Banish the post-Christmas blues with Con Brio concert!
IF you are experiencing post-Christmas, mid-winter blues then not to worry as Con Brio have the perfect antidote. The next concert in their current Sligo Music Series, which takes place on Sunday afternoon next January 14th, features an ensemble who will take their audience on a whirlwind musical tour from the tango milongas of Buenos Aires and choro of Rio de Janeiro, via the cafés of Paris all the way to the opera house, with plenty of other twists and turns along the way.
The ensemble, The Far Flung Trio, leave a smile on the faces of audience members whenever they perform in Sligo. The trio comprises violinist Katherine Hunka, double bassist Malachy Robinson and accordionist Dermot Dunne.
As leader of the Irish Chamber Orchestra Katherine Hunka has arguably done more than any other musician in Ireland to popularise classical music. In addition to being an exceptional violinist her effervescent, down to earth personality engages the audience in a way that makes the music much more accessible to the non-expert than it otherwise would be. Born in London, Katherine began playing the violin at the age of four. She grew as a young musician under the tutelage of Sheila Nelson, performing at concert halls at London’s South Bank and the Royal Albert Hall, was soloist with the City of London Sinfonia and led the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. She has been Leader of the Irish Chamber Orchestra since 2002 and regularly directs from the leader’s chair. As director and soloist, with the ICO, she has toured Germany, China and Singapore, and appeared at festivals including the West Cork Chamber
Music Festival, and the Kilkenny Arts Festival. Katherine directs ICO national tours, which take the orchestra all over Ireland. She has also been guest soloist with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra and Concert Orchestra.
Malachy Robinson studied double-bass at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he graduated at the top of his year with First Class Honours and the Dove Memorial Prize for General Excellence. He has been principal double-bass for the Irish Chamber Orchestra since 1995. He was also a founding member of both the Irish Baroque Orchestra and the new-music collective Crash Ensemble. In addition to his role with the ICO he has also performed with the Vanbrugh, Callino, Parisii, ConTempo and Vogler Quartets.
Accordion player extraordinaire Dermot Dunne won the RTÉ Musician of the Future in 1996 and since then he has become a regular performer throughout Ireland as a soloist and chamber musician. He has appeared in all the major venues and festivals including the National Concert Hall, the Helix, the Ulster Hall, The Proms and the West Cork Chamber Music Festival. He has also appeared as special guest in concerts given by The Blind Boys of Alabama, traditional group Altan and Welsh operatic star Katherine Jenkins.
The Trio are three best friends who just love getting together and playing great, well-known tunes from many different styles. There’s not a lot of music written for this unusual combination of instruments so the trio unashamedly poaches music originally written for other combinations (even for a full orchestra!) and adapts it for themselves.
Their programme for this concert includes works by Gershwin, Piazzolla’s Libertango, Offenbach’s Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld, Bizet-Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, Joan Trimble’s arrangement of The Coolin, Leopold Auer’s arrangement of Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 and the Overture to Verdi’s opera The Force of Destiny. It will also include Édith Piaf’s signature song La Vie en Rose together with her Hymne à l'amour and l’Accordeoniste, the first million-seller in the singer’s career.
This promises to be a hugely enjoyable and invigorating concert with three exceptional musicians performing a diverse programme in a relaxed and informal manner.
It takes place at 3.00pm in The Model and tickets at €20 (students €10) can be obtained from The Model, phone (071) 9141405 or online at www. themodel.ie.