Live Music review: Ortús Chamber Music Festival, Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh
Taking its name from an amalgam of Latin and Irish words for ‘beginning’, the inaugural Ortús Chamber Music Festival concluded a weekend of events with a showcase for six of the best young Irish classical musicians at the West Gallery of the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh.
Founders and artistic directors, violinist Mairéad Hickey and cellist Sinéad O’Halloran put together a weighty schedule of three full-length programmes for various permutations of the roster of players, from duos to sextets. They were joined by violinist Siobhán Doyle, viola players Martin Moriarty and Ed Creedon, and cellist Christopher Ellis. More value was added in outreach educational events and a site-specific performance at Kent Station of a new commission by Sam Perkin.
