scherzo’ and the ’8th String Quartet’.
On April 10, another premier will follow, a sung piece written by clarinettist/ composer Jorg Widmann, ‘Attempt at a Fugue for Soprano and Orchestra’. The American soprano Claron McFaddon is booked for the concert hall; Widmann is principal artistic partner to ICO.
You can vet the monthly 2015 roll out as declared so far on www.irishchamberorchestra.com
Book for February 5 on www.uch.ie
