The lunchtime concert festival “The Last Rose of Summer” presents five days of classical and chamber music in the courtyard of the historic Mendelssohn House, celebrating its 10th year of the festival in 2024. As part of Zeitgeist Irland 24, two acclaimed Irish musicians will perform during the series. Harpist Alannah Thornburgh will open the festival on Friday 16th August with her concert ‘Music from the folk traditions of Ireland & America’ . On Monday 19th clarinetist Carol McGonnell joins a quartet to perform ‘“Quatuor pour la fin du temps” (Quartet for the End Times’)” (1940-1941)’ by Olivier Messiaen. Composed in 1941 in a prisoner of war camp near Görlitz under bleak conditions, the rehearsals at the time took place in the camp’s washrooms.
Concerts are at 13:00 every day with more information on the whole programme available via the Event/ticket link.
More informationAlannah Thornburgh is an award-winning instrumentalist and composer from the wild west of Ireland with a focus on traditional Irish harp. Alannah’s music explores her family heritage, reimagining melodies from the Irish harping and American folk & jazz traditions. This cross-genre interaction and juxtaposition of old melodies with contemporary harmonies and technique is interwoven throughout her music, described as being ‘unforced, fluid and utterly at home in her own sound’ (The Irish Times). Alannah will release her debut album ‘Shapeshifter’ in 2024, which will feature a volume of compositions inspired by fairy folklore & mythology in her native Co. Mayo.
Hailed as “an extraordinary clarinetist” by the New York Times, “elastic, exacting, stupendous by the LA Times and “clarinet genius” by Time Out NY, Dublin born clarinetist, Carol McGonnell, is known for the expressive power of her playing of standard repertoire while also enjoying acclaim for her fearless exploration of cutting-edge developments in new music. Carol is a founding member of the Argento Chamber Ensemble. Carol has appeared in the inaugural concert of Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall and in Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series, has performed as soloist in both John Adam’s “In Your Ear Festival” at Carnegie and in LA’s “Monday Evening Concerts”, curated by Esa-Pekka Salonen and with numerous orchestras around the world and ensembles including Ensemble Modern, St. Paul’s Chamber Orchestra, the Zankel Band of Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert. She has performed at the Marlboro, Mecklenburg, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals, among many others. Carol has been broadcast on RTE, Lyric FM, BBC, WQXR and NPR.