Afternoon delight with Finghin Collins

March 3 at 3pm, solo recital

VENTURE to a recital by pianist Finghin Collins at University Concert Hall this Sunday March 3 at the gentle hour of 3pm. Promising โ€œa repertoire of popular classics,โ€ his concert will be hosted by Friends of UCH, marking 25 years of their support for the concert hallโ€™s entertainment and outreach programmes.

Anticipate Mozartโ€™s Sonata in A Major, โ€˜Alla Turcaโ€™; Brahmsโ€™ โ€˜Vier Klavierstukeโ€™ and Schubertโ€™s lovely โ€˜Sonata in A Majorโ€™. Friends of UCH are on a free ticket for this other-wordly soundscape and thereโ€™s a modest entry of โ‚ฌ10 to โ‚ฌ15 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 Oโ€™Conor at the Royal Irish Academy of Music at the age of six. Siblings Dearbhla โ€“ with whom he often plays in formal duet โ€“ 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 ย year, acknowledging his body of achievement. Scroll through the roll call of collaborators and recordings on Wikipedia.

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Away from the ivory keys, what does he listen to? โ€œI donโ€™t listen to a lot of music as I work with music so much,โ€ he confesses. โ€œI am a news junkie and at weekends when there is a lot of sport on, I turn to RTE lyric fm.โ€

He is relaxed about the internationally itinerant nature of being a soloist. Heโ€™s never lonely on the road, there are friends everywhere. โ€œFor 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.โ€

He speaks French, German, Italian, some Spanish and yes, Russian, as well as his ability with native English. Russian? โ€œIโ€™ve spent some time there working and was curious to learn about the inner workings of the language.โ€