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Newry Chamber Music's Fews Ensemble will open its tenth anniversary season tomorrow night 8 October at 7.30pm with Miniatures, an evening of music, poetry and prose. The performance takes place in the ensemble's intimate recital space in The Quays Shopping Centre, with broadcaster John Toal and soprano Mary McCabe.
The Fews is the resident ensemble of Newry Mourne and Down and Newry Chamber Music. Its members are chamber music and orchestral leaders, principals and soloists from Ireland, the UK and Europe, who perform up to eight projects each year in Newry, Mourne and Down as well as Dublin, Belfast and Carlingford.
The group is renowned not only for the quality of its playing but for the innovative programming led by Joanne Quigley McParland, who is the ensemble's leader and a violinist. It specialises in cross arts projects, most notably working with Ciarán Hinds on several events, including a sell-out run of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale in Belfast's MAC and Dublin's Smock Alley Theatre.
Speaking about the Newry programme, Joanne says it reads like a dream wish list of the spoken word, song and exquisite instrumental music.
"We will hear the rhythmic drive and infectious energy of Jesse Montgomary's Strum and discover how Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile provides the perfect reflection to Chekhov's evocative word painting.
"There will be poetic writing by Rilke backed by Webern's Langsamer Satz and Hemingway will take us into the Spanish bullring amplified by Turina's La Oración del Torero. Shelley's "The Sunset" and Emily Dickinson's "By the Sea" provide the texts for Respighi's Il Tramonto and Golijov's How Slow the Wind. We finish on a glorious note with Piazzolla's Four for Tango."
The Fews is currently mid-season in a series of concerts in Carlingford Heritage Centre.
For all programming information and ticket sales, visit www.newrychambermusic.org
