Bantry to come alive

For 10 days and nights the seaside town of Bantry in West Cork will come alive to the sound of music.

After 2 years of uncertainty and cancelled festivals, the West Cork Chamber Music Festival will finally celebrate its 25th anniversary, in Bantry, from 24 June–3 July. The programme is packed with more than 70 concerts featuring 60 professional musicians and over 20 students, plus an extensive masterclass series of up to 5 classes a day.

Bantry House, the ancestral home of the Earls of Bantry, is the main concert venue along with the small single-aisle St Brendan’s Church.

The festival has also announced a Fringe series of free performances, which will see artists play further afield in a selection of West Cork towns and villages including Ahakista, Ballydehob, Baltimore, Castletownbere, Schull, Skibbereen and Whiddy Island.

Paul Herriott will host 3 exciting main concerts on RTÉ Lyric live from the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, the opening concert of the festival.

Ellen Cranitch will bring audiences 2 of the late-night concerts live on ‘Vespertine’ at 10pm while Liz Nolan will broadcast a selection of highlight concerts on ‘The Full Score’ from 1-4pm from Monday 27 June.

2 live concerts have been selected for the prestigious EBU Euroradio Summer Festivals series, which celebrates some of the best music festivals around the world, including this year’s West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Bantry.