Pre-Concert Talk | Kevin Barry Recital Room | 6.45pm
Join Artistic Director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra Peter Whelan in conversation with the CEO of the Irish Baroque Orchestra Aliye Cornish Moore in advance of their Brandenburg Concertos concert in this the 300th anniversary of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos and the 25th anniversary of the Irish Baroque Orchestra.

It seems appropriate, as the orchestra marks an important milestone and looks to its future, to celebrate with a set of pieces that shine a spotlight on all parts of the ensemble.
Every player is a soloist at some moment in this work! The Brandenburg Concertos have amused, entertained and inspired for 300 years and, as live audiences return to performances in Ireland, the breadth of their offering provides a moment to reflect and to celebrate the value of music in our lives.

There is nothing ‘textbook’ about this set of 6 diverse concertos - here we hear Bach at his most spontaneous and inventive, experimenting with new sounds and solo instrumental combinations and setting them in conversation with and against the whole. Hearing a performance on period instruments is the closest that we can get to the experience of time travel, with scholarship and research underpinning every performance, in an attempt to faithfully recreate the sounds of the past through the lens of a researching performance organisation. This provides a concert experience like no other, with an offering that is unique in the Irish cultural landscape. The Irish Baroque Orchestra wants to ‘reintroduce’ you to these works in all their revolutionary glory, and with all the vivid colours that a period instrument orchestra brings.

As we emerge from the Covid-19 Pandemic, NCH and Ireland’s leading ensembles and soloists come together to create a collaboratively developed season exploring themes of healing, recovery and change.