String Quartet Concerts Coming to Cork This September

 

Cork will welcome two acclaimed string quartets this September as part of the National String Quartet Foundation’s (NSQF) autumn season.

The ConTempo Quartet visits Cork on its September tour, followed later in the month by the Lir Quartet, bringing two very different programmes of classical and contemporary string music to the city.

ConTempo Quartet – September 12

Formed in Bucharest in 1995 and based in Ireland since 2003, the ConTempo Quartet has established a reputation as one of the country’s most exciting and vibrant chamber ensembles.

The quartet features Bogdan Sofei and Ingrid Nicola on violin, Andreea Banciu on viola, and Adrian Mantu on cello.

Their September tour travels from Newbridge and Dundalk to Birr, Cork and Dublin, with the Cork performance taking place on September 12.

The programme includes works by composers including Judith Ring, Haydn, Beethoven, Janáček, Dvořák and Caroline Shaw, offering audiences a broad programme spanning different periods and musical styles.

Lir Quartet – September 25

Cork will also feature on the September tour by the Lir Quartet, which visits the city on September 25.

The quartet brings together Siobhan Doyle and Sophie Williams on violin, Séamus Hickey on viola, and Killian White on cello. Scottish violinist Sophie Williams joins three of Ireland’s finest musicians for a programme combining established masterpieces with new Irish composition.

The concert includes music by an elderly Haydn and a young Mendelssohn, alongside Bullens Bay, a new string quartet by award-winning Cork composer Linda Buckley. The work was newly commissioned by the National String Quartet Foundation with funding from the Arts Council.

For Cork audiences, the inclusion of Buckley’s new work adds a particularly local connection to the programme, placing contemporary Cork composition alongside some of the great works of the string quartet repertoire.

A September of String Quartets in Cork

With performances by both the ConTempo Quartet and Lir Quartet, Cork is one of the stops included in NSQF’s nationwide autumn season, which brings three string quartets to 15 venues across Ireland during September.

The series is supported by the Arts Council, RTÉ Lyric FM, the National Concert Hall, University College Cork, MTU Cork School of Music, Cork City Council and Cork County Council.

Full details of the Cork concerts and the wider NSQF autumn programme are available at NSQF.ie.