The Four Seasons Chamber Music Series: Solas agus Scáth

Mia Cooper, violin
​​​​​​​Siún Milne, violin
Ruth Gibson, viola
Séamus Hickey, viola
Brian O’Kane, cello
Aoife Burke, cello

Max Richter On the Nature of Daylight
Amanda Feery Thighs in Bark for Solo Violin
Josef Rheinberger Abendlied
Brahms Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major

Four Seasons Chamber Music Series: inviting audiences on a journey through the seasons, with music exploring themes of light and shadow, water and ice, and the passing of time.

To open its 2026 Chamber Music Series, the National Concert Hall presents a programme of works, curated by cellist Aoife Burke, exploring light and darkness, shade and shadow. The concert will begin with Max Richter’s heart-wrenching "On the Nature of Daylight", from the composer’s 2004 album The Blue Notebooks, conceived in protest to the 2003 American invasion of Iraq. A short piece by renowned Irish composer Amanda Feery will follow, a solo violin work, Thighs in Bark, about the Greek myth of Daphne, who was transformed into a laurel tree by her father. The piece traces the stages of Daphne’s transformation into a tree, from the snapping of wood, to the blossoming of a shade-offering canopy of laurel leaves, and a final stage of rootedness. Josef Rheinberger’s sacred motet, Abendlied, tells of evening shadows darkening. It is arranged here for string sextet, and acts as a beautiful taster of the richness of string writing embodied in the final work of this programme, Brahms’ first String Sextet.

Leader of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra since 2006, Mia Cooper is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and guest concertmaster. Before moving to Ireland, she was Principal First Violin of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for five years, and played with many of London’s chamber orchestras and ensembles, including the Fibonacci Sequence, Gould Piano Trio, Barbican Trio, Brodsky Quartet, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Academy of St Martin in the Fields. She is a founding member of the Esposito Quartet, supported by the National String Quartet Foundation, and a Professor of Violin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Siún Milne is a keen chamber musician and has performed with a variety of ensembles throughout her career, including The Vanbrugh and Callino String Quartets, Hebrides Ensemble, Scottish Ensemble, Aurora Orchestra and Crash Ensemble. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Siún has also participated in masterclasses with Gerhard Schulz at IMS Prussia Cove. She was a member of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 2019 to 2024, and also plays regularly with the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Siún is a member of the Ora String Quartet and is Assistant Lecturer in Violin at MTU Cork School of Music.

Violist Ruth Gibson has performed across the globe. As violist of Ensemble 360 and the Castalian String Quartet, she held residencies at Oxford University and Wigmore Hall. She made her solo debut in 2021, performing Dobrinka Tabakova’s Suite in Old Style with Manchester Collective at the BBC Proms. She has also performed as a soloist under the baton of Sir John Elliott Gardiner. Ruth is Principal Violist of Aurora Orchestra and has appeared as Guest Principal with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and London Sinfonietta. She teaches Viola and Chamber Music at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Irish violist Séamus Hickey studied with Nobuko Imai, Marjolein Dispa, Simon Aspell and Adrian Petcu. He has performed as soloist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Riciotti Ensemble, and has won numerous prizes including the Amsterdam Vieuxtemps Prize, Aileen Gore Cup, RTÉ LyricFM Award and RDS Jago Award. Séamus is the violist of the acclaimed Sonoro Quartet, multiple prizewinners and former ECHO Rising Stars, with whom he has performed in leading international venues. Séamus also plays Irish traditional music. He is grateful for the support of Music Network, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and The Arts Council.

Brian O’Kane is in much demand as a soloist, chamber musician and principal cellist. Winner of the Windsor International String Competition 2008, and a former “Rising Star” of the National Concert Hall, he has made his debuts with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, and in recital at the Wigmore Hall. Brian recorded a critically acclaimed debut CD of French sonatas with Irish pianist Michael McHale for the Champs Hill label. He enjoys playing chamber music with various ensembles, but especially as a member of the award-winning Navarra Quartet and the Sakuntala String Trio.

Selected by The Arts Council as a recipient of a Next Generation Artist Bursary 2020, Aoife Burke leads a diverse career as a recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral player and curator. A member of the Kantos Quartet, supported by the National String Quartet Foundation, she has also collaborated with notable artists including Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Arto Noras and Richard Watkins, and groups such as The Vanbrugh, the Navarra String Quartet and the Gavin Bryars, Ficino and Crash Ensembles. Aoife holds a residency at Triskel Arts Centre in her native Cork, where she curates the Spotlight Chamber Music Series.

Presented by NCH