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Snow-enforced postponement? Birth of new baby? The show must go on: Young Irish
piano trio Ensemble Avalon present the Wexford Chamber Music Festival, 13 – 15 May
2011.
Having overcome the snow-enforced postponement of the festival last December and
the birth of a new baby to violinist Ioana Petcu-Colan in February, young Irish piano trio
Ensemble Avalon’s Wexford Chamber Music Festival will now happily take place from
the 13th to the 15th of May 2011. The Ensemble – Petcu-Colan, cellist Gerald Peregrine
and pianist Michael McHale – will be joined by special guest artists Patricia Rozario,
OBE (soprano) and Michael d’Arcy (violin) in four recitals featuring music by Mozart,
Schubert, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Strauss and Britten, as well as a specially-
commissioned work for piano trio by young Irish composer Benedict Schlepper-Connolly.
The entire festival will take place in the atmospheric surroundings of St Iberius’ Church
on Wexford’s Main Street. Tickets are available from Whites for Music, South Main St,
Wexford. Further details and ticket information from (086) 3636080, www.facebook.com/
ensemble.avalon also www.ensembleavalon.net and www.musicforwexford.ie
The ‘Wexford Chamber Music Festival’, a re-naming prompted by the change of season, will
be the third festival presented by Ensemble Avalon, with the invaluable support of Music for
Wexford. A highly accomplished piano trio, Ensemble Avalon are determined not only to
create performing opportunities by producing this festival, but also to promote new work,
to promote young Irish composers and to encourage younger audiences to engage with
classical and contemporary music.
The Ensemble are also keen to prove to younger, up and coming musicians, that it is
possible to remain in Ireland and build a professional career in music, both as performers
and composers. As part of their strategy, Ensemble Avalon recently took up their position
as Ensemble-in-Residence at Trinity College Dublin. This is the first residency of its kind
at Trinity and reflects the high regard in which this young trio are held, as well as the
commitment of the Music Department at Trinity to engage young people in classical and
contemporary music in very real and practical ways, particularly in the area of composition.
RTE Lyric FM is the national radio partner of the Wexford Chamber Music Festival and will
record the concluding concert of the festival for broadcast at a future date.
Wexford Chamber Music Festival Programme
Ensemble Avalon:
Ioana Petcu-Colan (violin)
Gerald Peregrine (cello)
Michael McHale (piano)
Guest Artists
Patricia Rozario (soprano)
Michael D’Arcy (violin)
Concert 1: Friday 13th May 8pm: Opening Concert at St Iberius’ Church, Main St, Wexford
Beethoven: Piano Trio in E flat major op.1 no.1 (Ensemble Avalon)
Prokofiev: Sonata for two violins in C major op.52 (Michael d’Arcy & Ioana Petcu-Colan)
Schubert: Piano Trio in B flat major D.898 (Ensemble Avalon)
Tickets: EUR15.00/EUR12.00 (Students EUR5.00)
Concert 2: Saturday 14th May 1pm: Lunchtime Song Recital at St Iberius’ Church, Main Street,
Wexford
Songs by Schubert, Strauss and Britten (Patricia Rozario and Michael McHale)
Tickets: EUR12.00/EUR10.00 (Students EUR5.00)
Concert 3: Saturday 14th May 8pm: Evening concert at St Iberius’ Church, Main Street, Wexford
JS Bach: Sonata no. 2 in A minor BWV 1003 for solo violin (Ioana Petcu-Colan)
Benedict Schlepper-Connolly: A Space of Life Between (New work for piano trio,
commissioned by Ensemble Avalon)
Ravel: Sonate pour Violin et Violoncelle (Michael d'Arcy & Gerald Peregrine)
Shostakovich: Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok op.127 (Patricia Rozario and
Ensemble Avalon)
Tickets: EUR15.00/EUR12.00 (Students EUR5.00)
Concert 4: Sunday 15th May 3pm: Closing concert St Iberius’ Church, Main St, Wexford
Mozart: Sonata for violin and piano in G major K.301 (Michael d'Arcy and Michael McHale)
Schubert: String Trio in B flat major D.581 (Michael d'Arcy, Ioana Petcu-Colan and Gerald
Peregrine)
Liszt: Ballad no.2 in B minor S.171 (Michael McHale)
Shostakovich: Piano Trio no.2 in E minor op.67 (Ensemble Avalon
Tickets: EUR15.00/EUR12.00 (Students EUR5.00)
Further info:
Maeve Butler, PR & Publicity (087) 2356143 / maevebutler@gmail.com