CSM's Chiral Quartet wins the KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Residency
Published on: Saturday, 14 June 2014
KBC Great Music in Irish Houses, Ireland's longest running chamber music festival, took place from 10th – 15th June in unique and iconic venues across Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare including, for the first time, The National Botanic Gardens as well as Smock Alley Theatre, The Chapel Royal at Dublin Castle, and The Little Museum of Dublin.
This year’s Festival saw the introduction of a Support Act Residency Programme, which is sponsored by KBC and will help young Irish ensemble players to hone their skills as chamber musicians, under the tutelage of leading musicians in a Residency Programme at the National Botanic Gardens in June.
The Chiral Quartet, comprised of 4 students from the CSM's MA programme (Hugh Murray & Christine Kenny, violins; David Kenny, viola; and Maria O'Connor, cello) were one of four groups of young players selected to compete for a bursary and concert series next year as part of the Festival's new initiative "Support Act - The Residency". Hosted in the Botanic Gardens, they received masterclasses from world-class visiting artists, as well as lectures on the psychology of performance. The programme culminated in a concert at the Botanic gardens on Saturday 14 June 2014, and they were declared the winners!
The Festival acknowledges the continued support of the Arts Council and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and appreciates the ongoing commitment of media partner RTÉ lyric fm.
