Kilkenny Arts Festival - First Announcements 2017

First Announcements Artistic adventures in Ireland’s medieval city

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IRISH PREMIERE

Counting Sheep A Guerrilla Folk Opera CREATED BY MARK & MARICHKA MARCYK AND THE LEMON BUCKET ORKESTRA

The revolution is coming...

An award-winning hit at last year’s Edinburgh Festivals, Counting Sheep is a breathtaking ‘guerrilla folk opera’. Created by musicians Mark and Marichka Marczyk with Balkan-klezmer-punk band the Lemon Bucket Orkestra, this groundbreaking show offers a personal retelling of the Maidan revolution, the popular uprising that succeeded in toppling the Ukrainian government in 2014.

An explosive mix of theatre, dance, music and song which pitches audiences head first into the chaos of those days, Counting Sheep invites you to experience the exhilaration, passion and heartbreak of revolution up close in 360 degrees. Don’t miss this moving, joyous show in its only Irish performances.

Supported by the Hub at Cillín Hill and Langtons

SUNDAY 13 - SATURDAY 19 AUGUST (EXCL. WED 16) 8PM MATINEE SAT 19 AUGUST 3PM THE HUB, CILLÍN HILL TICKETS FROM €26

PHOTO JEREMY MIMNAGH

Presented by the Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Hot Feat Canada Ltd and Selfconscious Productions

PREMIERE

EARLY OPERA COMPANY UK

Stephen Rea

Handel’s Julius Caesar in Egypt

IN

Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis WITH LIVE SCORE BY

WITH

Neil Martin

Iestyn Davies UK Anna Devin Rachel Kelly Christian Curnyn UK

PERFORMED BY

Addressed to his lover ‘Bosie’ and written over the course of two months, De Profundis is an extraordinary testament to strength in adversity. Stephen Rea (who performed Seamus Heaney’s Aeneid: Book VI to great acclaim at the Festival last year) returns to the Watergate to premiere a specially abridged version of Wilde’s epic letter. Featuring a live accompaniment composed by Neil Martin and performed by the Irish Chamber Orchestra, this performance of Wilde’s most personal text promises to be an intensely moving occasion.

SATURDAY 12 & SUNDAY 13 AUGUST 4PM WATERGATE THEATRE TICKETS €25/€22.50

PHOTO JOBY WALDMAN

Irish Chamber Orchestra

One of the world’s great countertenors, Iestyn Davies, makes his debut as Caesar in Handel’s masterpiece, while Anna Devin and Rachel Kelly (both of whom shone in Idomeneo last year) perform the roles of Cleopatra and Sesto, the son of Caesar’s enemy Pompeo. With a world-class cast conducted by leading Handel expert Christian Curnyn, this will be a gala performance to remember on the opening night of the 44th Festival.

FRIDAY 11 AUGUST 7.30PM ST CANICE’S CATHEDRAL TICKETS FROM €39.50

Join us for a once-in-a-lifetime exploration of the great composer’s late masterpieces, performed by a host of international and Irish stars

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

SCHUBERT/WIDMANN: OCTETS

THE GREAT C MAJOR SYMPHONY & THE SHEPHERD ON THE ROCK

Irish Chamber Orchestra Katherine Hunka director

Soloists of the ICO & Jörg Widmann director

ICO, Ailish Tynan soprano & Jörg Widmann conductor

SATURDAY 12 AUGUST 8.30PM ST CANICE’S CATHEDRAL TICKETS €22/€19.50

WEDNESDAY 16 AUGUST 7.30PM WATERGATE THEATRE TICKETS €20/€18

SATURDAY 19 AUGUST 7.30PM ST CANICE’S CATHEDRAL TICKETS FROM €27

PHOTO PAT MOORE

SCHUBERT: DREAMING THE SUBLIME

Roderick Williams & Iain Burnside WEDNESDAY 16 AUGUST 1PM

FAVOURITE LIEDER Ailish Tynan & Iain Burnside

LECTURE: THE LAST PIANO SONATAS

Alfred Brendel Austria

THURSDAY 17 AUGUST 1PM

SWANSONG Roderick Williams & Iain Burnside

FRIDAY 18 AUGUST 5PM ST CANICE’S CATHEDRAL TICKETS €16/€14

PHOTO BENJAMIN EALOVEGA

DIE SCHÖNE MÜLLERIN

PHOTO BENJAMIN EALOVEGA

Schubert Song at St John’s Priory

FRIDAY 18 AUGUST 1PM

Benjamin Appl & James Baillieu SATURDAY 19 AUGUST 1PM

LIEDER FINALE Benjamin Appl, Ailish Tynan, James Baillieu, Iain Burnside & Guests SUNDAY 20 AUGUST 1PM TICKETS €19/€17 FOR EACH CONCERT

THE LAST PIANO SONATAS

Christian Blackshaw UK Blackshaw’s series of Mozart’s piano sonatas was a highlight of last year’s Festival. This year we’re delighted to welcome him back to perform three of Schubert’s greatest masterpieces.

FRIDAY 18 AUGUST 7.30PM ST CANICE’S CATHEDRAL TICKETS FROM €27

PHOTO JAMES HILL

WINTERREISE

THE LATE STRING QUARTETS & STRING QUINTET

Quatuor Mosaïques Austria/France Our Schubert season opens with a mouthwatering trio of concerts from one of the world’s leading string quartets in its first appearances in Ireland in almost 20 years.

Supported by Susie Thomson

FRIDAY 11 – SUNDAY 13 AUGUST 1PM ST JOHN’S PRIORY TICKETS €19/€17 FOR EACH CONCERT

MR HANDEL’S ADVENTURES IN IRELAND A trio of concerts celebrating the 275th anniversary of Handel’s visit

The Arrival of Mr Handel Ensemble Marsyas Peter Whelan director SUNDAY 13 AUGUST 7PM ST CANICE’S CATHEDRAL TICKETS FROM €27

Mr Handel at the Keyboard Philippe Grisvard France MONDAY 14 AUGUST 8PM THE LONG GALLERY, KILKENNY CASTLE TICKETS €22/€19.50

Mr Handel’s Messiah Ensemble Marsyas Peter Whelan director TUESDAY 15 AUGUST 7.30PM ST CANICE’S CATHEDRAL TICKETS FROM €27

PHOTO NOIRIN O’SULLIVAN-MOLONEY

THE PIANO TRIOS & THE ‘TROUT’ QUINTET

Fidelio Trio Shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards in 2016, the Fidelio Trio is one of the most exciting piano trios in Europe. This pair of lunchtime concerts explores some of Schubert’s greatest compositions, including his extraordinary piano trios and the much-loved ‘Trout’ Quintet.

MONDAY 14 & TUESDAY 15 AUGUST 1PM ST JOHN’S PRIORY TICKETS €19/€17 FOR EACH CONCERT

Behold A Wonder Here: Dowland Songs & Airs Iestyn Davies UK Thomas Dunford France

SUNDAY 13 AUGUST 10PM ST JOHN’S PRIORY TICKETS €25/€22.50

Fresh from his starring role in Julius Caesar in Egypt, the celebrated countertenor Iestyn Davies joins forces with lutenist Thomas Dunford for a late-night programme of glorious Renaissance songs and airs in St John’s.

The Orthodox Spirit Chamber Choir Ireland & Paul Hillier UK After its triumphant performance of Bach’s Mass in B minor in 2015, Chamber Choir Ireland makes its eagerly awaited return to the Festival under the baton of conductor Paul Hillier with a programme of Russian sacred music through the ages.

SATURDAY 19 AUGUST 10PM ST CANICE’S ROMAN CATHOLIC PARISH CHURCH TICKETS €25/€22.50

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FULL PROGRAMME announced in June

BOX OFFICE opens 12 July

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FRONT COVER DAHLIA KATZ

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