Irish Chamber Orchestra
The Libra Ensemble
Finghin Collins, piano

Schumann Träumerei from Kinderszenen Op. 15
Tchaikovsky Waltz from Serenade for Strings in C major
Grieg Air from Holberg Suite for Strings
Grieg Prelude from Holberg Suite
Mozart Concerto K. 414 in A major
Deirdre Gribbin Anfa Virga from the Ros Tapestry Suite
Chopin Scherzo No. 2 Op. 31

The National Concert Hall will re-open its doors to audiences with a performance by the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Libra Ensemble and pianist Finghin Collins, following the recent Government announcement on easing restrictions. This momentous reopening concert takes place forty years to the day the National Concert Hall opened on the 9th September 1981.

The Irish Chamber Orchestra with the Libra Ensemble perform Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Grieg off-copy and are joined by Finghin Collins, piano, for Mozart’s Concerto K. 414 in A major. The programme is completed by Collins’ performing Deirdre Gribbins’ Anfa Virga from the Ros Tapestry Suite and Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2 Op. 31

About The Libra Ensemble
The Libra Ensemble is directed by Diane Daly, comprising ICO players, students, and graduates from the MA in classical strings at the University of Limerick which is run in partnership with the ICO and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. The mission of the ensemble is to enhance audience and performer experiences. The Libra Ensemble explores ways to communicate more powerfully with audiences, making the music visible through movement and lighting, and for the performers to discover more immersive, embodied experiences in rehearsal and performance.

About Finghin Collins
One of Ireland's most celebrated musicians and significant musical ambassadors, Finghin Collins has made a significant contribution to the musical landscape of his native Ireland, where he resides. Since 2013, he has been Artistic Director of Music for Galway, which was tasked with presenting the major classical programme of Galway 2020, European Capital of Culture. The centrepiece of that programme, the cello festival Cellissimo, was delivered successfully online in March 2021. He is also the founding Artistic Director of the New Ross Piano Festival as well as the founding co-Artistic Director of the International Master Course at the National Concert Hall. In October 2017, the National University of Ireland conferred on him an honorary Degree of Doctor of Music.

Engagements in 2020 included solo, chamber and concerto performances of Beethoven across Europe to mark the composer’s 250th anniversary, as well as his début with the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow, although most of these engagements had to be cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. When online activities resumed in Autumn 2020, Collins performed throughout Ireland, in Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Dublin, Drogheda, Belfast, Wexford Festival Opera, Killaloe Music Festival and Cork, as well as play-directing concertos by Haydn and Mozart with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.

Since live concerts recommenced during the summer of 2021, Collins has performed at the Wigmore Hall in London and at other venues in the UK and Switzerland; he was also a member of the jury of the Clara Haskil Competition. This Autumn he will perform at Music in Monkstown Festival, Galway International Arts Festival, Music for Galway’s 40th Season Gala Concert, the New Ross Piano Festival and the London Piano Festival before embarking on a 17-concert solo recital tour of Ireland. The 2021/22 season also includes engagements in France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and more.

About the Irish Chamber Orchestra
The Irish Chamber Orchestra is Ireland’s most dynamic ensemble. Mixing traditional repertoire with new commissions and collaborating with everyone from DJs to dance companies, the ICO pushes the boundaries of what a chamber orchestra can do. These days, you are as likely to find the ICO at the Electric Picnic as Mozartfest, but wherever they perform, the ICO delivers world-class concerts feted for their energy and style.

Each year, Ireland’s busiest chamber ensemble presents concert seasons in both Limerick and Dublin, embarks on two national tours, and makes a series of prestigious international appearances supported by Culture Ireland. Their Artistic Committee works closely with their Artistic Partners to devise exciting, diverse and innovative programmes, mixing standard repertoire with new work – often specially commissioned – from the best young Irish composers. This versatile approach enables them to appeal to music fans of every stripe while upholding the highest artistic standards.

Presented by NCH
Supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports & Media