Cork Opera House has announced a free lunchtime concert series taking place in its newly-opened café, Half Moon Place.
Summer at Half Moon Place successfully launched last week with an enraptured audience for Conor Clancy (TOUCAN). Following this week’s concert with cellist Yseult Cooper-Stockdale on Friday, June 23, Summer at Half Moon Place will run from 1-2PM on Tuesdays and Fridays throughout July and August.
Providing outstanding lunchtime concerts regularly throughout the summer months, Summer at Half Moon Place will present an array of emerging and established artists across a number of genres. The aim of this programme is to showcase the variety of talent in Cork city and further afield, currently building professional reputations for the quality and popularity of their work across a wide range of genres, from folk to contemporary, classical to jazz
“Cork is a city of performers and Cork Opera House is the proud home of live entertainment in the southern region,” said Eibhlín Gleeson, Cork Opera House CEO. “With Summer at Half Moon Place, we want to showcase emerging talent in a space that will hopefully become a stepping stone towards stages such as our main auditorium, allowing performers and patrons alike to enjoy performances in a comfortable and intimate space.”
This Friday, June 23, café patrons are set to enjoy the music of Cork-born cellist Yseult Cooper-Stockdale, who enjoys an especially varied career. Much of her work is orchestral, while she specialises in experimental performance and new music. Yseult has worked and recorded with a diverse selection of ensembles and artists in the UK and Ireland such as Welsh National Opera, Kojaque, Anna Meredith, JFDR, Sun Collective, Bastard Assignments and Southbank Sinfonia. She has been broadcast on RTÉ 1, Lyric FM, MediciTV, OperaVision, Channel 4 and BBC Radio 2.
Performers throughout the series will include artists such as vocalist and instrumentalist Molly Sterling, hand pan, harp, and piano trio Harpanno, and violin virtuose duo Lucia and Maria, who recently announced an upcoming performance on the acoustic stage of Glastonbury Festival.
From July 3, an exhibition of visual art will also be installed at Half Moon Place as an accompaniment to the concert series. This will showcase the work of several emerging creatives and their perspectives of Cork today. Artists will include Melanie McGrath and Emer Kiely (who designed the branding for Summer at Half Moon Place based on a 1960’s Cork Opera House programme), with further artists and details to be announced.
The full summer at Half Moon Place line-up to date, with further acts to be announced for August:
Friday, June 16 – Conor Clancy (TOUCAN), Vocalist & Multi-Instrumentalist
Friday, June 23 – Yseult Cooper-Stockdale, Cellist
Tuesday, July 4 – Seán Lyons, Folk Singer & Uilleann Piper
Friday, July 7 – Molly Sterling, Vocalist & Multi-Instrumentalist
Tuesday, July 11 – Harpanno, Handpan, Harp & Piano
Friday, July 14 – Méabh McKenna, Classical Harpist & Singer-Songwriter
Tuesday, July 18 – Jonathan Murray, Jazz Piano & Trumpet
Friday, July 21 – Rita Lynn, Singer-Songwriter
Tuesday, July 25 – Alannah Thornburgh, Traditional Harp
Friday, July 28 – Lucia McPartlin & Maria Ryan, Fiddle/Violin
