Today, Wednesday 13th May 2020, the National Concert Hall is announcing a new series of music programmes to be streamed online as part of its ‘NCH at HOME’ series, designed to engage audiences with live performances providing comfort, inspiration and solidarity and enriching cultural content online.
Supported by Davy, as Innovation Partner, Culture Ireland, RTE and The Irish Times ‘NCH Live Stream Series’ sees four concerts to be streamed live from the NCH stage starting Friday 29th May 8pm with celebrated Irish mezzo-soprano and star of the international opera stage Tara Erraught and pianist Dearbhla Collins performing Songs of Comfort and Hope. This will be followed by Bell X1’s front man Paul Noonan (5th June 8pm), acclaimed Irish folk singer/songwriter Lisa O’Neill (12th June 8pm) and renowned Irish pianist Barry Douglas (19th June 8pm).
All concerts will be available to view from NCH YouTube and Facebook channels and from RTE.ie. There will also be a previewed Zoom interview with the artist by broadcaster John Kelly as well as Twitter conversations on @NCH_Music from 7.30pm #NCHLIVE.
Josepha Madigan, T.D. Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht states: “This new series from the National Concert Hall is to be warmly welcomed and will bring joy and hope to many during this very challenging time. It follows the great success of Dear Ireland, Ireland Performs and Courage 2020. Ireland’s arts, culture and creative communities are, in the face of the huge challenges that they are currently facing themselves, raising so many or our spirits through their work and are to be commended.“
Maura McGrath, Chair of the NCH: “As our live concerts and performances are unfortunately cancelled for the moment due to Covid 19, all of us at the NCH want to reach out to you and to reimagine different ways to provide beautiful music to help us to stay connected at a time of loss and to bring us hope and joy. Until such time as we can all be together again to enjoy the power of live music I am pleased to share with you details of our NCH at Home series of streamed concerts, master classes, learning and discovery. I want to pay a special tribute to the musicians and our partners who have come together to provide these live streams for you at home. I hope you will find them reassuring, inspiring and hopeful.”
Simon Taylor , CEO of the NCH said: “Connecting musicians with audiences is what the National Concert Hall is all about. Whilst we cannot do so at the moment face-to-face we are delighted to live-stream performances by four outstanding Irish artists from across the music spectrum, directly from the NCH stage, in high-quality sound and vision. We hope this gives our loyal audiences an engaging and exciting ‘live’ experience and introduces these wonderful artists to new audiences as well.”
Tara Erraught (29th May 8pm): Due to play title role of Angelina in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at The Metropolitan Opera in New York in March before it was cancelled on the day prior to opening due to the current Covid-19 crisis, the NCH is delighted welcome Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught to perform on Friday 29th May at 8pm, accompanied by pianist Dearbhla Collins. Having made an impressive 47 role debuts as resident principal soloist at Bayerische Staatsoper Tara brings her rich, radiant voice, expansive range and dynamic stage presence to the NCH when she performs Songs of Comfort and Hope with works by Schubert, Copland, Liszt, Strauss and a selection of Irish folk songs.
Paul Noonan (5th June 8pm): Bell X1 front man Paul Noonan is no stranger to the NCH having performed with Bell X1 many times as well as taking part in Imagining Ireland: 21st Century Song and the award-winning Starboard Home series, supported by Dublin Port (it is currently available to view on RTE Player). For his solo performance at NCH the Dublin based songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist will perform a selection of BellX1 songs and more from other projects, all chosen specifically for this performance on Friday 5th June 8pm.
Lisa O’Neill (12th June 8pm): Multi award-winning Irish folk singer and songwriter Lisa O’Neill, whose inimitable voice and song-writing capability has catapulted her into the limelight of the Irish and international folk scene, will perform a selection of songs in Reflections: A Solo Concert with Lisa O’Neill on Friday 12th June 8pm. A song-writer like no other, Lisa’s roots may be sourced in folk and traditional music but her work opens up a landscape beyond any settled sense of genre.
Barry Douglas (19th June): Celebrated Irish pianist Barry Douglas returns to the NCH stage for a solo piano recital that includes traditional arrangements by Barry of My Lagan Love, Carrickfergus together with works by Rachmaninov, Schubert Tchaikovsky, as well as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition on 19th June 8pm. Barry has established a major international career since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow. As Artistic Director of Camerata Ireland the Clandeboye Festival, he continues to celebrate his Irish heritage while also maintaining a busy International touring schedule.
Each concert made available to view on playback for up to a month after the concert.
‘NCH at Home’ also comprises of NCH Learning & Participation activity, with a new weekly online series of content designed to engage people with music. Geared primarily for young people and children, this series includes Music Time – songs and activities for young children; Me and My Instrument – introductions to musicians from the wider NCH family and their instruments; Musical World – resource packs for primary school children exploring different musical styles from around the world; Song Writing – a series of online tutorials for teens, and much more in the weeks to come.
The NCH Learning & Participation programme also delivers much of its flagship programme online, including the Female Conductor Programme, supported by Grant Thornton; and the International Master Class series, bringing the world’s top musicians to music students in Ireland.
‘NCH at Home’ also comprises of a new series ‘NCH Where Are We Now’, supported by Davy and The Irish Times, which sees video recordings from renowned artists to be shared across the NCH website and social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin – throughout May and June beginning with New York based mezzo-soprano and multi-Grammy award winner Joyce DiDonato.
NCH Live Stream is supported by Davy as Innovation Partner, Culture Ireland, RTE.ie and The Irish Times as print media partner.
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