Patrick Rafter is a violinist from Kilkenny, and is based in Switzerland.

Róisín Maher is from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, and is the artistic director and co-founder (with her sister Clíona) of the Finding a Voice concert series in Clonmel on March 6-8.

Raymond Deane’s operatic version of the Florence Newton witch trial was great drama with a vivid score.

Colm Murphy, of a renowned Cork arts family, used to travel the world as bodhrán player with Dé Dannan, but these days he’s happiest fishing and observing bird life, writes Ellie O’Byrne.

Ballet Ireland founder Anne Maher tells Helen O’Callaghan why it is marking its 21st year with a tour of a classic: ‘Swan Lake’

Cathy Desmond enjoyed the combination of Rossini and an Irish composer at Wexford Festival Opera

Mica Paris kicks off the Cork Jazz Festival tomorrow night with a show featuring the songs of Ella Fitzgerald. She tells Ellie O’Byrne about her own rise to fame and her love of the American legend.

Australian composer and violist Brett Dean plays in Cork and other Irish centres, writes Cathy Desmond

Eighteen-year-old Kevin Jansson, like his peers at Presentation College, Cork, is embracing life after secondary school.

Miley meets Mozart in a thrilling collaboration debuting at Body & Soul Festival this weekend.

The country will share Sarah McTernan’s disappointment following her failure to reach the final tonight of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel which, when we last checked, is not in Europe.

SINGER Peter Corry does not believe in standing still. Aged 53, and leaning into decades of experience in the music business — a high note is playing the role of Inspector Javert in the record-breaking musical Les Misérables — he now also produces and directs his own shows.

Reggae royalty, Ireland’s most famous comedy actress and Cork’s first ever Proms concerts are just a few of the attractions at this year’s Cork Midsummer Festival.

Lorna Moore is a full-time vocal coach, piano tutor, and choral conductor.

Classical music lovers on Leeside are in for a treat this summer with the announcement that Cork Opera House is taking us to the Proms.

Frankie Shanley has been a DJ since his teens, when he competed in 2FM’s ‘DJ for a Day’ competition in 1994, but he also had a parallel life as a petty thief. He is now a reformed man, writes Noel Baker.

Our regular contributors select their highlights of the year

As Silent Night turns 200, Barbara Scully unwraps the story behind the Christmas carol in Austria.

Nowadays, the sounds that predominate on Hop Island, Cork, are horses’ hooves but in the mid-18th century it was more likely to have been the sounds of Bach or Mozart.

In our race to create what we deem ‘new’ content, we knowingly — or sometimes unknowingly — piggyback on the ideas of other creators, writes Lindsay Woods

International opera star Rachel Kelly is coming home to sing at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival. She talks to Cathy Desmond.

Tara Erraught is enjoying a blossoming international career. Fresh from her Met debut, she comes home to Ireland to play Susanna in the Marriage of Figaro. Cathy Desmond met the mezzo in Munich

Mary Hegarty cats to Des O'Driscoll about her favourite tastes

Des O’Driscoll shares the latest news from the entertainment world.

The design is set to represent the DART’s coastal journey.

Declan McCarthy is the director of the Baltimore Fiddle Fair and is also involved in Skibbereen Arts Festival, which begins this weekend and runs until August 6.

Stuck for plans this week? Des O’Driscoll has five great ideas to fill up your week.

 

An all-Russian musical extravaganza is coming to Cork and Cathy Desmond has everything you need to know ahead of time.

Gibert O’Sullivan, Tommy Tiernan, and a wealth of opera, musicals, and theatre are just some of the highlights at Cork Opera House this year.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Munich may be known for its beer halls, but it has much more to offer, writes David Linnane.    

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Roddy Doyle approached his translation of Mozart’s opera in a similar way to his book with the footballer, writes Alan O’Riordan

Despite success with previous productions, John O’Brien’s new opera wasn’t granted the funding for an extended run, writes Cathy Desmond

MAIREAD Buicke, star of the operatic stage and concert platform, reveals that her first ensemble experience was as a member of the Newcastle West Pipe Band. 

Cathy Desmond rounds up the best opera and classical events coming up in Ireland and further afield