MIDWINTER FESTIVAL: THE QUARTET EXTENDS
Friday, January 23, 2026 at 6:00 pm
Town Hall Theatre
Friday 23 to Sunday 25 January
The string quartet is no stranger to Galway audiences, in no small part thanks to the tireless work of the ConTempo Quartet. With this festival, we seek to celebrate the versatility of the string quartet and to ‘extend it’ by pairing it up with a variety of different musicians to perform quartets, quintets, sextets and even an octet to finish! Mostly a celebration of the great musicians Ireland has to offer, we have invited a clarinettist, a soprano, a pianist, an uilleann piper and a second string quartet. We also invite our young Cellissimo Ambassador, Spanish cellist Margarita Guerrero Martínez to join in for one of the concerts.
THE MIDWINTER FESTIVAL IS PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY
CONTEMPO QUARTET IS PRESENTED BY MUSICCONNECTS
ConTempo Quartet | Gealán Quartet | Macdara Ó Seireadáin, clarinet | Aisling Kenny, soprano| Aileen Cahill, piano | Pádraic Keane, uilleann pipes | Margarita Guerrero Martínez, cello
Friday 23 January – 7.30pm
ConTempo Quartet | Gealán Quartet | Andreea Banciu, viola | Aileen Cahill, piano | Adrian Mantu, cello
| HAYDN | Quartet in B flat Op. 1 No. 1 “La Chasse” |
| AMY BEACH | Piano Quintet |
| BRAHMS | String Sextet No. 2 |
Our opening concert takes us from a quartet to a quintet to a sextet! Sligo pianist Aleen Cahill joins the ConTempo Quartet for Amy Beach’s magnificent piano quintet while the glorious melodies of Brahms’ G major string sextet, performed by the Gealán Quartet with two members of the ConTempo quartet, will round off the night.
Saturday 24 January – 4.00pm
ConTempo Quartet | Gealán Quartet | Fiachra de hOra, viola | Aisling Kenny, soprano
| SCHOENBERG | String Quartet No. 2 Op. 10 |
| MOZART | String Quintet in G minor K. 516 |
In an unusual move, Schoenberg decided to compose the final two movements of his second string quartet for soprano and quartet, setting two poems “Litany” and “Rapture” by Stefan George. We pair that with Mozart’s sublime late G minor viola quintet, the use of double violas giving a gorgeous rich texture to the music.
Saturday 24 January – 7.30pm
ConTempo Quartet | Gealán Quartet | Fiachra de hOra, viola | Margarita Guerrero Martínez, cello
| SHOSTAKOVICH | String Quartet No. 8 Op. 110 |
| TCHAIKOVSKY | Souvenir de Florence Op. 70 for string sextet |
Our second short Saturday concert juxtaposes two Russian masterpieces. Shostakovich’s eighth string quartet – to be performed by the Gealán Quartet – is dedicated to victims of fascism and war and is a forceful repudiation of totalitarianism. Tchaikovsky’s sunny and uplifting string sextet in D minor “Souvenir de Florence” – for which the ConTempo quartet will be joined by Cellissimo Ambassador Margarita Guerrero alongside the Gealán’s violist Fiachra de hOra – could hardly be more contrasting.
Sunday 25 January – 3.00pm
ConTempo Quartet | Gealán Quartet | Macdara Ó Seireadáin, clarinet | Pádraic Keane, uilleann pipes
| AMANDA FEERY | “something like light but not” for uilleann pipes and quartet |
| WEBER | Clarinet Quintet Op. 34 |
| MENDELSSOHN | String Octet Op. 20 |
The final concert of the Midwinter Festival comes to a resounding climax with a performance of Mendelssohn’s evergreen Octet for strings, composed when the composer was just sixteen years of age. Before this we hear a short work by Amanda Feery for uileann pipes and quartet and Weber’s early romantic clarinet quintet.
TICKETS
All MWF tickets can be booked through the Town Hall Theatre. Book online by clicking the BUY TICKETS button above or by phone on 091 569777.
Friday and Sunday concerts: Standard €25.00 | Concession €22.50 | MfG Friends €21.00 | Solidarity* €12.50
Saturday concerts: Standard €20.00 | Concession €18.00 | MfG Friends €16.00 | Solidarity* €10.00
Both Saturday concerts can be purchased at discount price of €30.00
*Solidarity tickets are available to full time students, asylum seekers, people in receipt of job seeker allowance and disability allowance. Solidarity refers to ticket price only and does not denote a relaxed performance.
Festival Ticket (includes all 4 concerts): Standard €75 | Concession €67.50
The festival ticket price is automatically applied once the 4 tickets are in the customers basket. The 4 tickets must be all standard tickets or all concession tickets, to avail of the individual discounts. This does not include solidarity tickets.
