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A not to be missed performance by The Fews Ensemble led by Newry violinist Joanne Quigley McParland and featuring actor Ciaran Hinds takes place in the beautiful Riverside Church in Newry on Good Friday, 7 April.
It's the second major music production from The Fews Ensemble featuring Ciaran Hinds. Following on the extraordinary success of the ensemble’s Soldier’s Tale by Stravinsky which toured Ireland in 2018 and 2022, the actor will perform with the String Quartet in the final act of the concert entitled The Passions. The Passions feature Boccherini’s Stabat mater, Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ and Mark Strand’s Poem after the Seven Last Words.
The Passions will appear in Riverside Church, Newry at 7.30pm on 7 April. The production will also take place a day earlier at Belfast’s Harbour Commissioners Office at 8pm on 6 April.
Joanne Quigley McParland says the Easter series is a unique and innovative experience for music lovers.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to hear the original version of Boccherini's Stabat Mater for solo soprano and strings alongside Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ with poetry by Mark Strand read by Ciarán Hinds,” she says. “It will be a world-class event which approaches this deeply significant moment in the Christian calendar in a surprisingly secular way and we cannot wait to perform it.”
The Fews Ensemble is supported by the Arts Council for Northern Ireland, Newry, Mourne and Down Borough Council and the Lottery.
Tickets are available from: www.newrychambermusic.org
The Pieces
Boccherini - Stabat Mater
Written in 1781, Stabat Mater is an extremely moving work of great beauty and intimacy depicting the sorrow and suffering of Mary at the crucifixion of her son.
Haydn - Seven Last Words of Christ
This work captures beautifully in music, the emotions, suffering and resignation of Jesus in the final moments of his life.
Mark Strand - Poem after the Seven Last Words
Narration by Ciarán Hinds
