Cellos held sway in Bantry at the start of the week at the 24th West Cork Chamber Music Festival. Grammy-nominated Bulgarian composer, Dobrinka Tabakova was in town to hear her cello concerto delivered by Laura van der Heijden.

Cork soprano Emma Nash returns to her hometown with a production of Orfeo ed Euridice featuring a new dance element, writes Cathy Desmond.

Dublin-born Fiachna Ó Braonáin, 53, is a guitarist with Hothouse Flowers.

Evelyn Grant is a flute-player and presenter of Week End Drive on RTÉ Lyric fm. She is also musical director and conductor of the Cork Pops

Some of the ace faces of the Irish scene tell Jonathan deBurca Butler about their musical highlights of 2017.

Are your favourites on this list?

Ciara Higgins is the artistic director of the Great Music in Irish Houses Festival, running June 13–18. 

Sunshine giving you that festival buzz? We've got the ultimate guide to some of the best festivals around!

Opening with the arrival of a flustered White Rabbit and ending with the murder of a Red Queen, Gerald Barry’s pick-and-mix of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books was a hysterical hour of operatic delirium.

Sinéad O’Halloran is a 22-year-old cellist from Blackrock, Cork. She is the co-founder and artistic director of the Ortús Chamber Music Festival, which is taking place in Midleton, Cork city and Cobh this weekend. She is currently based in Düsseldorf where she is studying for her Bachelor of Music.

IN THE mood for cultural experience but not sure you’re up being confined to a concert hall seat for the duration? A Kaleidoscope night might be just the ticket for you, writes Cathy Desmond

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

Legendary Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne has revealed that he may have prostate cancer.

Music-loving soccer commentator George Hamilton has made a second career as a presenter of the Hamilton Scores on RTE Lyric FM. And in a way, he regards commentary a bit like a good jazz performance.

Waterford City Hall

Jonathan deBurca Butler asks five culture vultures to give their recommendations for the final weeks of the summer so you don’t miss the best of what’s on offer

A hike in the TV licence fee to fund enhanced services is one of the options proposed by RTÉ in its new five-year strategy, published yesterday.

RTÉ is to close five of its regional studios and offices, and move operations into institutes of technology in the latest round of cost-saving measures.

West Cork Chamber Music Festival broke attendance records for its 37 concerts over nine days in Bantry, says Declan Townsend

A series of events in Cork this weekend marks the centenary of innovative composer John Cage, Don O’Mahony reports

ONE of the country’s most loved and popular sports commentators with RTÉ, George Hamilton, is thanking his lucky stars today that he went to see his doctor on Tuesday.

THE year is 1985 and two bored, skittish boys, aged 10 and 13, decide to skip school and hop on a DART train for a ride that will take them thousands of miles past their stop.

RTÉ Radio 1 and 2FM continue to dominate the airwaves as figures show the national broadcaster remains the leader in the battle for the nation’s ears.

IN the wake of figures showing a drop-off in audience numbers, John Clarke, the head of RTÉ 2fm, has decided to quit.

WITH 437,000 listeners, Morning Ireland is the most popular programme on Irish radio, according to a national survey.

State broadcaster RTÉ is to open a new FM frequency for listeners in the North.

Gay Byrne is returning to the airwaves with a new Sunday aftenoon show on Lyric FM, RTÉ revealed today.

Presenter John Kelly will be joining RTÉ’s Lyric FM this autumn in a new afternoon slot, it was confirmed tonight.

FOUR tonnes of fireworks will explode over Cork in a 15-minute burst of colour, marking the end of the city’s 2005 European Capital of Culture celebrations.

RADIO listenership figures for RTÉ Radio 1 remain unchanged at 26% while RTÉ 2FM recorded a two percentage point drop, according to the latest JNLR/TNS figures.

MORE people are switching off from the State broadcaster and tuning in to local and regional radio stations, new listenership figures show.

EIGHT out of ten people tune into radio everyday, putting Ireland on top of the European league.