Acclaimed saxophonist and pianist to perform Flive concert
SENSATIONAL saxophonist, Gerard Mcchrystal, accompanied by acclaimed pianist Ruth Mcginley, will perform on the final day of this year’s Flive festival, on Sunday October 9 at 3pm in Darling Street Methodist Church, Enniskillen.
Audiences will be delighted and amazed by the Derry musician’s engaging skill, style and eclectic mix of music genres. A graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), and, having earned a Masters degree in Chicago, Gerard has gone on to perform in all the major concert halls worldwide and made 15 recordings with other sax players such as The Bros Quartet, as well as singers like Anuna, Codetta and guitarist Craig Ogden. He wowed his home audience at the Derry/londonderry City of Culture in 2013.
He will be accompanied at this concert by another Derry talent, Ruth Mcginley, a long established virtuoso pianist and accompanist who is a stand alone artist appearing with such well known artists as The Three Priests. She has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, The National Symphony Orchestra and also teaches and mentors young musicians.
This is Gerard and Ruth’s second collaboration for Flive having pre-recorded a 20 minute programme for last year’s ‘A taste of Flive’ socially-distanced online event.
Speaking to The Impartial Reporter ahead of the concert, which will be his first live performance in Fermanagh, Gerard said he is looking forward to once again performing as part of the festival.
“[I’m looking forward to] playing live, it’s what I am and what I do - I never tire of it,” he said, going on to explain that he is enjoying the process of preparing for the Flive concert: “It’s the most fun bit. It’s why musicians often have sort of downs after a gig because the process is the real fun, just practising.
“So I really enjoy that and just to see what happens, because I don’t know what’s going to happen yet. I don’t know how it’s gonna go down and I’m doing new music. So that’s the fun of it really. It keeps you alive.”
During the concert, Gerard and Ruth will play virtuosic and beautiful music reflecting Ireland and Australia, with some dazzling variations on Carmen’s detour to Paris. They will also perform their hit piece from 2013 City of Culture opening
Saxophonist Gerard Mcchrystal and pianist Ruth Mcginley will perform ‘Sax to the Max’ concert for Flive.
concert ‘Sons and Daughters’ and much much more.
“We’ve called [the concert] ‘Sax to the Max’ so we’ve decided to kind of explore all the things that the saxophone can do. We’re doing [a number of] pieces, including a piece I arranged based on a Seamus Heaney poem. So we’ve got a sort of Irish connection with some of the pieces but also, we’ve got some classical pieces, show pieces from a classical repertoire,” said Gerard, adding: “I’m also premiering a brand new piece for sax, kind of sax and electronics which is about five minutes long and is very up to date - it’s quite funky. So this will be something brand new to hear as well.”
“What’s nice about [the concert is] if you don’t like one piece, there’s going to be something different coming straight after it,” he said.
It promises to be an unforgettable afternoon of live music in the gorgeous and atmospheric Methodist Church, Darling Street, Enniskillen. Flive is supported by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.