Westport Festival of Chamber Music: Next Generation Artist Concert

Westport Festival of Chamber Music: Next Generation Artist Concert

Saturday, 14 September 2019, 11.30am

Award-Winning Irish viola player Fiachra de hOra is this year's Next Generation Artist at the Westport Festival of Chamber Music. He will be joined by Aidan Chan on piano presenting a selection of works showcasing the sheer beauty and range of expression of this instrument.

Franz Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata D. 821

Zoltan Kodály: Adagio for Viola and Piano

York Bowen: Rhapsody for Viola and Piano

Dublin-born viola player Fiachra de hOra is quickly becoming one of Ireland's most prominent young musicians, and is in regular demand as a soloist and a chamber musician. He gave a sold-out recital in the National Concert Hall’s Kevin Barry Recital Room in March, and has also given a recital as part of the Sandford St Phillips Summer Lunchtime Concert series in Dublin. His previous teachers include Maria Kelemen and Ronald Masin in the Young European Strings School of Music, and Simon Aspell in the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Fiachra has won all Junior Viola competitions in Feis Ceoil, and the Junior Rose Bowl for the highest marked string player. In 2015 and 2016 he was invited to play in the Feis Ceoil Young Platform Concerts at the National Concert Hall, and in 2016 his performance earned positive reviews in the Sunday Times. In June 2017, he became the first viola player to win the National Concert Hall Young Musicians’ Award. He is also winner of the Royal Irish Academy of Music’s Colin Stavely Award for the highest placed string player in the Maura Dowdall senior concerto competition.

He was principal viola player of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland from 2015-2017, and has led the viola sections of the Orchestra of the Irish National Youth Ballet and the Dublin Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has also been principal viola player of the Young European Strings Chamber Orchestra, and he has toured with them to France, Belgium and Switzerland, winning international competitions. He has performed as an orchestral musician with Camerata Ireland, RTE NSO, The Ulster Orchestra and more, and has also been a reserve violist for the European Union Youth Orchestra for the past two years. In November 2018, he took part in ‘Academos’, the Orchestral Academy of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and played in concert alongside members of the ICO.

In December 2018 he was the soloist for Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the Young European Strings Chamber Orchestra alongside violinist Gina McGuinness. He has taken part in masterclasses with Paul Neubauer, Ruth Gibson, Kirill Troussov, Nils Monkemeyer and many more, and has played in festivals such as the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Music for Galway Festival and the GAIA Chamber Music Festival in Switzerland. He has also taken part in the Clandeboye Festival Young Musicians’ programme for the past two years. As well as that, he has had the privilege of taking part in the National Concert Hall Chamber Music Gatherings in 2018 and 2019.

Fiachra plays on a modern instrument completed in 2017 by the Cork-based Bertrand Galen.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

20 year old pianist Aidan Chan is currently a student of Nigel Clayton at the Royal College of Music in London.

Aidan has been described as “brave” and “fearless and uncompromising”. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in notable venues in the US (Carnegie Hall), UK (Wigmore Hall), Hong Kong (Hong Kong City Hall), Switzerland (Volkshaus Biel), China and across Ireland (the Freemasons Grand Lodge, the Hugh Lane Gallery and the National Concert Hall). As a concerto soloist he has performed with the DIT Sinfonia, as well as the Philharmonic Orchestra of Budweis. Aidan is also a keen chamber musician, and regularly performs as part of the Cupra Duo with British saxophonist Sophia Elger.

Aidan has won 87 prizes in competitions across Ireland that include 55 first prizes and special awards, including the main prize of €5000 at the 2016 Fr Frank Maher Classical Music Awards. Internationally, he has been a multiple prize-winner in competitions in the UK, Germany and Austria. Most recently, Aidan was recipient of the 2019 Trench Award and Audience Choice Prize, becoming the first pianist and youngest finalist to do so.

WebsiteAdd a Listing

Published by fdehora on 29 August 2019

comments powered by Disqus

Please note that some listings are added by third parties. The Journal of Music does not take responsibility for the content or accuracy of listings published by third parties on this site. The Journal of Music reserves the right to edit or delete listings. Click here to add a listing, login or register.