Music in Fermanagh, a relatively new organisation in the county, has been setting the scene for a number of upcoming classical music dates.

It has four concerts lined up this year - all to be staged at the Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen - starting with Vanbrugh String Quartet on June 4. 

“They have agreed to do three of Beethoven’s string quartets, an early, a middle and a late, interspersing them with spoken commentary about the composer’s development,” explained Richard Pierce, who chairs Music in Fermanagh. He said they hope to have a lot of young people there.

On September 15, he mentioned they have Musici Ireland “giving them a trio: flute, viola and harp, with music by Ravel, Debussy and the Elegiac Trio by Arnold Bax, expressing his sadness at the 1916 conflict between the two nations he loved most, Ireland and Britain, an admirable sentiment to note in the centenary year.”

On October 16, they will welcome the celebrated young English pianist, Ashley Wass, “giving a matinee recital of Shakespeare-related pieces, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death.”

Richard continued: “From November 4 to 6 we have a weekend, a chamber music workshop, given (along with other members of the Delmaine String Quartet) by Dublin-based Vanessa Sweeney, who is possibly the most experienced chamber music coach for young people in Ireland and a performance, on the Sunday afternoon, where the Quartet will be joined by Michael James Ford and other actors and singers, entitled Love and War, a synthesis of poetry, love letters, readings, song and music which poignantly reflects the impact of the First World War on individuals from Ireland, both North and South.”

He recalled that last year, they enjoyed putting on two events. The first, a two-day celebration of the life and work of the composer Joan Trimble, coincided exactly with the centenary of her birth. The evening concert, which featured her music exclusively, was a sell-out.

The second was a performance by the RTE ConTempo Quartet. “These four young Romanian musicians (two married couples) have an energy and excitement to their playing which is contagious!” said Richard, who noted that their Haydn and Schumann made the audience, which was bigger than all expectations, sit forward and smile. “But it was the Janácek “Intimate Letters” Quartet which was the surprise,” he said, adding: “This could be regarded as difficult, modern music but the audience was spellbound, carried along by the charisma and technical wizardry of these young players, its sensuality and passion clearly defined.”

Looking forward to the forthcoming concert dates, Richard encouraged people to put the dates in their diaries! He highlighted they are for everybody, and there are reduced price tickets for young people. “If you like classical music, come and have your heart warmed by familiar composers,” urged Richard.

He commented: “If you have never been to a classical music concert, come and be surprised and delighted. This music was written by people who came from ordinary families like you and me but who just happened to need to express their feelings by writing music. We all have feelings. Come, whoever you are, and share these feelings with your fellow members of the Fermanagh family.”