This year the Kilkenny Arts Festival sees a return of focus on the work of Philip Glass, as we take a dive into some of the composer's catalogue with some of the festival's favourite artists. Philip Glass’ music appears throughout, featuring in programmes from the Carducci String Quartet , alongside popular quartets from Mozart, Shostakovich, Fanny Mendelssohn and Beethoven and in a very special late night at the Set Theatre alongside Steve Reich’s groundbreaking work from 1988, Different Trains. Rising star Irish pianist Máire Carroll also performs a performance of ten of Glass’ trance-like Études for solo piano and Dutch/Korean harpist Lavinia Meijer is also a glass specialist and interprets a range of Glass works alongside some of her own compositions; while the mighty Crash Ensemble treat audiences to a stonking performance of Glassworks.
Carducci String Quartet The first programme in the Carducci's two lunchtime concerts in St. John's Priory spans two centuries of chamber music, from Beethoven’s dynamic String Quartet No. 11 to Philip Glass’s urgent ‘Company’, inspired by Samuel Beckett’s novella.
The concert takes place at St John's Priory on August 9. On Sunday at Set Theatre the acclaimed quartet brings its residency at this year’s festival to a close with a programme featuring works by Philip Glass and Osvaldo Golijov, along with an iconic work by Steve Reich. Harpist Lavinia Meijer is a groundbreaking artist.
Constantly looking to expand the possibilities of her instrument, she has performed a dizzying array of musical genres from classical to rock and jazz at concert halls all over the world. Meanwhile Lavinia Meijer will perform The Glass Effect at St John's Priory on August 12 at 1pm. Her pioneering interpretations of Philip Glass’s music have earned her universal acclaim and a platinum-selling CD, and for this concert – the first in a series celebrating the music of the modern American master – Meijer performs her own beautiful arrangements, lending Glass’s work new expressiveness and depth.
Crash Ensemble will continue the mini-adventure through the iconic composer’s work with this enticing concert in the Parade Tower on August 14 at 7pm. Written in 1981, Glassworks was Philip Glass’s wildly innovative attempt to merge minimalism and pop, creating ‘classical’ pieces with infectious pop hooks. It soon became one of the composer’s most popular works, and who better to perform it in the intimate surroundings of the Parade Tower than Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s leading new music ensemble.
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