Tipperary to celebrate women in music

A special Mother’s Day celebration featuring Clonmel-born soprano Kelley Petcu will be a highlight of Finding a Voice, Europe’s leading women in music festival, which prepares to return for a seventh year from March 7- to 10 with a feast of unforgettable music by remarkable women, in Clonmel

Artistic Director Róisín Maher says: "We’re really thrilled to be celebrating seven wonderful years of Finding a Voice and continue to be proud of the fact that we’ve programmed the music of so many incredible women composers in that time. The heart of the festival will continue to be in my hometown of Clonmel, although this year, we’re also programming performances in Cork, which I think will bring Finding a Voice to a whole new audience.”
Joining the team this year is young Clonmel producer Meg Ahearne, who studied music in UCC and recently completed an MA in Arts Management and Creative Producing.

A Loreto convent graduate, Meg has gone from strength to strength since graduation, working with Lismore’s Towers and Tales festival, as well as with Clonmel Junction Festival on their ‘Hucklebuck’ and ‘From Out The Land’ productions in 2023.
Taking in both International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day, the 2024 festival features performances by some of Ireland’s leading ensembles and performers, including Musici Ireland, Madrigal ’75, Duo Anima, Amerghin, violinist Patrick Rafter, and many more in a celebration of women’s creativity through the ages and around the world.
Audiences will get a unique opportunity to hear music by a host of fabulous female composers including Rebecca Clarke, Lili Boulanger, Joan Trimble, Clara Schumann, and Amy Beach. One of the 2024 festival highlights will be the world première of Irish composer Judith Ring’s new work The River Was Never Afraid (2024) for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and cello.
Commissioned by Finding a Voice with funding from The Arts Council, the piece was written especially for leading contemporary music ensemble Evlana, to whom it is dedicated. The work focuses on the role of the River Suir as it flows through the town of Clonmel.

NATURAL BEAUTY
Judith Ring says “I tried to encapsulate the river’s defensive power alongside its natural beauty in this piece. We are taken on a journey through various imaginary happenings inspired by the river’s flow through time.”
The 2024 Festival will also host the world premières of new works by Jane O’Leary and the winning piece in the Emerging Composer Competition, run in association with the Contemporary Music Centre.
But it’s not just new music that audiences will be able to experience – Finding a Voice celebrates music by women composers through the ages.

The voices of Madrigal ’75 under the direction of James Taylor will take listeners on a very different journey through the music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, while ensemble Amerghin will combine music from the baroque era alongside traditional, folk, improvised, and contemporary music in their genre-defying concert.
Other highlights include the first visit to Ireland of celebrated North African singer/songwriter Iness Mezel and traditional percussionist Nora Abdoun who explore the power and beauty of indigenous Berber culture.
Finding a Voice runs from 7 to 10 March 2024 – see findingavoice.ie for further details.