A milestone year for Ortús Chamber Music festival

It’s a massive year for Cork’s own Ortús Chamber Music Festival which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary when it kicks off next month.

From 27 February to 2 March, a phenomenal programme of concerts and events featuring some of the world’s finest classical and trad musicians will be hosted at venues across Cork city and county.

Venues include Blackrock Castle, Dripsey Castle Estate, Sirius Arts Centre Cobh, the Aula Maxima in UCC, the MTU Cork School of Music, and St Peter’s Cork.

As part of this year’s festival, co- founder, Sinéad O’Halloran, (cello) will perform with fellow members of the Marmen Quartet, Johannes Marmén (violin), Laia Valentin Braun (violin), and Bryony Gibson-Cornish (viola). They will be joined by Slovenian clarinettist Aliaž Beguš.

The programme will travel across the centuries with beloved works by Mozart, Brahms, Bartók, and Dvořák alongside contemporary works, including works by Irish composers Sam Perkin and Ben Dwyer. The debut album from the Marmen, who have been signed to BIS, will be released in January.

Ortús Chamber Music Festival was set up in 2016 by childhood friends Sinéad O’Halloran and Mairéad Hickey, who shared a strong desire to bring the world’s finest musicians to Cork.

To learn more and for full programme details, visit ortusfestival.ie.