Birr Festival Season kicks off with annual Festival of Music

THE eagerly anticipated 2023 Birr Festival Season kicks off this week with the seventh annual Festival of Music.

Birr’s annual classical music festival is expanding to a five-day event this year across the May Bank Holiday weekend, taking place from Thursday April 27th to Monday May 1st.

This year is the 10th Anniversary of The Trench Award. To mark the tenth anniversary the pianist and conductor Niall Kinsella has taken up the role of Artistic Curator for the festival. Niall has programmed three special anniversary concerts featuring previous award winners and participants.

The concerts will feature musicianship of the very highest standard and will include the "Opening Night Gala" at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre, "A Lunchtime of Song" at Craughwell’s Courtyard and "Music in Birr Castle" (this event is for festival patrons and sponsors as a thank you for their continuing support).

The performers will include Sarah Brady (soprano), Carolyn Holt (mezzo-soprano), Martina Rosaria O’Connell (flute), Ben Gannon (oboe), Mollie Wrafter (violin), Philip Keegan (viola), Aoibhin Keogh Daly (cello), Aidan Chan (piano), Peter Regan (piano), Heather Fogarty (mezzo-soprano) and Matthew Mannion (baritone); all of whom participated in previous Trench Award competitions and are looking forward to returning to Birr. Birr audiences, remembering what excellent performances they gave here, are also looking forward to hearing them again.

Other musical delights over the weekend include the celebrated duo Bruno Caproni baritone and Julian Evans pianist in concert with the special guest soprano Sandra Oman, long considered one of the finest voices of her generation. An Enchanted Evening at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre will feature the music of Rossini, Verdi, Bizet, Liszt, Ravel, Lerner & Loewe, Rodgers & Hammerstein.

The fascinating Musical Time Travellers will move through centuries of composers to the present day and includes newly-commissioned music by composer Claire Meehan, inspired by lines from the poem, BIRR, by Rita Kelly and features Arthur Greene on organ and violinist Kevin Meehan.

An exciting event this year is the Birr Young Voices’ project, Exploring the Planets & Stars. Inspired by the rich astrological heritage of Birr Castle & Science Centre, children will present songs, art and poetry created over the past fourteen weeks in collaboration with Birr School of Music and visual artist Emma Behan.

The festival is also expanding its outreach to local secondary schools with Music for Life in St Brendan’s Community School and Coláiste Naomh Cormac. Senior music students will gain an insight into what it means to be a successful professional musician. Acclaimed baritone Bruno Caproni and concert pianist Julian Evans will present music and stories from their international careers. Past Trench Award recipients now developing their careers in concert, opera, orchestra and other ensembles, will also give performances followed by Q&A sessions.

The Trench Award 2023, one of the main events on the festival schedule, will showcase young singers and musicians of the future. Six singers/musicians from the Midlands region will each perform a 15-minute programme of their choice. All are pursuing professional careers in performance and were selected by an international panel of music experts. Recipients of The Trench Award, Birr Lions Club Bursary, Canto Al Serchio Prize (for voice), Audrey Chisholm Award (for instrument), will be announced. An Audience Choice and Musical Futures Bursary may also be awarded.

There will also be a host of street buskers in various venues around the town and masterclasses in Birr Theatre & Arts Centre.

Director of Birr Festival of Music Maureen de Forge said everyone is looking forward "with great anticipation to this year’s Festival when we will welcome back to Birr many of our previous Trench Award singers and musicians from opera companies, orchestras and music conservatoires where they are are now establishing successful careers or following further studies. We will hear them in various collaborations - trios, quartets, duets and solos - with wonderful concert programmes devised by Niall Kinsella, the festival’s 2023 Artistic Curator. Other welcome developments for Birr Festival of Music this year sees our outreach programme expand into neighbouring schools and our partnership with the thriving Birr School of Music continues to grow. We are extremely grateful to our funders, sponsors, patrons and audiences who make all of this possible and we extend a Céad Míle Fáilte to all for a great weekend of music.”

To book tickets | www.birrfestivalofmusic.com or call the Box Office at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre on (057) 91 22911

Birr Festival of Music is kindly supported by Arts Council Ireland, The Trench Trust, Creative Ireland, Offaly County Council, Birr Lions Club and Birr Theatre & Arts Centre.