Winter Chamber Music Festival 2023

Fidelio Trio Winter Chamber Music Festival 2023

GlasDrum and Music at DCU are proud to present the eleventh FIDELIO TRIO WINTER CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL in Belvedere House, St Patrick’s Campus DCU, Drumcondra, Dublin 9 from Friday 24th November to Sunday 26th November. Curated by the distinguished Fidelio Trio - Darragh Morgan (violin), Tim Gill (cello) and Mary Dullea (piano) – this year’s festival features four world premieres by the renowned Irish composers Siobhán Cleary, Seán Ó Dálaigh, Fergal Dowling, and Gráinne Mulvey, as well as much loved works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schoenberg, De Falla, and Chabrier. Fidelio Trio will be joined by the internationally-acclaimed musicians Fiona Kelly (flute), Anna Devin (Soprano), Francesco Paolo Scola (Clarinet), and Jane Atkins (Viola).

The festival will open on the evening of Friday 24th November with a compelling concert, 'Symphony in Miniature', in the intimate Belvedere House Library. The Fidelio Trio will be joined by London-based Irish flautist Fiona Kelly and clarinettist Francesco Paulo Scola to perform Mozart's much-loved Symphony No. 40, Chabrier's evocative 'España', and Schoenberg's well-known Chamber Symphony No 1.

As in previous years, the festival includes a number of world premieres. We are particularly delighted to perform exciting new repertoire for solo violin and electronics, composed especially for violinist Darragh Morgan, and funded by the Arts Council Music Project Award. This project is coordinated by locally-based composer Fergal Dowling together with Irish composers Siobhán Cleary, and Gráinne Mulvey. Inspired by the species of our natural world, these new pieces will receive their premieres at the free lunchtime concert in the stunning National Botanic Gardens on Saturday 25th November. This special event will also feature String Trios by twentieth-century composer Alfred Schnittke and eighteenth-century Italian composer Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen.

‘Culture File with Luke Clancy’ is our pre-concert event on Saturday 25th November at 6:30pm, an in person recording of a roundtable discussion with Luke Clancy, Culture File, Mary Dullea, Fidelio Trio and composers Rhona Clarke and John Buckley on the fascinating subject of commissions and the creation of new works of art. This is a free admission  event. Live audience welcome with questions to be taken from the floor. 

The evening concert 'Andalusian Echoes' will follow, where Fidelio Trio will be joined once more by the violist Jane Atkins. Escape the frosty winter and journey to the warmth of Spain, with Manuel De Falla's luscious 'Suite Populaire Espagnole' and Isaac Albéniz's evocative 'Triana'. These stunning pieces will lead us to Belgium to revel in the expressive sounds of Guillaume Lekeu's Piano Quartet.

On Sunday 26th November, Fidelio Trio and soprano Anna Devin will bring the festival to a close with a feast of classical favourites, including five of Beethoven's captivating Irish folk songs, his magnificent 'Archduke' Piano Trio, and Mozart's exquisite L’Amerò sarò costante from his opera 'Il Re Pastore'. This finale promises to leave us whistling the melodious tunes of these classical titans as we depart Belvedere House.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Fidelio Trio Winter Chamber Music Festival for an enriching three days of music-making.

Tickets available from eventbrite.ie. Full programme available at this link.

The Fidelio Trio Winter Chamber Music Festival is brought to you by GlasDrum in partnership with Music at DCU, with funding from the Arts Council Festivals Investment Scheme. The event is supported by RTÉ Supporting the Arts, and the Saturday lunchtime concert at the National Botanic Gardens by the Office of Public Works.