The Walled City Music Festival returns to Derry with world class guests

Co-Artistic Directors Cathal Breslin from Derry, and Sabrina Hu from the USA, once again planning to curate a feast of music and will be welcoming guest artists Finghin Collins (piano), Kristīne Balanas (violin), Gerard McChrystal (saxophone), The Creviston Duo (saxophone/piano) and the Hellas Ensemble to Derry.

Gala concerts will take place in the Great Hall at Ulster University Magee and audiences will be treated to varied programmes of classical music.

Kicking off the festival on March 13, Finghin Collins and Cathal Breslin will present Mozart, Rachmaninov and Milhaud for two pianos, along with a special performance of a selection of movements from Gustav Holst’s much-loved The Planets.

March 14 will see a display from two of the world’s top saxophone artists, Gerard McChrystal from Derry, and Christopher Creviston from the USA, alongside pianist Hannah Creviston and WCMF Co-Artistic Director Sabrina Hu (flute). The ensemble will perform a programme of music from the Americas to Europe, including music by Jean-Baptiste Singelée, Charles Koechlin, Andy Scott, and Irish composers Linda Buckley and Michael McGlynn.

Closing the festival on March 16, audiences can experience the beauty of music and poetry intertwined in a lunchtime performance inspired by Seamus Heaney’s Sonnets from Hellas. The Hellas Ensemble, founded by Greek and Irish bouzouki players and composers Nikos Petsakos and Martin Coyle, celebrate Heaney’s love of Greece and its profound influence on his work, with narration from Derry-born TV and theatre actor, Ruairi Conaghan.

The Walled City Music Festival has been described as the leading promoter of classical, contemporary and choral music in Derry. It was founded in 2008 by Artistic Directors Dr. Cathal Breslin and Dr. Sabrina Hu, with the aim of bringing outstanding classical music-making to the heart of cultural life in Derry.

First held in 2009, Walled City Music’s chamber-music Festival (WCMF) has since attracted artists of international calibre from around the world, including the Kronos Quartet, Sir James Galway, Katie and Marielle Labeque, Jonathan Lemalu, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, and many others.

For information on tickets check here: walledcitymusic.com