ON a long summer’s evening The Ardhowen is the perfect setting for a fabulous night out and this week it is home to a very special tribute to acclaimed Enniskillen-born performer/composer Joan Trimble.

The two-day programme of events includes a Celebration Concert, followed by wine reception, tonight (Thursday) at 8pm and also a Public Discussion on Joan Trimble’s remarkable career on Friday at 4pm.

THE JOAN TRIMBLE CENTENARY CELEBRATION Music in Fermanagh presents a two-day programme of events celebrating the work and achievements of Enniskillen-born performer/composer Joan Trimble.

Joan’s famed two-piano partnership with her sister Valerie brought wide recognition for their world-class musicianship and helped also to establish Joan’s success as a composer of a number original works for two pianos but her lyrical and evocative writing extended far beyond the piano.

A Centenary Celebration Concert, presenting Joan Trimble’s compositions, takes place on tonight at 8pm.

This wonderful concert includes a range of vocal and instrumental compositions, performed by musicians and singers such as Una Hunt and Danusia Oslizlok on piano, baritone David Robertson, mezzo-soprano Anne-Marie Gibbons, Ruxandra Petcu Colan on violin, Ferec Szucs on cello and Cassiopeia Winds featuring Catriona Ryan, flute; Mathew Manning, oboe; Deirdre O’Leary, clarinet; John Hearne, bassoon and Cormac Ó hAoDáin, horn.

On Friday at 4pm there will be a Public Discussion about the Achievements of Joan Trimble in The Ardhowen Theatre Gallery.

The discussion will be led by composer Dr. Philip Hammond, together with composer and academic David Byers and Joanna McVey, daughter of Joan Trimble. Dr. Philip Hammond was a close musical colleague and friend of Joan Trimble and instrumental in the ACNI commissioning of her 1990 Wind Quintet.

David Byers was much involved in the performing and broadcasting of her music. An exhibition, ‘Joan Trimble (1915-2015): A Centenary Portrait’, illustrating her development from musical child prodigy to a performer and composer of international acclaim through images from the Fermanagh County Museum’s collections will be on display in The Ardhowen Upper Foyer Gallery. The exhibition will run until Friday, July 10 and is open Monday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, admission is free.

MICHELLE LEWIS Michelle Lewis picked up her father’s acoustic guitar at the age of 14 and quickly abandoned interest in everything else.

Having honed her song-writing at Berklee College of Music in her hometown of Boston, she went on to tour the United States with her first album, ‘This Time Around’.

As a singer/songwriter Michelle Lewis’s music is uniquely intimate and surprisingly polished. Her ability not just to write captivating lyrics but to fit whole stories in to her songs bringing meaning into what initially seems the most simple of lines. As a storyteller, she writes intensely visual songs that explore the emotional remnants in burgeoning and breaking relationships.

Her music is rich with melody and her lyrics seek beauty in the face of sadness.

Too refined to call folk and too personal to call pop, Michelle Lewis’s music surprises listeners who think they know what to expect from a singer-songwriter, and those who never expected to like one.

Michelle has been a long-time collaborator with producer Anthony J. Resta (Elton John, Duran Duran and Shawn Mullins).

Their work has included the release of her Broken (2009) and Paris (2011) EPs and most recently her second full-length album, ‘The Parts Of Us That Still Remain’ (2014), with songs co-written by Nashville favourite Robby Hecht and LA sound designer Conan Skyrme.

Catch this incredibly talented performer in The Ardhowen Gallery Bar on Wednesday, June 24, at 9pm WEDDING FEVER Borderline Players are delighted to return to The Ardhowen with the hilarious comedy ‘Wedding Fever’ by Ulster’s favourite playwright, Sam Cree. Under the direction of Siobhan O’Brien, the ‘Wedding Fever’ cast features 12 emerging actors between the ages of 16 and 23, some taking to the stage for the very first time, while others have been members of Borderline Players since the very beginning back in 2000.

The comedy follows the engagement and journey to the altar of 19 year old Myra Galbraith and Dennis Hall. Set against the backdrop of 1960’s Belfast, family struggles, unwanted visitors and strike action, we witness the union of two very different working class families, their neighbours and friends for the joyous occasion.

With lots of laughs and perhaps a few tears along the way, this play is suitable for all ages, from the very young to the not-so-young; there truly is something for everyone.

Borderline Players Generation 2.0 presents ‘Wedding Fever’ at The Ardhowen on Friday, June 26. and Saturday , June 27, at 8pm.