Ortús Chamber Music Festival Line-Up Announced

The 8th Ortús Chamber Music Festival will run from February 26th to March 5th in venues around Cork City and County, featuring 8 of the world's most celebrated classical musicians.

The festival, founded in 2016 by renowned Irish musicians Sinéad O'Halloran and Mairéad Hickey, was set up with the goal of providing performance platforms for some of Ireland's finest young musicians alongside their international peers. Committed to highlighting the achievements of Irish musicians and composers on the world stage, while bridging connections with musicians worldwide, Ortús has invited over 40 musicians to Cork and programmed more than 85 musical works.

This year's festival will feature performances in St Brendan's Church, Bantry, Blackrock Castle Observatory, UCC Aula Maxima, MTU Cork School of Music, MYPlace Midleton, Sea Church Ballycotton and St. Peter's on North Main Street. The line up includes Irish musicians Sinéad O'Halloran (cello), Eoin Ducrot (violin), Fiachra de hÓra (viola) & Peggy Nolan (cello), alongside Swedish violinist Johannes Marmén, Welsh pianist Jâms Coleman, New Zealand violist Bryony Gibson-Cornish and Swiss violinist Laia Braun. There will also be performances by the world-renowned Marmen Quartet, of which Sinéad is a member.

"It has been an incredible year for me since I joined the quartet, with performances all around the world, including at the Berlin Philharmonic, Lucerne Festival, Canada's Banff Centre & the BBC Proms. We have played for audiences worldwide, but for me there is nothing quite like coming home to where my musical journey began and bringing my favourite musicians with me! I can't wait to introduce them to Irish audiences."

Festival highlights include Mozart & Fauré's beloved piano quartets, Beethoven's epic late quartet op. 131, the Irish premiere of Salina Fisher's "Heal",Brahms' much loved String Sextet no. 1 and a special evening at the Blackrock Castle Observatory where the audience will be treated to music inspired by the night sky.

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