The Royal Irish Academy of Music looks forward to a vibrant programme of events with exciting performances by world-class artists, leading Irish musicians and rising pre-professional talents, in addition to collaborations with Irish and international institutions including Wigmore Hall and IADT Dún Laoghaire.
Friday 4th October 2024: The Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) is delighted to announce an exciting season of events featuring a roster of acclaimed Irish and international artists, rising stars studying full-time music performance at undergraduate or postgraduate level, and a wide array of musicians representing the Junior Academy and Adult Division. In the year ahead, RIAM will offer audiences a myriad of opportunities to experience its vibrant pool of talent, with public performances, concert series and large-scale musical projects, both in its transformed campus in Dublin's Westland Row, and in venues across the city and further afield.
Following the inaugural Wigmore Festival in 2023, RIAM is delighted to continue the important performance partnership with Wigmore Hall, one of the world’s great concert halls, specialising in chamber and instrumental music, early music and song. A stellar catalogue of artists will visit RIAM from October 2024 to April 2025, including pianist Imogen Cooper (January 12th), cellist Natalie Clein (March 27th and April 24th), the Leonkoro Quartet (February 4th), Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI (December 17th) and Lieder duo, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber (November 8th). In addition to their highly-anticipated performances, these distinguished visiting artists will also engage with RIAM students in a series of masterclasses, talks and open rehearsals. Wigmore Series Dublin, presented in partnership with Clinch Wealth Management, is devised by John Gilhooly CBE, Artistic and Executive Director of this iconic concert hall.
RIAM is proud to present the inaugural Dublin Piano Series, which will showcase its distinguished Keyboard Faculty whose names are synonymous with both high-level performance on the concert platform and music education in Ireland. Over the five-concert series, audiences can look forward to a rich and enticing programme of concerts exploring the magnificent piano literature for solo piano, piano 4, 6 and 8-hands and two pianos performed by an array of truly exceptional performers. The Dublin Piano Series features pianists David Adams, Alexander Bernstein, Dearbhla Brosnan, Anthony Byrne, Lance Coburn, Dearbhla Collins, Márta Erdei, Thérèse Fahy, Réamonn Keary, Conor Linehan, Maria McGarry, Tamara Niekludow, Hugh Tinney, and Peter Tuite over five themed concerts from January to March 2025.
On the orchestral front, three exciting conductors on the international music scene, Christian Curnyn, Killian Farrell and Lucy Goddard will work with the RIAM Philharmonia, the Academy’s flagship orchestra. Audiences can look forward to music by composers, Cassandra Miller, Ethel Smyth and Jean-Philippe Rameau, in addition to much-loved symphonies by César Franck, Robert Schumann and WA Mozart on November 1st (Farrell), December 13th (Goddard) and February 7th (Curnyn). The innovative RIAM Chamber Orchestra, led and directed by RIAM’s dynamic Head of Strings, Diane Daly will deliver a performance with a difference on January 10th incorporating elements of memorisation, movement, improvisation, lighting and creative expression to enhance the audience and performer experience alike. This musical suite of four concerts is generously sponsored by The John Pollard Foundation.
Chamber music takes centre stage in April and May as one of RIAM’s flagship events, ChamberFest Dublin (April 28th to May 8th ) returns, bringing over 30 concerts from more than 60 chamber music groups, with students playing a key role in forming their own chamber groups, researching and choosing repertoire.
In recent years, RIAM Opera has carved a very special niche in Ireland’s opera world, its wide-ranging operatic repertoire has included a world première, first Irish performances of operas by living composers, all in addition to a huge range of chamber operas and operatic favourites. Our valuable annual collaboration with the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire (IADT) will provide opera lovers with another chance to preview the next generation of operatic stars in Haydn’s La vera costanza in January. Packed with joy, comedy, romance, sensational twists and wonderful music, this witty and inventive opera is produced by Kathleen Tynan, directed by Hélène Montague and conducted by Andrew Synnott, and will be staged at the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College Dublin from January 12th to 18th.
Audiences will also have abundant opportunities to experience the Academy’s gifted emerging artists over a number of concert series and competitions. Collaborations with the Office of Public Works, the Derravaragh Music Association and Airfield Estate will see RIAM musicians perform at three of Ireland’s finest historic houses, Farmleigh, Tullynally Castle and Airfield. There are also a number of special events curated by RIAM’s Student Union and concerts at both the National Concert Hall and Whyte Recital Hall featuring over 300 musicians from the RIAM Junior Academy in December, March and May. On the competition front, a large body of our talented student population will compete for a number of coveted bursaries, awards, competitions and scholarship opportunities at RIAM, generously supported by a number of individuals and organisations, with a prize pool of over €26,000 and a number of prestigious performing opportunities.
We continue to extend our reach beyond our Westland Row premises with the RIAM Spotlight Awards, in partnership with Ace Autobody. The Awards celebrate the diverse achievements of some of the almost 30,000 students who take RIAM exams and assessments annually and serve to highlight and salute the talents and innovations of music and drama students nationwide and support the creativity and cultural expression in the wider RIAM Community. With regional concerts taking place in Dublin (RIAM), Ennis (Glór), Ballina (Ballina Arts Centre) and Navan (Solstice Arts Centre), culminating in a spectacular Spotlight Gala Concert in the Whyte Recital Hall at RIAM, the Spotlight Awards recognise not just the most talented artists, but also those who have made significant achievements or developments on their own terms, despite any adverse challenges or obstacles to their creative development.
In addition to major collaborations with the Wigmore Hall and IADT Dun Laoghaire, we are delighted to be working with such organisations as The Stanford Society, Diaphonique, Dublin Youth Choir and DCU, EMPOWER: Women Changing Music and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland to Ireland which assumes the rotating Presidency of the EU Council in January 2025. We are delighted to present a return visit by Chinese guitar sensation Xuefei Yang who in addition to collaborating with GuitaRIAM in concert on April 27th, will work in masterclass with students from RIAM’s Guitar Department. We are also proud to welcome important Irish music organisations such as the Irish Chamber Orchestra and Dublin International Piano Competition for performances in the magnificent Whyte Recital Hall at the RIAM.
ENDS
For further information on these and other RIAM events:
Web: www.riam.ie | Tel: 01 632 5300 | Twitter: @RIAMDublin | @riamdublin
For media information please contact:
Ciara Higgins, Head of Artistic Programming |ciarahiggins@riam.ie |087 2391420
Mark Mahoney, Marketing Manager | markmahoney@riam.ie | 086 197 3877