Saturday 19th November 2022 | 7.30pm
City Hall, Cork
Conductor David Brophy guides the RTÉ Concert Orchestra through an enthralling, wide-ranging programme featuring Beethoven’s Egmont Overture; the live world premier of Paul Frost’s The Burning of Cork, featuring pianist Gary Beecher; a Slavonic Dance by Dvořák; and Prokofiev’s popular “symphonic fairy tale for children”, Peter And The Wolf (Peadar agus an Mac Tíre), with an Irish-language narration by Aedín Gormley of RTÉ lyric fm’s Movies and Musicals.
Tickets:
Balcony: €33 | €30 (concession) | €28 (COS members)
Front parterre: €25 | €22 (concession) | €20 (COS members)
Back parterre: €18 | €16 (concession) | €12 (COS members)
Programme:
Beethoven: Egmont Overture, Op.84
Paul Frost: The Burning of Cork (live world premier)*
Dvořák: Slavonic Dance, No.8 Op.46
Prokofiev: Peadar agus an Mac Tíre (Peter and the Wolf)**
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
David Brophy (conductor)
with Gary Beecher, piano*
and Aedín Gormley (narrator)**
David Brophy is now widely regarded as the leading Irish conductor of today. His career, while primarily based in Ireland, has seen him perform in many parts of Europe, Africa, America and Canada. Following studies in Ireland, England and Holland, he was appointed apprentice conductor with the National Chamber Choir of Ireland and subsequently became the first appointee as assistant conductor with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.
David has collaborated with many internationally acclaimed soloists, among them, Tasmin Little, Barry Douglas, Willard White, Lesley Garret, Sir James Galway, Lang Lang, Danielle de Niese, Nicola Benedetti and Chloë Hanslip. He has conducted in the US with the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra and the Naples Philharmonic, in Spain with Orquesta Nacional Clásica de Andorra and Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, and at home with all major Irish orchestras. Recent appearances overseas have included performances at New York’s Lincoln Centre with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and at London’s Barbican Centre as part of their Silent Film & Live Music series. His work with specialist new music ensembles, among them Vox 21 and Crash Ensemble, has led to numerous premieres including the Irish premiere of Steve Reich’s Music for Eighteen Musicians and Andre Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, alongside recent world premieres of arrangements by Nico Muhly for Iarla Ó Lionáird. David’s operatic work has led to acclaimed partnerships with Lyric Opera Productions, Opera Theatre Company, Opera Ireland, Glasthule Opera and NI Opera, while he recently made his debut with Ballet Ireland for their production of The Nutcracker. He has appeared at all major festivals in Ireland, most notably with the RTÉCO at the Electric Picnic, and has conducted at the Proms in the Park as part of the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms.
The pianist Gary Beecher has a varied career as an accompanist, répétiteur, chamber musician and soloist. With a wealth of experience and having trained in both London and Ireland, Gary is a classical pianist who is also a versatile, accomplished musician across several genres of music; from classical, pop, jazz and musical theatre to Irish traditional music.
With a particular passion for working with singers, Gary has had several international competition successes including 1st Prize at the International Nadia and Lili Boulanger Voice-Piano Competition (France), the Rudolf Jansen Pianist Prize at the 53rd International Vocal Competition LiedDuo (Netherlands), and 2nd Pianist Prize at the International Helmut Deutsch Lied Competition (Austria). Previous to this, he was a Samling Artist, a Britten-Pears Young Artist and a winner of the Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform. Additionally, Gary enjoys working as a répétiteur and has worked with Irish National Opera and Blackwater Valley Opera Festival among other opera companies.
As a soloist, Gary was winner of the Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year (2014) and has recorded and performed as soloist and orchestral pianist with the RTÉ NSO, RTÉ CO, Camerata Ireland, Southbank Sinfonia London & Irish National Opera. Venues he has performed in include the Barbican and Wigmore Hall (London); National Concert Hall, RDS, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre (Dublin), University Concert Hall, (Limerick), Cork Opera House, Triskel & Cork City Hall among others. Radio broadcasts include live and recorded performances on BBC Radio Three and RTÉ lyric fm.
He completed his MA at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he was a Fellow and staff vocal coach accompanist. He holds a BMus and MA from the Cork School of Music (Munster Technological University) and was awarded 1st class honours degrees and top overall performer awards from both Guildhall and CSM institutions. Gary currently lives in Cork and is a Lecturer of Piano and Contemporary Keyboards at MTU
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Principal Guest Conductor: Stephen Bell
Associate Principal Conductor: Gavin Maloney
Associate Artist: Guy Barker
Conductor Laureate: Proinnsías Ó Duinn
Leader: Mia Cooper
The RTÉ Concert Orchestra, founded in 1948, specialises in eclectic programming and has performed with Luciano Pavarotti, Lang Lang and Cleo Laine, and Irish artists including Sinéad O’Connor and Imelda May. Its series of 90s dance music events won the IMRO radio Outstanding Achievement Award for 2018. The RTÉ CO has performed in seven Eurovision Song Contests; film credits include Stephen Rennicks’ score to Room and Brian Byrne’s Golden Globe-nominated score to Albert Nobbs. Recent recordings include Howard Shore’s A Palace upon the Ruins and Flicker with Irish singer Niall Horan, and the orchestra has also collaborated with Irish National Opera, English National Ballet and Our Lady’s ChoralSociety, as well as giving the Ireland premieres of Amadeus and The Nightmare Before Christmas with Danny Elfman. During the COVID-19 pandemic the RTÉ CO produced a wide range of work including new Guy Barker jazz arrangements, an award-winning John Lennon tribute, a 50th anniversary Clannad celebration, a chart-topping single and a TV tribute to David Bowie with an international line-up including members of Bowie’s own band. Projects in 2022 have included Thin Lizzy Orchestrated and the world première screening of Room with live score. www.rte.ie/co