Press release
2nd April 2008

IIB Bank Music in Great Irish Houses Festival

6th - 14th June
Kildare, Wicklow, Drogheda, Cork, Dublin, Belfast, Clare

Experience world class music in the romantic intimacy of Ireland’s historic houses and buildings

This summer, Ireland’s great historical homes will resonate with the captivating and magical sounds of the 38th IIB Bank Music in Great Irish Houses Festival. This world-class music festival will appeal to a broad range of music lovers. Artistic Director, Ciara Higgins, has created a vibrant and imaginative programme for her second season. Building on the success of 2007, which attracted record audiences over the course of the event, Music in Great Irish Houses continues to grow in popularity and affection with every festival.

Launching the Festival today (Wednesday, 2nd April), Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism, Seamus Brennan, T.D. said “This year the ‘IIB Bank Music in Great Irish Houses Festival’ will again be showcasing the finest chamber music in the world and staging it against the backdrop of many of Ireland’s most historically significant houses and buildings. The festival will feature renowned Irish and international musicians in some of Ireland’s finest houses and buildings across Dublin, Wicklow, Cork, Galway and Belfast. This year I particularly welcome the continued expansion in scale and scope of the Festival programme by involving younger audiences through masterclasses, pre-concert conversations with festival artists and community youth workshops. It is by broadening and deepening opportunity and interest in this way that we can further increase access to and participation in the arts, culture and creativity for the enjoyment and benefit of more and more people of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities.”

Ted Marah, CEO, IIB Bank added "IIB Bank is delighted to be part of this very popular festival for the seventh consecutive year. This year’s festival brings together an array of the finest talent with musicians from both Ireland and overseas performing in the most wonderful historic houses throughout the Country. We are proud to support the Arts, and the line-up this year, as officially announced today, should prove to be one of the most exciting festivals to date”.

Now in it’s 38th year, Ireland’s longest running chamber music festival will feature renowned Irish and international musicians in some of Ireland’s most beautiful and across Kildare, Wicklow, Drogheda, Cork, Dublin, Belfast and Clare.

Over the years, the Music in Great Irish Houses Festival has brought Irish audiences the finest chamber music in the world and showcased it in the environs of our national architectural heritage. This year is no exception offering a wide range of music performed by a mixture of established artists and ensembles in addition to special collaborations with musicians from home and abroad.

The Festival will visit some of Ireland’s most impressive buildings, returning to perennial favourites such as Killruddery House and Castletown while visiting the 18th Century Beaulieu House in Drogheda and Dromoland Castle in Clare for the first time.

Programme highlights include the only Irish performance of Bach’s monumental Well-Tempered Clavier by phenomenal pianist Angela Hewitt over two evenings at the National Gallery of Ireland, where she will perform this challenging and epic work. Widely acknowledged as one of the pre-eminent Bach interpreters of our time, this promises to be both a moving and unforgettable experience for Festival audiences.

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