The music of women throughout the ages and across the world will be celebrated at the sixth edition of the Finding a Voice festival which will be held in March.
A wide variety of music will be performed during the five days of the event which takes place once again in Clonmel and will welcome a host of Irish and international composers and performers.
There will be world premieres of commissioned works by Gráinne Mulvey, Siobhán Cleary and Áine Mallon as well as the winner of the Emerging Composer Competition which is run in association with the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland.
Meanwhile, the visit of 2023 Artist in Residence, guitarist Eleanor Kelly, will provide a Latin American feel to the festival, with music from Spain and South America throughout the schedule which runs from 8 March to 12 March.
"It's an honour and a pleasure to be Artist in Residence at Finding a Voice 2023," she said.
"Being given the opportunity to perform these guitar works, which are so special to me, at a festival that champions the often overlooked and undervalued artistic output of women composers is a huge privilege."
One of the highlights, organisers say, will be the first visit to Ireland of celebrated Spanish pianist Antonio Oyarzabal who has celebrated the work of women composers in his acclaimed album La Muse Oubliée.
"I am extremely excited to come to Ireland to perform at Finding a Voice," he said.
"Because theirs is a labour of love and trust. I am so looking forward to being able to share my discoveries and work in this field with the lovely audience in Clonmel in March."
Finding a Voice is the only festival of its kind in Ireland or the British Isles and offers audiences an opportunity to hear music by talented women composers in a series of historic locations across Clonmel.
Artistic director Róisín Maher said she is thrilled to be marking six years of the festival.
"The musical landscape has certainly changed since our first series of concerts in 2018 and, although there is more awareness now of women composers as well as opportunities to hear music by women, it's still important to keep showcasing the range and depth of creativity that's out there."
