PERFECT 10
HERE’S OUR TOP TEN THINGS TO DO IN CORK THIS WEEK
THE ESKER FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA AT THE CIT
THE critically acclaimed Esker Festival Orchestra will bring their 2017 National Tour to the Curtis Auditorium at the CIT School of Music on Saturday evening.
Set up in 2014, the Galway based-ensemble brings together 65 young emerging Irish and international musicians under the baton of Peter Joyce, offering them the experience of working together within a group environment.
The programme for the concert, which will commence at 5pm, will incorporate Gustav Mahler’s ‘Songs of a Wayfarer’ (featuring mezzo-soprano Caroline Holt”, the world première of ‘Iridescence’ by Irish clarinettist and composer Christopher Moriarty and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.6 in B Minor ‘Pathetique’.
Tickets from www.eskerfestivalorchestra.com priced at €15.
SUMMER FESTIVAL FEVER STILL GRIPPING FERMOY
THE Fermoy Festival will continue over the coming week with a plethora of events set to take place at venues across the town.
These will include outdoor musical recitals, the screening of classic family films and social dancing at the youth centre and the Fermoy Musical Society’s ‘Cannonball Run’ at Kevin Barry Hill.
The River Blackwater will also play a key role in festivities with the staging of the annual Fermoy Search and Rescue fundraising raft run, the Great Blackwater 3km swim and rowing, canoeing and kayaking sessions on the river.
A family fun day will be held in the Town park on Sunday, Augusts 27 featuring live music, kiddies entertainment and an inter-pub tug-of-war.
To see the full programme of events visit the dedicated Fermoy Festival Facebook page.
MUSIC STARS AND FANS SAY THAN YOU TO SEAN
SOME of the top names in the Irish country music scene will take to the stage of the Hazel Tree in Mallow next Monday to pay tribute to popular C103FM DJ Sean Donnellan.
The get-together is being held to mark the end of Sean’s popular and influential nightly Country and Irish slot, which has been moved to Sunday afternoons by station chiefs.
The concert will feature contributions from artists including TR Dallas, Michael Collins, Peter Burke, Sam O’Doherty, Pat Daly and Dave Rea.
It will also offer Sean’s fans a chance to say thank you for his three-decades at the helm of the nightly show.
The concert will run from 8.30pm until 12.30am, with admission €10 at the door.
DREAMCATCHER JACK TO PLAY THE WHITE HORSE
POPULAR singer/songwriter Jack O’Rourke will perform an intimate gig at the While Horse in Ballincollig on Friday night.
The lone figure of O’Rourke hunched over piano keys and moody synths is one that Irish music fans have become increasingly excited about, with his album ‘Dreamcatcher’ regarded as one of the top Irish debut albums of 2016.
His eclectic style of music, plaintive baritone voice, poetic flair and inventive arrangement have earned O’Rourke widespread acclaim, with critics likening him to Bowie, Kate Bush, John Grant and The National among others.
Tickets for his White Horse gig from www. ticketweb.ie priced at €15/€20.
MULDOON AND FRIENDS WAXING LYRICAL IN CORK
THE Pulitzer Prize winning Irish poet Paul Muldoon will bring his ‘Muldoon’s Picnic’ show to the stage of the Everyman Palace Theatre for one night only on Thursday, August 31.
Billed as a “feast of words and music’’, the show will see Muldoon joined by guests master fiddler Martin Hayes, singer and composer Julie Feeney and Patrick McCabe, author of ‘ The Butcher Boy’ and ‘Breakfast On Pluto’.
The show, which is rarely staged outside of New York, will also feature Muldoon’s house band Oliphant comprised of Cait O’Riordan of the Pogues, Chris Harford and Ray Kubain.
Tickets for the show are available from the venue on 021 450 1673 and at www.everymanpalace.com priced at €24.
DICKIE KEEPS ON ROCKING AT THE GLENEAGLE
VETERAN Irish singer Dickie Rock will play the final concert of his summer series at Killarney’s Gleneagle Ballroom from 9.30pm on Friday night.
One of Ireland’s most loved and recognised Dickie has been packing out venues across Ireland and Europe for more than five decades
Even after all this time, he cannot leave the stage without performing ‘ Come Back to Stay’ and all his number one singles including ‘ There’s Always Me’ (1963), ‘I’m Yours’ (1964), ‘Wishing it was You’ (1965) and many, many more.
Tickets to the concert, priced at €20, from the INEC box office on 064 667 1555.
CLASSICAL TRIO AT THE VILLAGE ARTS CENTRE
THE Belvedere Piano Trio will play the final concert of the 2017 North Cork Classical Music Series at the village Arts Centre in Kilworth next Thursday night (August 31).
The trio is headed up by multi-award winning Cork pianist Ellen Jansson, a student at the prestigious Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester who recently performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the National Symphony of Ukraine.
The programme for the concert will include Mozart’s Piano Trio in G Minor (K.564), Beethoven’s Sonata for Cello and Piano No.3 in A Major (Op.69), Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major and Rachmaninov’s Trio Élégiaque No 1 in G Minor.
Tickets from 087 649 2514 priced at €15.
ANDY DUNNE FULL CIRCLE AT THE OLIVER PLUNKETT
CORK singer/songwriter Andy Dunne will continue his ‘Full Circle’ residency at the Oliver Plunkett Bar with a free late-night gig at the Cork City venue next Saturday night.
Not a man to be stereotyped in any particular genre, Dunne performs possibly the most eclectic set you will ever hear from a solo performer, with his genial wit and onstage banter adding another dimension to his live performances.
Although he generally performs well-honed cover versions, Dunne adds some of his own compositions into his set, ranging from trad to quirky blues songs all accompanied by his unique acoustic guitar style.
SLOW MOVING CLOUDS MOVING OVER BANTRY
DUBLIN based Irish/Nordic folk trio Slow Moving Clouds will make a rare trip down sound on Friday night when they play the Master of Tradition Festival at Bantry House.
Comprised of Finnish musician/artist Aki, Irish fiddle player Danny Diamond and cellist Kevin Murphy, the trio blend trad and contemporary music, creating a rich and atmospheric sound described by one critic as “intriguing and accomplished.”
The debut album Os was widely praised by critics, with the Irish Times describing it as ‘folk/ trad of the highest order”.
Tickets for the 8pm gig are available from www.tickets.com priced at €16.
REDBARN REMEMBERED AT TRISKEL SCREENING
The Triskel Christchurch Arts Centre will hosts a screening of the documentary ‘Wish You Were Here - The Redbarn Story’ next Thursday night (August 31) at 8pm.
Capturing a unique period in Irish social history, the film tells the story of the Redbarn Ballroom in Youghal at a time when up to 3,000 people would pack the venue to hear music by the latest showbands up until it burned to the ground in 1978.
The audience will be invited to take a nostalgic trip down memory lane and revisit the venue that became a mecca for Corkonians, retelling the stories of those who revelled in hot and sweaty nights dancing to the sounds of swing, rock ‘n’ roll and country.
Tickets €10, from the Triskel on 021 427 0022.