Ciara Higgins is the Artistic Director of the Dublin International Chamber Music Festival, which takes place this year from June 4th – 9th.
Ciara is responsible for the artistic programming of this long-standing popular festival, which champions Irish and international musicians and presents them in interesting venues around Dublin, welcoming a number of emerging musical artists to the capital for their debut Irish performances.
Today's the day! It is with great pleasure and joy that we present the 2024 Dublin International Chamber Music Festival.
— DublinIntChamberMusicFest (@GreatMusicIrl) April 8, 2024
Check out https://t.co/ht9IQWchOK for all the details. pic.twitter.com/O4HrZo3onq
We asked Ciara for her choice cultural picks...
FILM
May I pick two, please? Firstly, Cinema Paradiso with its lush score. I have gorgeous memories associated with it! More recently, I fell hook, line and sinker for the joy of Wonka with brilliant performances by Timothee Chalemet, Hugh Grant and above all young Calah Lane. And the score! What a genius Neil Hannon is...
MUSIC
There are numerous composers whose music I turn to in times of both solace and joy but my 'desert island' choice is Beethoven. His extraordinary output has been an important part of my life from an early age, and whilst it is an impossible task to highlight one work by the master, his string quartets are the works I could not imagine life without. And if I must choose one work, it is his Op 131 String Quartet as it evokes memories of a deeply moving performance of it by the Quatuor Ébène in Castletown House. I was so grateful for the happy coincidence of the release of the Ébène Quartet's live recording of the complete cycle in 2020 which not only brought such personal comfort during the pandemic but also happy memories of one of the greatest performances by a string quartet I have been lucky enough to experience.
BOOK
The utterly beautiful The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominque Bauby, the former-editor-in-chief of French Elle who suffered a crippling stroke which left him with locked-in syndrome. He wrote this incredible book with the help of assistants using a method known as the Silent Alphabet - which involved blinking his eyelid to depict the letters of words, one by one. It took him 200,000 blinks to complete it. This book serves as a strong reminder of the power of the human spirit. Truly inspirational.
THEATRE
I saw Fionn Foley’s brilliant adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s The Giggler Treatment at The Ark on the second-last day of its run. I bitterly regret not seeing it earlier as I would have gone again and again… Delightful and so clever.
We're kicking off 2024 with our final week of #TheGigglerTreatment!
— The Ark Dublin (@TheArkDublin) January 3, 2024
🙏Huge thanks to our funders @artscouncil_ie @Education_Ire @TBCT @DubCityCouncil, supporters @IrishTimes & @Q102FeelGood & of course our brilliant cast & crew, director @motleysomo & writer/composer @fionnfoley. pic.twitter.com/fm5Pk4qYHX
TV
It has to be the cartoon Bluey, brilliantly described by the Guardian as "a bible for modern parenting". And a bible it is! I defy any adult to watch the episode Sleepytime – with its spectacular use of Gustav Holst’s Jupiter from The Planets - and not shed a tear.
GIG
I’m writing this just after hearing the stunning Kronos Quartet at a jam-packed National Concert Hall last night. It’s a gig I don’t think I will ever forget. And up next, another cutting-edge string quartet JACK on June 4th as part of the Dublin International Chamber Music Festival. With clarinettist Carol McGonnell, these inventive musicians will give the world première of a new work by Irish composer Ann Cleare which takes its inspiration from the iconic Richmond Barracks in Inchicore.
ART
I have been lucky enough to spend numerous summers in Paris where I have seen so many incredible exhibitions over the years, in addition to iconic works from the collections. However, one work that has stayed with me is Ron Mueck’s stunning large-scale and hyper-realistic sculpture Couple Under An Umbrella which I saw at his solo exhibition at the Fondation Cartier. Mueck captures the most beautiful of intimate relationships in this very real, sensuous and sensitive work of art.
RADIO
Like Sarah Jessica Parker, I am a big fan of the wonderful RTÉ lyric fm. From Marty in the Morning, which never fails to brighten my early start, to the imaginative musical programming of Ellen Cranitch on Vespertine, lyric is balm to the soul. Whilst I am loathe to single out any one of the many fantastic programmes, I do have a very soft spot for Movies and Musicals with Aedin Gormley which I avidly listened to with my niece through the many lockdowns we experienced. It provided the great escape we needed on so many Saturday afternoons.
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TECH
Whilst I’m not chained to Instagram, I do love my daily dose of wonder woman, Trinny Woodall, founder and CEO of Trinny London.
THE NEXT BIG THING...
Trailblazing South African cellist, Abel Selaocoe who is a leading voice of reimagining classical music. He’s already a big thing really but still new to Irish audiences. He combines virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing and body percussion, and is devoted to composing works and curating programmes that highlight the links between Western and non-Western musical traditions, broadening the horizons of classical music to reach a more diverse audience. I urge audiences not to miss his thrilling performance at The Complex on June 5th!
The Dublin International Chamber Music Festival takes place at various venues across the capital from June 4th – 9th - find out more here.
