from any serious outcomes. Chief Medical O cer Dr Tony Holohan said that BA and BA.5 variants of concern, which are sub-lineages of Omicron and are circulating here, are easier to catch and also better at getting around immunity from natural infec- tion and vaccines. People aged 65 and older as well as people who are im- munocompromised are being urged to avail of the o er of a

from Kilkenny Observer 10th June 2022

Sport

is year’s Kilkenny Arts Festival has some exciting acts and performers on o er from August 4 to 24. e full festival programme will be announced in midJune but a number of rst announcements are

Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival, the award-winning team that brought you A Midsummer Night’s 2 Dream and Much Ado About Nothing, join forces once more to present a new take on Shakespeare’s classic – e Tempest. e acclaimed Carducci String Quartet, our main photo, will perform one of the great cycles ever written for the string quartet, Shostakovich’s 15 Quartets to be performed over six days in St John’s Priory.

One of the world’s premier period ensembles Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin present a rich programme featuring the music of ‘Handel and Friends’ which will showcase the vibrant music scene of Baroque London while Irish band, Bell X1 join forces with genre-hopping Dowry Strings to reimagine their sounds, creating fresh new arrangements that set each song against a backdrop of lush, gorgeous strings. 3 Another festival highlight promises to be e Irish Baroque Orchestra and Tara Erraught performing songs and arias associated with legendary singer Giusto Tenducci at St. Canice’s Cathedral.

Malcolm Proud returns to Kilkenny Arts Festival to perform Bach’s complete masterwork e Well-

tempered Clavier, Book I over two unmissable concerts in St John’s Priory.

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and the Irish Chamber Orchestra will nally perform to live audiences Róisín ReImagined, a stunning collaboration co-commissioned by the ICO and Kilkenny Arts Festival. Featuring Nic Amhlaoibh, musician and producer Dónal O’Connor, Irish Chamber Orchestra, and six composer/ arrangers; Cormac McCarthy, Paul Campbell, Linda Buckley, Sam Perkin, Niamh Varian-

Barry, and Michael Keeney – Róisín ReImagined breathes a whole new life in to the Sean Nós repertoire.

Another highlight will be a performance by renowned Mezzo-Soprano Ailish Tynan who returns to Kilkenny

Arts Festival for a special Opera Gala night with the Irish Chamber Orchestra performing a selection of some of the best-loved repertoire from Mozart, Puccini, Lehar, Verdi and more.

Opera Collective Ireland and Kilkenny Arts Festival present Handel’s masterpiece ‘Semele’ with Akademie 5 für Alte Musik Berlin in partnership with dynamic choral ensemble Sestina. One of the richest and most compelling of all Handel operas, Semele sees the return of the creative team behind the critically acclaimed production of Monteverdi’s e Return of Ulysses and a star studded cast that includes Kelli-Ann Masterson, Jade Phoenix, Andrew Gavin, Dominica Williams, Gerben Van der Werf and Edward Hawkins.

Another highly anticipated performance will be Ireland’s agship choral ensemble Chamber Choir Ireland, led by Paul Hillier, return to Kilkenny Arts Festival for a performance of Tchaikovsky’s sublime large-scale work, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom while grammy award-winning violinist Johnny 6 Gandelsman returns to Kilkenny to perform his unique version of the complete set of Bach’s cello suites.