Elizabeth Cooney and Friends – String Sextet
Elizabeth Cooney and Mairéad Hickey, violins
Simon Aspell and Ruth Gibson, violas
Guy Johnston and Brian O’Kane, cellos
Between 16 and 21 May a concert of string sextets by Tchaikovsky and Brahms will tour to Waterford, Cork, Galway, Sligo, Navan and Dublin. To perform two magnificent works for string sextet Cork born violinist Elizabeth Cooney will be joined by an exciting array of musicians from Ireland and the UK: violinist Mairéad Hickey, international prize winner now studying at the Kronberg Academy; violists Simon Aspell of the Vanbrugh Quartet and Ruth Gibson of Ensemble 360; and cellists Brian O’Kane of the Navarra Quartet and Guy Johnston of the Aronowitz Ensemble and winner of BBC Young Musician and Brit Awards. The Italian lyricism and Russian virtuosity of ‘Tchaikovsky’s ‘Souvenir de Florence’ for String Sextet will be followed by Brahms’ Sextet No.1 in B flat, Op.18, one of the best loved works in the chamber music repertoire which is both reflective and exuberant in character. Concerts are promoted by Waterford-Music on Tuesday 16th, Cork Orchestral Society on Wednesday, Music for Galway on Thursday, Con-Brio Sligo on Friday, the Solstice Arts Centre Navan on Saturday and lastly the Sundays@Noon series in Dublin City Gallery – The Hugh Lane.
The tour is funded by an Arts Council Touring Award.