Remarkable women to perform at Clonmel classical musical festival

The countdown is now on for Finding a Voice 2023, the innovative classical music festival that will take place from Wednesday March 8 to March 12 in Clonmel.
Featuring unforgettable music by remarkable women, Finding a Voice celebrates women in music throughout the ages and around the world, with performances from leading Irish and international performers.

The opening concert in the Main Guard on International Women’s Day – March 8– will kick off the week’s events and features the female-led classical music collective Musici Ireland who will perform a gorgeous selection of accessible music for wind quintet by composers including Clara Schumann, Amy Beach and Irish composer Joan Trimble.
The following night’s concert, also in the Main Guard will see Finding a Voice Musician-in-Residence

POP-UP APPEARANCES
Eleanor Kelly take to the stage with a stunning programme of guitar music from Latin America – arriba! Keep your eyes (and ears!) peeled for Eleanor around the town of Clonmel while the festival is on as she will be making some pop-up appearances – you never know where you might hear her play.

One of the 2023 festival highlights will be Friday night’s world première of Irish composer Gráinne Mulvey’s new work …Until the Women of Ireland are Free (2022) for voice, electronics and chamber ensemble.

INSPIRING SPEECHES

Commissioned by Finding a Voice for the celebrated Irish-American mezzo-soprano Aylish Kerrigan, the piece 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.

Of course, 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 listeners on a very different journey through the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, from Italian nun Isabella Leonarda to Prussian princess, Anna Amalia in their Sunday lunchtime concert at Old St Mary’s.

Another festival highlight will undoubtedly be the first visit to Ireland of celebrated Spanish pianist Antonio Oyarzabal who has championed the works of women composers through his acclaimed albums,

AFFORDABLE
The Forgotten Muse and The End of the Silence. Antonio says “I am extremely excited to come to Ireland to perform at Finding a Voice festival and I am so looking forward to being able to share my discoveries and work in this field with the lovely audience in Clonmel.”

Ticket prices for this year’s concerts are incredibly good value, at just €5 for a lunchtime and €10 for an evening concert. Artistic Director Róisín Maher says “I really wanted to keep the concerts affordable this year and encourage people to come along and listen to some really incredible music.”

Finding a Voice is the only festival of its kind in Ireland and the British Isles and offers audiences a unique opportunity to hear unforgettable music by remarkable women in beautiful and historic locations in Clonmel.
See findingavoice.ie for further details.