The National Concert Hall is delighted to announce a number of leading contemporary international artists as part of its Perspectives Series for 2023. Celebrating the best in contemporary music, the series sees multi award-winning Fado queen Mariza perform for Irish audiences on the 27th of July, followed by a much-anticipated evening with rock veteran and world-renowned singer/songwriter Elvis Costello with Steve Nieve on 7th September and the return of the American jazz pianist and composer Brad Mehldau on 17th of September.
Mozambique-born, Lisbon-raised Mariza has brought the Portuguese artform of Fado to a global audience through a series of acclaimed albums and her unforgettable live shows. Considered one of the most popular fado stars of the 20th century, combining this traditional Portuguese folk style with the contemporary sounds of gospel, soul and jazz, Mariza returns to the NCH on the 27th of July for a unique concert taking her listeners on a musical journey from all corners of the world. Mariza says that fado is not just music, it is a feeling. “I didn’t choose this music, it was my destiny,”. A three-times BBC World Music Awards ‘Best Artist’ winner and three-times Grammy award candidate, Mariza recorded her latest album “Mariza Sings Amália”, in 2021, in Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro. The album coincided with the twentieth anniversary of her much-lauded career and the centenary of the birth of the late Queen of Fado, Amália Rodrigues. The first Portuguese artist nominated for Grammy Awards Mariza and was declared the “Voice of Fado” by a foundation named after the legendary Fado singer Amália Rodrigues in 1999.
On the 7th of September, British musician and singer-songwriter Elvis Costello makes a welcome return to the NCH this time with his bandmate from The Imposters Steve Nieve. The duo will perform live for Irish audiences who will have the opportunity to enjoy the rock veteran’s award-winning song writing and world-renowned musicianship in this one night only concert. One of the most widely known and respected singer- songwriters in modern rock history Elvis Costello has been nominated for multiple awards including over ten Grammy Awards, an Oscar, a Bafta and an MTV award. In 2003 he was inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Rolling Stone Magazine listed him as ‘one of the 100 greatest artists of all time’. He has performed and worked with many high-profile artists including Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint, T. Bone Burnett, Lucinda Williams, Kid Rock, Lee Konitz, Brian Eno and Ruben Blades. His songs “Alison”, “Olivers Army” and “Watching the detectives” and artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Chet Baker, Bette Midler, Johnny Cash and Rod Steward have published his songs as covers.
Also in September, on Sunday 17th the Grammy Award-winning American jazz pianist and composer Brad Mehldau will take to the NCH stage to perform his latest newly commissioned work, 14 Reveries for Piano. The piece was written from a similar impulse as his Suite April 2020, and is said to be a meditation on the space a composer leaves between specific directions that lets the beauty of the music reveal itself, while still allowing new discovery.
From critical acclaim as a bandleader to major international exposure in collaborations with Pat Metheny, Renée Fleming, and Joshua Redman, Mehldau continues to garner numerous awards and admiration from both jazz purists and music enthusiasts alike. His forays into melding musical idioms, in both trio (with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums) and solo settings, has seen re-workings of songs by contemporary songwriters like The Beatles, Cole Porter, Radiohead, Paul Simon, Gershwin and Nick Drake; alongside the ever-evolving breath of his own significant catalogue of original compositions.
Also listed for this year’s Perspectives series is a multi-artist line-up from the renowned Erased Tapes record label to include performances from Crayon DJ, Penguin Café, Rival Consoles, Kiasmos and others on Saturday the 20th of May (7pm – 11pm). Later in the year, Grammy Award-winning Nickel Creek – Chris Thile, Sarah Watkins and Sean Watkins- make their NCH debut on the 30th of August for a special concert celebrating their new fifth studio album Celebrants.
Tickets On Sale from Friday 24th March 10am for:
Mariza – Thursday 27th July 8pm
Tickets: €45, €40, €35 [10% discount for NCH Friends]
Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve in Concert– Thursday 7th September 8pm
Tickets: €85, €70 [10% discount for NCH Friends]
Brad Mehldau, – Sunday 17th September 7.30pm
Tickets: €42.50, €36, €29.50 [10% discount for NCH Friends]
NCH Box Office Information
Tel: 01-417 00 00 or www.nch.ie
