The Dublin International Chamber Music Festival, which began on Tuesday June 4, at the unusual venue of Richmond Barracks in Inchicore with the visiting JACK Quartet and Irish clarinettist Carol McGonnell, had an interesting mix by US and Irish composers including Ruth Crawford Seeger, Juri Seo and Belfast-born Ann Cleare who holds a PhD from Harvard University and an honorary doctorate from the NUI.
The festival ends next Sunday June 9, with Beethoven’s Spring Piano and Violin Sonata, Brahms’ Clarinet Trio, Schubert’s 1st Piano Trio and introduces a new solo violin piece – Strawberry Moon – by Deirdre Gribbin, who also hails from Belfast. The programme entitled ‘Hugh Tinney and Friends’ will have the splendid pianist joined by violinist, Katherine Hunka, cellist Adrian Brendel and Carol McGonnell, making her second appearance at this year’s event.
In her introductory notes on Strawberry Moon, Deirdre Gribbin tells us strawberries are considered the ‘food of love’ and that “June’s strawberry moon embodies the magic and fullness of life”. Written during the Covid lockdown the composer wanted to “reflect a sense of freedom in the music’s unrelenting dance movement and a joy of the new.” Mind you, the venue – Killruddery House near Bray in Co Wicklow – is just beyond Dublin’s border, but a long summer evening there can have its own particular charm.
I recall being present on one occasion when heavy rain managed to drip down through the glass roof of the conservatory on to the piano and the very distinguished virtuoso Vladimir Ashkenazy. While a little surprised, the true professional carried on regardless.
June 6’s programme brings us to another unusual setting – the Casino at Marino where there will be two performances (5.30pm & 7.30pm) of Bach’s Goldberg Variations played not as Bach intended on the harpsichord but on two accordions with virtuosi Dermot Dunne and Martin Tourish.
On Friday June 7, Castle Hall in Dublin Castle is another festival ambience bringing Germany’s Leonkoro String Quartet to Ireland for the first time. Formed in Berlin in 2019, the Quartet has garnered a series of prestigious accolades, solidifying its place among the most celebrated ensembles of their generation. The Leonkoro has also been part of BBC Radio 3’s three-year New Generation Artists Programme from 2022.
The Leonkoro offers music by Janáček and Brahms as well as US composer Caroline Shaw. She says her Entr’acte, constructed like a minuet and trio, is greatly influenced by Haydn’s Op 77/2 Quartet.
A group obviously on the ‘up and up’, this year also finds the Leonkoro Quartet making debuts at Berlin’s Philharmonie, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Vienna’s Concert Hall. Interestingly, first violinist Jonathan Schwarz is a brother of the group’s cellist Lukas, whose instrument dates from the 1720s.
A lunchtime programme on Saturday (June 8, at 1pm) may be of interest to younger music lovers. At the Windmill Quarter’s Town Hall, the Irish Youth Training Choir, under Patrick Barrett, showcases choral pieces by the prolific Belize-born UK domiciled Errollyn Wallen. The Dublin International Chamber Music Festival certainly has a lot to offer.