The first UCDSO event of the 2014-15 academic year features 2 student soloists from the UCD Ad Astra Academy for the Performing Arts, plus guest leader Orla Ní Bhraoin (RTÉ NSO), in a programme of vivid colour and virtuosity at Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral.
Programme
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol
Shostakovich: Piano Concert No. 2
Bruch: Kol Nidrei
Tchaikovsky: Theme and Variations (Suite No. 3)
Solo Piano: Cillian Copeland
Solo Cello: Eithne Nic an RÃÂogh
Leader: Orla Ní Bhraoin
Conductor: Ciaran Crilly
The UCD Symphony Orchestra is University College Dublin’s flagship instrumental group, with a membership in excess of 80 players. It is a professionally-led ensemble that offers student scholarships and can be taken for academic credit irrespective of study programme.
The UCDSO performs several major concerts annually, featuring major soloists and guest artists. Challenging programmes are tackled in a stimulating and relaxed environment at weekly rehearsals in the Astra Hall, UCD Student Centre. The orchestra’s repertoire centres on concert works from the 19th and 20th centuries, with regular forays into music for film, contemporary compositions and multi-media. Growing audience acclaim has led to regular full houses and standing ovations for the orchestra’s performances on campus and in venues such as the National Concert Hall, Christ Church Cathedral and the National Convention Centre.
Major works featured in previous concerts include Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony, Shostakovich’s 5th and 10th symphonies, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Tchaikovsky’s 1812
Overture, Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé, Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story”, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Beethoven’s Choral Symphony, performed to celebrate the orchestra’s tenth anniversary season in 2012.
The UCDSO provides a fantastic social environment for students to meet new people right across the university spectrum. It has recently engaged in two joint projects with orchestras outside Dublin ‘ the Mannheim University Orchestra in Germany and Queen’s University Symphony Orchestra in Belfast ‘ and shall travel to Sweden in March 2015 to perform with the Royal Academic Orchestra, Uppsala University.
Conductor Ciaran Crilly is Artistic Director of the UCD Symphony Orchestra and was recently appointed Lecturer in Orchestral Conducting in the UCD School of Music. He has been Principal Conductor of the Dublin Orchestral Players since 2007 and directs the Orchestral Manoeuvres summer course at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where he is also an external examiner in Conducting. In concert, he has conducted the Dublin Screen Orchestra, Dublin Symphony Orchestra, Savaria Symphony Orchestra, Miró Chamber Orchestra, Baden Sinfonietta, Dublin County Choir, Mornington Singers, Mannheim Uniorchester, EAR Ensemble & Dublin Baroque Players. He has conducted numerous studio recordings of film and television scores, as well as live film screenings and radio broadcasts. He is a regular guest conductor with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, working with artists as diverse as Marvin Hammlisch, Jack L, Jerry Fish, O Emperor & Bill Whelan.
As a violinist and violist, Ciarán’s experience includes work with the RTÉ? Concert Orchestra, Irish Film Orchestra, Orlando Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Dvorák Festival, Irish Sinfonia and the Hilltown Ensemble.
Ciarán holds degrees from King’s College London (BMus), Goldsmiths, University of London (MA) and University College Dublin (PhD). He studied violin with Gerhard Schmidt at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and orchestral conducting under Jaroslav Vodnánsky at the Prague Conservatory of Music. He has participated in conducting master classes and competitions in Hungary, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands and France, where he was highly commended by the selection jury of the 2005 Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors.
Tickets €15/ Concession €7.50
Tickets Available http://www.ucd.ie/alumni/events/