Brendan Finan

 The Power of New Music
The New Music Dublin festival ended on Sunday (6 April) with concerts from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Chamber Choir Ireland, Evlana Ensemble, Crash Ensemble, Quiet Music Ensemble, Cór Linn and Cór na nÓg. Brendan Finan reviews.
Stars and Social Justice Mark Start of New Music Dublin
The 2025 New Music Dublin festival took place last week at the National Concert Hall and various other venues around the city. In the first of our reviews, Brendan Finan writes about the opening concerts on Wednesday and Thursday (2–3 April).
Poise and Elegance in a Rare Revival
The Royal Irish Academy of Music presented Haydn's opera 'La vera costanza' at the Samuel Beckett Theatre on 14–18 January. Brendan Finan reviews.
A New Voice, Thoughtful and Still
Ergodos has just released 'Sea Salt and Turpentine', the debut album from composer Caterina Schembri featuring the Ficino Ensemble and Michelle O'Rourke. Brendan Finan reviews.
In Bravo Company: Yeats, Shakespeare and the Unexpected
New Dublin Voices performed six newly commissioned settings of Yeats poems at the Pepper Canister Church on 9 November as well as works by Matthew Harris and Jaakko Mäntyjärvi. Brendan Finan reviews.
The Absence of Meaning is a Choice
Jennifer Walshe's new album, 'URSONATE%24', is an AI-generated setting of a Dadaist sound poem. Brendan Finan reviews.
Change Everything and Continue
The new film about musician and producer Brian Eno, in which no two screenings are alike, showed at the Irish Film Institute on 7–10 September. Brendan Finan reviews.
The Irish Musical World of Rachel Baptist
The fifth album in the Irish Baroque Orchestra's Irish heritage series on Linn Records focuses on the eighteenth-century singer Rachel Baptist. Brendan Finan reviews.
Dark Tales in a City at Play
Brendan Finan reviews the musical fare at the opening weekend of the 2024 Kilkenny Arts Festival, including the Carducci Quartet, Chamber Choir Ireland, Bassekou Kouyate, and Emma O'Halloran's operas 'Trade' and 'Mary Motorhead'.
Crash the Universe
Crash Ensemble's two most recent recordings focus on works by Irish composer Sam Perkin and Canadian Bekah Simms. Brendan Finan reviews 'Children in the Universe' and 'Metamold', both released on the group's own label.
A Festival Drawn to the Introspective
The 2024 Louth Contemporary Music Festival took place on 14–15 June and featured music by Robert Ashley, Linda Catlin Smith and Stockhausen with performances by Varispeed Collective, Neue Vocalsolisten, Rihab Azar, Zoë Conway, Inni-k and more. Brendan Finan reviews.
An Ambitious Musical Exploration of Migration and the Climate Crisis
Music for Galway's 9-day Cellissimo festival, with a strong focus on the issues of migration and the climate crisis, began on 18 May. Brendan Finan reviews the opening weekend.
Challenging and Curious – New Music Dublin: Days 1 and 4
New Music Dublin took place at the National Concert Hall and other venues in the city from 25 to 28 April with many world and Irish premieres. Brendan Finan reviews days 1 and 4. For a review of days 2 and 3 by James Camien McGuiggan, see the link below.
The Coloniser’s View: Stanford's 'Shamus O'Brien'
Retrospect Opera has recently released a recording of Charles Villers Stanford's 1896 opera 'Shamus O’Brien', telling the story of an Irish rebel. Brendan Finan reviews.
We Hear Life Persist: Meredith Monk at the National Concert Hall
Pioneering American composer and vocalist Meredith Monk performed at the National Concert Hall last week with members of her vocal ensemble. Brendan Finan reviews.
A Concert Like a Classical Work: Killian Farrell, Sharon Carty and the Irish Chamber Orchestra
On 10 February at the Whyte Recital Hall in Dublin, the Irish Chamber Orchestra with conductor Killian Farrell and mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty performed Deirdre Gribbin's 'The Stones of Life', Mahler, Prokofiev and Mozart. Brendan Finan reviews.
Beginning with America: Chamber Choir Ireland at the Pepper Canister
Last weekend, Chamber Choir Ireland began their spring/summer season, and their final year under conductor Paul Hillier, with a programme of works by American composers. Brendan Finan reviews.
Irish Classical Not So Hidden Anymore
BBC Radio 3 has recently broadcast a series exploring Irish classical music across three centuries. Brendan Finan reviews.
The Evolution Across a Composer’s Career
Farpoint Recordings have recently released 'Drinking the Stars', an extensive collection of piano music by John McLachlan performed by Mary Dullea. Brendan Finan reviews.
Into Another World Where Jazz and Traditional Music Merge
Composer, double bass player and traditional flute player Neil Ó Lochlainn premiered his new work 'Emain Ablach' with a 14-piece ensemble in Galway and Dublin last weekend. Brendan Finan reviews the Smock Alley performance.
Trading Irish and Welsh Tunes
Irish fiddle player Aoife Ní Bhriain and Welsh harpist Catrin Finch have recently released their first album together, 'Double You'. Brendan Finan reviews.
The Climate Crisis Has to be Felt
An intimate new opera, 'Breathwork' by composer Éna Brennan, received its premiere at the Dublin Theatre Festival last week. Brendan Finan reviews.
Demonstrating the Breadth of Irish Contemporary Styles
On 3 September at the Hugh Lane Gallery, violinist Larissa O'Grady performed six new works for violin by Irish composers. Brendan Finan reviews.
A Wealth of Musics in West Cork
The West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Bantry, Co. Cork, took place from 23 June to 2 July and featured Ensemble Diderot, Trio Gaspard, Armida Quartet, Mairéad Hickey, Anna Devin, Lotte Betts-Dean, Caroline Melzer and more. Brendan Finan reviews the final weekend.
Embracing the Louth Spirit
The Louth Contemporary Music Festival took place last weekend and featured American composer Caroline Shaw, new work by Linda Catlin Smith, Cassandra Miller and Sam Perkin, and a version of Terry Riley's 'In C' performed by Irish traditional musicians. Brendan Finan reviews.
In the Presence of Potts
The premiere of Neil Ó Lochlainn's new suite 'Tairseach', inspired by the music of fiddle player Tommie Potts, took place at Solstice Arts Centre on 26 May. Brendan Finan reviews.
A Hard-hitting Commentary on the Experience of Asylum Seekers
Composer Jamie Thompson's Adjunct Ensemble has just released 'Sovereign Bodies / Ritual Taxonomy' on the Diatribe label, focusing on the ordeal of asylum seekers. Brendan Finan reviews.
Conflict and Sorrow in Rural Ireland
Irish National Opera's 'Werther', featuring mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan and Italian tenor Paride Cataldo, is currently on a nationwide tour. Brendan Finan reviews a performance at the Solstice Arts Centre.
Finnegans Flare
Composer Roger Doyle has just released a second volume of works inspired by Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake'. Brendan Finan reviews.
Picked Up and Placed Elsewhere
The new Metronome series began at the NCH last week (16 March) with Ordnance Survey's 'Nomos: O’Riada Reimagined' and Sharon Phelan's 'Radio Ocean'. Brendan Finan reviews.