VENTURE to a recital by pianist Finghin Collins at University Concert Hall this Sunday March 3 at the gentle hour of 3pm. Promising “a repertoire of popular classics,” his concert will be hosted by Friends of UCH, marking 25 years of their support for the concert hall’s entertainment and outreach programmes.
Anticipate Mozart’s Sonata in A Major, ‘Alla Turca’; Brahms’ ‘Vier Klavierstuke’ and Schubert’s lovely ‘Sonata in A Major’. Friends of UCH are on a free ticket for this other-wordly soundscape and there’s a modest entry of €10 to €15 for the public, www.uch.ie
A regular guest of Plassey based Irish Chamber Orchestra, Finghin Collins is a Dublin man from an extraordinarily musical family. He tells Limerick Post that he won a scholarship to train with John O’Conor at the Royal Irish Academy of Music at the age of six. Siblings Dearbhla – with whom he often plays in formal duet – Mary and Donncha all preceded him and today work professionally with music, one way or another.
The National University of Ireland made Finghin a doctor of Music last year, acknowledging his body of achievement. Scroll through the roll call of collaborators and recordings on Wikipedia.
Away from the ivory keys, what does he listen to? “I don’t listen to a lot of music as I work with music so much,” he confesses. “I am a news junkie and at weekends when there is a lot of sport on, I turn to RTE lyric fm.”
He is relaxed about the internationally itinerant nature of being a soloist. He’s never lonely on the road, there are friends everywhere. “For me it is the variety, that every day is different, that every year there is a different nature to the schedule and the places I go. I love to perform and love to communicate in various languages.”
He speaks French, German, Italian, some Spanish and yes, Russian, as well as his ability with native English. Russian? “I’ve spent some time there working and was curious to learn about the inner workings of the language.”