Ardee Baroque starts today

Ardee Baroque 2008 gets underway tonight in Saint Mary’s Church of Ireland with a performance by the Irish Baroque Orchestra under the guidance of its artistic director and leader, Monica Huggett. The performance entitled ‘Baroque A-Z’, will feature works by Albinoni, Biber, Handel, Lully, Vivaldi and Zelenka. A unique feature of tonight’s event is the reception in Ardee Castle afterwards for the audience. Full details can be found on the festival's website but the following details from it give an overview what’s in store over the next three days.

Ardee Baroque’s programme this year will have a wide appeal. As the anchor ensemble of the festival, the Irish Baroque Orchestra return under the helm of their renowned artistic director and leader, Monica Huggett, to perform a programme entitled ‘Baroque A-Z’, featuring works by Albinoni, Biber, Handel, Lully, Vivaldi and Zelenka. The audience are invited to join the orchestra in a festival club reception in Ardee Castle following the opening concert in St Mary’s Church of Ireland – a regular feature of the festival programme. The co-founder of Irish Baroque Orchestra, Mark Duley, will give an organ recital on the Saturday evening which will feature organ works from the Baroque canon.

No strangers to early music lovers, New York Polyphony will perform at Ardee Baroque in what will be their European début. They are presenting a programme examining the development of ornate vocal music, leading the way out of the renaissance and into early Baroque. Performing a repertoire spanning a period of approximately 150 years, including Byrd’s O Magnum Mysterium, Tallis’s Mass for Four Voices, this particular focus on English Tudor Polyphony will surely be one of the highlights of the 2008 festival. On a totally different note and appealing to young and old alike, the Classic Buskers will be carrying out workshops in local schools, as the education programme of Ardee Baroque is an integral focus each year. They will also perform in a family concert in the atmospheric Grand Hall of Ardee Castle, combining a unique venue and what the group describes as a ‘painless introduction’ to music! Earlier that Saturday, the even younger members of the Ardee Baroque audience take part in a ‘Meet the Instruments’ workshop carried out by members of the Irish Baroque Orchestra.

Alongside the music programme, lectures by historians John Rountree and Fr Michael Murtagh will appeal to those with a historical interest in the Baroque era. Both Ardee and Collon have wonderful locations for a festival of Baroque music with venues which lend themselves acoustically to Baroque Music, and which provide highly atmospheric surroundings to absorb the music of the past. Memorable music, evocative venues, and a warm Irish welcome, Ardee Baroque promises a unique weekend of music and more. Ardee Baroque is an initiative of the Arts Office of Louth County Council, with support from the Arts Council, Ardee Town Council, and Fáilte Ireland. The Irish Baroque Orchestra returns to perform the closing concert on the final night of the festival.