Something for the weekend: Lunchtime performance from NCH

The NCH hosts a concert by Jerry Creedon and Claire Adams, writes Jo Kerrigan.

A LUNCHTIME performance in the John Field Room of the National Concert Hall on Friday, entitled Pleasures of Their Company, promises pleasures indeed to the discerning concert-goer.

Soprano Claire Adams will join classical guitarist Jerry Creedon for a musical journey through Spain, England and the Americas, with everything from lute songs by John Dowland to American spirituals, Bach/Gounod, Villa-Lobos, Sor and Brazilian songs.

Tralee-born Claire Adams has been studying and perfecting her voice from an early age, making her stage debut at the age of eight, and completing her MA in vocal performance in 2012. Already she has performed in many prestigious venues, and as a member of Cork Operatic Society, she will be seen on the stage there this June in their new production of Der Vampyr.

There are two sides to this soprano, though: along with performing, Adams also works as a vocal coach, teaching in primary school and stage school settings; and she has a keen interest in music therapy, planning to return to the University of Limerick this September to train further in that field.

It’s her upcoming debut at the NCH that is occupying Adams’s thoughts and energy right now, however. “I’m so delighted and indeed honoured to be performing with Jerry Creedon there. I’ve worked with Jerry and his Orpheus Trio on several occasions in the past, and he really has opened up a whole new world of beautiful repertoire to me.”

Hitherto accustomed to a piano accompaniment, she explains, it was hugely refreshing to duet with a different instrument, and especially the classical guitar which paired exceptionally well with her own high soprano voice.

She’s excited about the programme they’ve chosen too. “The repertoire provides such variation and colour that no two pieces are the same.”

UCC graduate Jerry Creedon studied with Siegfried Behrend in Germany, at the Segovia Summer School in Santiago, and at master classes with John Williams in Cordoba.

A lecturer in classical guitar and founder of the Classical Guitar Studies Programme at CIT Cork School of Music, he has attracted some of the world’s most famous guitarists to perform and teach there. The classical guitar, he says simply, is his entire life.

“I would say my greatest inspiration and influence has been John Williams,” reveals Creedon, “and I am happy that I was able to persuade him to visit Cork three times since 2008.”

Indeed, Williams’s concert at CSM last November was his penultimate solo concert, as he is retiring from tours and solo recitals. Creedon remembers with affection the time he spent studying with Williams in the 1980s. “You had to go abroad to get tuition then, as good guitar teachers just weren’t available in Ireland.”

Creedon is also looking forward to the upcoming concert. “I really enjoy playing in the NCH and I find that working with different artistes brings a new sense of excitement and hopefully new listeners to the classical guitar.”

He is delighted to be working with Adams. “Her voice is perfect for the classical guitar. She has a purity and an angelic quality, and also that rare quality of singing from the heart, with crystal-clear diction and a high level of musicianship. She is so easy to work with, very professional and unassuming. I feel that we complement each other so well.”

Pleasures of Their Company, with soprano Claire Adams and classical guitarist Jerry Creedon, John Field Room, NCH, Dublin, Fri May 16, 1.05pm. 01-4170000 or www.nch.ie.