Dear Friends,

We have an exciting season planned for you in 2008 with lots of exciting new repertoire.

On May the 25th we return to the National Gallery of Ireland to present a programme of music influenced by Italian musicians. We have called it ”The Italian Diaspora”.

Italian musicians, who lead the way in the development of baroque music, exported not just their ideas, but also travelled abroad to seek work in the affluent cities of northern Europe. Geminiani lived and worked mainly in London. Wassanaer’s group of musicians who lived and worked around Den Haag, was lead by an Italian violinist, Riciotti, and he was thought to be the composer of the Wassanaer pieces until the 20th century. Although Vivaldi very rarely travelled, his music was published in Amsterdam. From there it was disseminated throughout Europe, having a seminal influence on composers in many different countries. Even the great JS Bach found Vivaldi’s music interesting enough to transcribe the Concerto for 4 violins Opus 3 No.10 It was performed at his Sunday afternoon coffee concerts as a concerto for 4 harpsichords. He transcribed other works from the Opus 3 collection for organ solo. Handel spent some years as a very young man in Rome, where he was a good friend of Corelli. He brought the Italian "Concerto Grosso" to England, and his Opus 6 collection is a homage to Corelli.

On the 23rd of May we will present this programme in collaboration with Fluxusdance, the innovative and creative dance company directed by Cathy O'Kennedy. This event will have a strong community element with several schools joining into the production of this very special occasion. This will be our first collaboration with a dance company and we are very excited about it.

We know you have been keen to help us in the past so we will be launching a “revamped” friends' scheme very shortly. We will give you advance booking information for all our performances, free tickets for selected events and many other benefits.

I hope you join us throughout this year and discover the great pieces we have in store for you.

Monica Huggett,
Artistic Director

The Italian Diaspora
Irish Baroque Orchestra
Directed by Monica Huggett

23th May
Goffs, Kill

in association with Fluxusdance and Riverbank Arts Centre

25th May
National Gallery of Ireland
Dublin - 3pm

in association with the National Gallery of Ireland

tickets €20, concession €15, students €10
online here

PROGRAMME

Corelli, Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No 11 in B flat major
Wassanaer, Concerto No 6 in E flat major
Zavateri, Concerto No 10 in D major for 2 violins ”La Pastorale”
Geminiani, Concerto Grosso "La Follia" after Corelli Opus 5 No. 12
Handel, Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No 4 in A minor
Wassanaer, Concerto No.5 in F minor
Vivaldi, Violin Concerto ”Il Grosso Mogul”