John Finucane is the National Symphony Orchestra's principal clarinetist, a Monkstown resident and founder of Music in Monkstown, the popular classical music festival which takes place from 8th-10th September in the South Dublin village. Here, he writes for Culture about the origins of the festival, and his abiding passion for music.
I have lived in the glorious village of Monkstown for over half my life and it is, without any doubt, my home. How lucky I am to be here, a few steps from the sea, beside a peaceful park, in a Victorian house whose rooms are large, elegant and even imposing but absolutely impossible to decorate or heat! A five-minute walk takes me to the crossroads, two churches of superb architectural value, a couple of pubs, shops filled with quality produce and at least a dozen restaurants!
It struck me during this five-minute walk a few years ago that, for me, in a village that feeds my eyes and my stomach, there was one thing missing, and that was regular concerts of classical music. I decided to see could I do something for myself and hopefully also for the community and fill what I saw as an empty space.
A chance meeting in the pub a couple of minutes later and I had an invitation to visit Monkstown Parish Church to investigate its performance possibilities and, most importantly, to see could I get a grand piano on the altar. I could, and then, with the support of the Rector at the time, Patrick Lawrence, we planned our first concert. That September, pianist Finghin Collins opened our first festival with an evening of Chopin; a standing ovation and I immediately felt that this really had been a great idea. Now, four years on, and thanks to the wonderful support of our audience, sponsors and friends, we are securely on the road to becoming one of Ireland's important festivals.
Without artistic events such as Music in Monkstown I think life is incomplete. Commuting to work, paying the bills, can become the only focus of our existence and I feel that going to galleries, to theatres and to musical performances such as those in this festival, helps develop a more important part of the personality, that part that we don’t realise is starved, the part that some call the soul; I think it makes you a better person just to attend a concert, but the deeper you allow yourself to be immersed into the world you are listening to, the more actively you hear the musical lines and textures, the more that is available to be gained. Like prayer or meditation there is no limit to the possibilities, no finish line.
This is even more important as a performer and is why I am so addicted to music in general and to my clarinet in particular. Sometimes I feel that I would have no personality at all if music were removed from my life!
On the second weekend of September, Music in Monkstown hosts five major concerts in Monkstown Parish Church, consisting of solo piano, string quartets and operatic favourites (featuring music by Mussorgsky, Mozart, Prokofiev, Weber & Dvorak, among others), as well as post-concert jazz events and, on the Sunday, the popular Classical Kids concert. Visiting us will be Michael McHale and Lance Coburn (piano), the RTÉ Contempo Quartet, the Three Sopranos, the Boys of the Palestrina Choir - and I get the chance to play the Mozart clarinet trio and the Weber quintet. Playing chamber music really is heaven!
Music In Monkstown runs 8-10 September - more details here and on their Facebook page.
