The Limerick Summer Proms returns to University Concert Hall this June for a three-night festival spanning the summer solstice weekend, with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and the Military Pipes and Bands of the Defence Forces all performing across consecutive evenings from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 June.
Now firmly established on the city’s cultural calendar, this year’s edition promises one of its most ambitious programmes to date. UCH Director Sinéad Hope described the festival as more than a music event, saying it had become a celebration of Limerick’s heritage, creativity, and inclusiveness.
The programme opens on Friday 19 June with French Reverie, performed by the Irish Chamber Orchestra.
The evening traces a path through the French impressionist repertoire, taking in works by Fauré, Debussy, and Satie before arriving at Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major, arranged for full orchestra. Katherine Hunka’s elegy also features on what promises to be a refined and atmospheric opening night.
Saturday 20 June sees the RTÉ Concert Orchestra perform The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds in its entirety, with conductor Richard Balcombe leading a stellar vocal cast including Patrick Smyth, Stuart Matthew Price, Graham Bickley, Jon Boydon, and Steve Trowell.
The concert presents the album’s intricate Wilson-era harmonies with the full weight of orchestral arrangement behind them — a rare and vivid treatment of one of popular music’s most revered recordings.
The festival closes on Sunday 21 June, the summer solstice itself, with A Summer Celebration featuring the Combined Bands of the Irish Defence Forces under Captain Ben Jacob.
Acclaimed Irish soprano Claudia Boyle joins the ensemble for an evening themed Light & Gold, which weaves together Irish traditional music, military marches, and operatic classics, with the added spectacle of the Pipes of the Irish Defence Forces.
All three concerts take place at University Concert Hall.