Handel's Band Off Duty

Handel's Band Off Duty

A shamelessly entertaining evening of great tunes from 18th century Ireland and beyond.

Marja Gaynor, director
David Power, uilleann pipes
Aisling Kenny, soprano

What if Handel’s Band took a night off?

For this series of performances, the Irish Baroque Orchestra will move away from the traditional recital format. Instead, we are creating an immersive, high-energy session that imagines the music Handel and his contemporaries would have heard in the informal settings of the 1740s - where Baroque virtuosity met the living Irish traditional music of the day. This programme imagines the musical influences in Dublin during Handel's stay and draws together works by Handel alongside traditional Irish music.

Curated by Cork’s Marja Gaynor with uilleann piper David Power, nine specialist musicians, including soprano Aisling Kenny, will perform in venues in Cork, Kerry and Dublin, creating a vibrant salon atmosphere. Handel’s Band Off-Duty is about stripping away the formal veneer of the modern concert hall to reveal the vibrant, social music that animated 18th-century Ireland.