NCH Lifetime Achievement Award: Jane O’Leary

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland
Kensho Watanabe, conductor
ConTempo Quartet

Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture 
Jane O’Leary Triptych 
Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition

A tribute to composer Jane O’Leary in her 80th year recognising her outstanding contribution to music in Ireland. 

American-born O’Leary made her home in Ireland in 1972. Since then, as composer, performer, educator, staunch advocate for new music, founder of the Concorde ensemble and co-founding Music for Galway, she has placed her stamp on contemporary Irish music. 

ConTempo Quartet, in its 30th year, joins National Symphony Orchestra Ireland and ‘Midas touch’ (Operawire) conductor Kensho Watanabe for O’Leary’s Triptych, imbued with her 'deep awareness of ‘a sense of fragility, transparency, light and shade, and a fascination [with] clouds’.

Celebrated for its vibrant orchestration, unforgettable melodies, and emotional intensity, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture is built around three themes representing Friar Laurence, the feuding families, and the doomed relationship between the young lovers, lit up by a yearning, soaring melody.

Mussorgsky’s image-filled Pictures at an Exhibition brings 10 paintings to unforgettable life. Highlights include the recurring ‘Promenade’ variations, the playful ‘Les Tuileries’, grotesque ‘Hut on Hen’s Legs’ belonging to the witch Baba Yaga, and imposing pomp and power of ‘The Great Gate of Kiev’.

Presented by NCH