Booking now open for innovative Clonmel classical music festival

As we mark St Brigid’s Day, Finding a Voice is delighted to announce that booking has now opened for the sixth edition of this innovative classical music festival which takes place from March 8 to 12 in Clonmel.

Featuring unforgettable music by remarkable women, Finding a Voice celebrates women in music throughout the ages and around the world.

A 2023 festival highlight will be the world première of Irish composer, Gráinne Mulvey’s, new work …Until the Women of Ireland are Free (2022) for voice, electronics and chamber ensemble. Commissioned by Finding a Voice with funding from The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, the piece was written especially for celebrated Irish-American mezzo-soprano, Aylish Kerrigan, to whom it is dedicated. It is based on inspiring speeches by Irish women over the last one hundred years, from trade unionist Harriet Morison and suffragette Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington, through to Magdalene survivor, Elizabeth Coppin.

Gráinne Mulvey says “I wanted to look at problems that have affected women’s progress and their emancipation through this piece. The battle for women just to be heard was a long process for centuries, so the work explores this struggle for women to speak out.”

Artistic Director Róisín Maher says “As soon as Gráinne sent me the score, I got shivers down my spine because, if ever there was a work for Finding a Voice to commission, it was this. The fact that the piece explores women’s voices through the years really resonates with what we are trying to do with the festival. It’s also such a privilege to be there when a new work is presented for the very first time so I can’t wait to hear it performed live.”

It’s not just new music that audiences will be able to experience – Finding a Voice celebrates music by women composers through the ages. Violinist Claire Duff, leader of the renowned Irish Baroque Orchestra, and harpsichordist Rachel Factor, will take audiences on a very different journey through the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, from Italian nun Isabella Leonarda, to Prussian princess, Anna Amalia.

Other highlights include ConTempo Quartet teaming up with Musician-in-Residence, guitarist Eleanor Kelly, to perform Luces y Sombras (Lights and Shadows) by the late great Argentinian composer Claudia Montero. The work was inspired by the award-winning composer’s visit to Ireland in 2017 and won her (another) Latin Grammy for Best Contemporary Composition the following year. 

Finding a Voice is the only festival of its kind in Ireland and the British Isles and offers people a unique opportunity to hear unforgettable music by remarkable women in beautiful and historic locations in the scenic town of Clonmel.

Finding a Voice runs from 8th to 12th March 2023– see findingavoice.ie for further details.