Tinkle of history at New Ross Piano Festival

THE history of the Norman conquest is threaded through the forthcoming New Ross Piano Festival. The Ros Tapestry shows how the Normans were invited by Dermot MacMurrough, whose daughter Aoife married Strongbow.

“She bore a daughter, Isabel,” says festival administrator Connie Tantrum, “who married William Marshal, who built New Ross and, indeed, St Mary’s Church, where most of our recitals take place. We are delighted to have Andrew Kavanagh, a direct descendent of Dermot McMurrough, as our guest speaker to highlight the part the tapestry plays in the festival.”

One of the panels on the tapestry, ‘The Marriage of William and Isabel’, is the inspiration for a new composition for solo piano by young Cork composer Sam Perkin, which will be premiered during the festival. The piece is just one of a suite of new compositions based on the Ros tapestry panels, by five Irish composers and commissioned by the festival.