Mick O’Dea is one of Ireland’s finest portrait painters, and he spent three seasons as the artist-in-residence at the Kilkenny Arts Festival, creating portraits of various participants. He tells Richard Fitzpatrick about those sessions, the fruits of which feature in a new exhibition

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

Wexford native Norah O’Leary is the cellist with period ensemble Ensemble Dagda who specialise in 17th century music. They will be performing as part of the East Cork Early Music Festival on Saturday in Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh. Full details on www.eastcorkearlymusic.ie

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Cathy Desmond talks to Liam Byrne, who is to bring the sound of the viola da gamba to Kilkenny as part of the city’s arts festival.

Here's your lunchtime news bulletin.

Catch up on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com this morning.

A performance of Messiah, 275 years after the famous oratorio made its debut in this country, will be one of the highlights of Kilkenny Arts Festival, writes Cathy Desmond.

Des O’Driscoll looks at some of the best events going on this week. 

Des O’Driscoll’s got all the home-grown music and entertainment news you need to know rounded-up right here.

Ireland’s largest-ever celebration of Mozart’s music has kicked off in Kilkenny.

More than 30,000 people are reckoned to have packed onto the quays of Waterford City on Sunday night for the traditional climax of the Spraoi festival.

Music festivals, sailing races, arts displays, and a poetry marathon are some of the events to be enjoyed this August bank holiday weekend.

Renowned worldwide for their razor-sharp wit and cutting sense of humour, Corkonians are getting their very own comedy festival.

School’s out. Wondering how to get through the next eight weeks? Ciara McDonnell has your complete guide to keeping the kids amused this summer.

Bafta award-winning Irish actor Stephen Rea says the Government has let down the arts.

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A fuming husband, a wife with a guilty secret and a jilted lover on the verge of a nervous breakdown are the main protagonists in a pair of short operas on the theme of love and lies presented by Opera Theatre Company at the Watergate Theatre during Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Percussive stylist Nic Gareiss will perform at the Masters of Tradition festival, says Colette Sheridan

Four cities in the south of Ireland are vying for the title of European Capital of Culture, with three of them making a unique joint bid.

Cash allocated to Irish arts organisations from the Arts Council remains relatively similar to 2014 — satisfying the majority of groups.

Kilkenny Arts Festival

MUSIC NEWS: The inestimable Kate Bush has struck a blow for those of us Luddites who seethe with rage at the glowing blanket of smartphones held aloft at gigs.

Kilkenny Arts Festival

Billy Collins brings a brilliant eye to the most mundane events, writes Alan O’Riordan

Kilkenny Arts Festival

1|film|GOD’S POCKET

The great German composer’s Irish and Scottish ‘airs’ will be played at the Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Life is getting easier, says Julie Feeney.

IN the arts, January is a quiet month. Yet last week, I saw two major plays, Druid’s production of Dion Boucicault’s The Colleen Bawn and the revival of Martin McDonagh’s A Skull in Connemara.

Dance: Junk Ensemble: Dusk Ahead, Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny

THERE are two ways to read Finnegans Wake: aloud, letting the words wash over you, or with slow methodical parsing, going word-by-word, painstakingly teasing out the implications and associations of Joyce’s polyglot puns and neologisms.

The discerning readers of Condé Nast Traveller magazine voted Kilkenny one of its top 10 of world’s friendliest cities recently, and if you visit during its festival period, you might even consider a mere top 10 is a bit unfair to the place.

Rachel Kushner’s sprawling new novel revels in steamy places, big ideas and a decade in turmoil, says Richard Fitzpatrick

TAMING is the operative word in The Taming of the Shrew, a play about the arranged marriage of Petruchio and Katherine. The original is set in Padua, a powerful city-state in Renaissance Italy. Petruchio lays it out baldly to his betrothed: “For I am born to tame you, Kate, and bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate conformable as other household Kates.”

Artists are invited to submit ideas for development, reports Colette Sheridan