Lover of classical music? Looking to attend a baroque dance workshop? The Sligo Baroque Music Festival is set to take place from the 27-29th of September, promising a weekend packed full of unique baroque themed events and 17th-18th century music.
Taking place in Sligo, this festival offers a rare opportunity to hear world-class musicians perform timeless compositions that have shaped the musical world we know today. Here’s everything that’s on!
What’s On
London Handel Players – Furies and Blessed Spirits
Friday 27 September 2024, 7.30pm St John’s Cathedral, John Street, F91 E303 Tickets €25 from The Model, U18s half price
The opening concert introduces this year’s festival theme of mystery and the spirit world, with outstanding performances of music by Bach, Gluck, Locke, Campra and more, including Vivaldi’s violin concerto L’inquietudine and his sublime aria Sol da te. Many will remember the London Handel Players’ extraordinary performance of Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos at the Festival in 2021.
Baroque Dance Workshop
Saturday 28 September 2024, 11.00am The Model, The Mall F91 TP20 Free, booking requested via The Model as capacity is limited
Join renowned experts Mary Collins and Steve Player for this practical introduction to Baroque dance, its style and etiquette. For adults and children from age 11. Step back in time to experience an opportunity to reunite the music we love with the dance for which it was composed. Wear flexible shoes and clothing which allows you to move freely.
Feldmusik – A Noble Noyse
Saturday 28 September 2024, 2.30pm Queen Maeve Square, Stephen Street Free open-air performance
Feldmusik is a historical wind band formed by students of MUK, the Music and Arts University of Vienna, and led by celebrated oboist Andreas Helm. Made up of oboes, recorders, bassoons and drums, the oboe band is now rarely heard, but was very popular throughout Europe between 1690 and 1720. This free concert at the new public performance space in Sligo presents an attractive selection of dance music and airs from the period.
Croatian Baroque Ensemble
Saturday 28 September 2024, 7.30pm St John’s Cathedral, John Street, F91 E303 Tickets €25 from The Model, U18s half price
On their first visit to Ireland, the excellent Croatian Baroque Ensemble bring us Bach’s famous fifth Brandenburg Concerto, a trumpet sonata by Telemann, and concertos by composers less well known, such as Gaetano Schiassi and Carlos Seixas.
Rachel Brown, flutes and recorder, and Silas Woolston, harpischord – Spirits of the Night
Saturday 28 September 2024, 9.30pm St John’s Cathedral, John Street, F91 E303 Tickets €17 from The Model, U18s half price
The concert programme takes the form of a musical journey through the night from sunset to sunrise, linking pieces from Vivaldi’s atmospheric flute concerto, La Notte, through other composers’ evocations of ghosts, the night sky, songs of the nightingale, and sleep, and coming to rest in the serene tones of Bach, father and son.
Sligo Academy of Music
Sunday 29 September 2024, 1.00pm The Model, The Mall F91 TP20 Free, booking via The Model
In this recital of historically informed performances by students of Sligo Academy of Music, together with Sligo Baroque Orchestra, we will hear favourite Baroque pieces from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Purcell’s Fairy Queen, a sonata by Fasch, and Handel’s aria Lascia ch’io pianga, as well as his harp concerto.
Sligo Baroque Orchestra – The Enchanted Forest
Sunday 29 September 2024, 2.00pm The Model, The Mall F91 TP20 Tickets €12 from The Model, U18s half price
The Enchanted Forest was Geminiani’s only composition for the theatre, originally written in 1754 for a pantomime, a kind of dramatic ballet, telling the story of the crusader Godfrey of Bouillon besieging Jerusalem, who needed to cut down a forest for the timber, but was prevented by sorcery, which was overcome by the hero Rinaldo. The music for the pantomime has not survived, but SBO will perform this orchestral work which Geminiani arranged from it in 1761. It is in two parts, with eighteen short, highly varied movements.
Nicholas Milne – The Puncke’s Delight
Sunday 29 September 2024, 4.00pm The Model, The Mall F91 TP20 Tickets €17 from The Model, U18s half price
In this lecture recital, Nick Milne explores the large but rarely performed solo repertoire for the lyra viol, a small 17th century bass viol with a special playing technique. He will play airs and dances by Corkine and Hume from books they published in 1605 and 1610. Nick grew up in Dublin and now lives in Utrecht.
Festival Reception
Sunday 29 September 2024, 5.30pm The Model, The Mall F91 TP20 Tickets €20 from The Model
In the interval between the Sunday afternoon and evening performances, a delicious informal two-course meal is available at The Model, catered by Ósta Café. Main course options are Dexter Beef Bourgignon or Squash, Cashew and Coconut Curry, with dessert of Apple Crumble with custard or ice cream. Wine and other beverages may be purchased separately. Please note that booking is essential and must be made by noon on Friday 27 September. The meal is not covered by the Festival Pass.
People who just want to have a convivial drink or meet friends are welcome to the Reception too, but the meal is only available with prior booking.
The Fairy Queen
Sunday 29 September 2024, 7.30pm The Hawk’s Well Theatre, Temple Street, F91 CFY7 Tickets €30 from The Hawk’s Well, U18s half price
With love, enchantment, a drunken poet, fairies, night, mystery, and the seasons, Purcell’s delightful scenes inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream have some of his finest and most tuneful music. This unique new production for Sligo Baroque Music Festival features a cast of outstanding young Irish and international singers, with baroque dancers and a full period orchestra, comprising London Handel Players and the Croatian Baroque Ensemble.
Tickets
Tickets are available online, by phone and in person from The Model and The Hawk’s Well box offices, for the events as noted above. Half-price tickets available for under-18s.
The Festival Pass admits to all events 27-29 September, except the Festival Reception. Price €100, a discount of over 20%, available from The Model.
For more information, visit the official festival website, where you can also find more details on each performance and workshop.
