Piazzolla, Schubert & Schnittke: Works for Violin & Chamber Orchestra Katherine Hunka & Irish Chamber Orchestra

• Astor Piazzolla (1921 - 1992): The 4 Seasons of Buenos Aires (Arr. L. Desyatnikov for Violin & Strings):
• 1 The 4 Seasons of Buenos Aires (Arr. L. Desyatnikov for Violin & Strings): No. 4, Buenos Aires Autumn 06:56
• 2 The 4 Seasons of Buenos Aires (Arr. L. Desyatnikov for Violin & Strings): No. 2, Buenos Aires Winter 07:08
• 3 The 4 Seasons of Buenos Aires (Arr. L. Desyatnikov for Violin & Strings): No. 3, Buenos Aires Spring 06:00
• 4 The 4 Seasons of Buenos Aires (Arr. L. Desyatnikov for Violin & Strings): No. 1, Buenos Aires Summer 06:12
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828):
• 5 Rondo in A Major, D. 438 14:48
• Alfred Schnittke (1934 - 1998):
• 6 Moz-Art à la Haydn 12:12
• Astor Piazzolla:
• 7 Oblivion (Arr. for Violin & Strings) 04:53
• Total Runtime 58:09

Info for Piazzolla, Schubert & Schnittke: Works for Violin & Chamber Orchestra

"A dazzling programme of music for violin and orchestra performed by The Irish Chamber Orchestra, featuring Katherine Hunka (violin/director) and Nicola Sweeney (violin – Schnittke).

Piazzolla’s La Cuarto Estaciones Porteñas (‘The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires’) takes us through the seasons: Verano Porteño (‘Summer’), alert and enigmatic, blustery Otoño (‘Autumn’), the jittery liveliness of Primavera (‘Spring’) and a gently melancholic Invierno (‘Winter’). We hear the pieces arranged for violin and strings by Leonid Desyatnikov, playfully incorporating elements from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Schubert composed his Rondo in A, D.438, in 1816, when he was still in his late teens. He never wrote a full-scale violin concerto, so this Mozartian Rondo is one of the closest things we have. Schnittke’s Moz-Art à la Haydn combines an unfinished fragment by Mozart with the theatricality of Haydn’s ‘Farewell’ Symphony, uniquely conveyed by the Irish Chamber Orchestra using audible movement and effects."

Katherine Hunka, violin
Irish Chamber Orchestra

Katherine Hunka
studied with musician, educator and composer, Sheila Nelson and at the Royal Academy of Music with Gyorgy Pauk. She pursued her studies at Indiana University with Mauricio Fuks and became his teaching assistant. Katherine was subsequently invited to become a member of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, touring extensively with them.

In 2002 Katherine was appointed Leader of the Irish Chamber Orchestra and has directed many concerts from the violin as well as performing as soloist across a wide range of repertoire. Together with the ICO, she has championed the music of Irish composers and over the years has premièred many new works by contemporary composers such as Raymond Deane John Kinsella and Sam Perkin.

Katherine has collaborated with ICO guest artists, performing concertos with Pekka Kuusisto, Nigel Kennedy and Martin Hayes, among others. Nationally, the orchestra hosts a concert season in its home town of Limerick and Dublin along with other major cities. Katherine directs regional tours to every corner of the country and has made international appearances directing in distinguished concert halls across Europe and Asia including the Esplanade in Singapore and Berlin’s prestigious Konzerthaus.

Katherine enjoys performing a great range of styles, from Bach to Tango. Her Far Flung Trio, which includes accordionist Dermot Dunne and bassist Malachy Robinson, is in great demand.

As a soloist and chamber musician Katherine has been a regular visitor to the Aldeburgh Festival, the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, the festival of Great Music in Irish Houses and the Killaloe Chamber Music Festival.At Aldeburgh, she premiered Benjamin Britten’s re-discovered concerto for violin and viola with violist Philip Dukes. This season she will perform as soloist in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante at the Kilkenny Arts’ Festival with her husband Joachim and play chamber music at the Heidelberg festival in Germany.

Katherine has been a guest leader with the Manchester Camerata, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra and has performed solo concertos with the City of London Sinfonia, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

She teaches on the MA in Classical Strings programme at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick which is operated jointly by Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Academy. Katherine is a Professor at the CIT Cork School of Music and has been a visiting Professor at Indiana University USA.

She plays a Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin (1874) and her bows are by the Irish maker Gary Leahy.

The Irish Chamber Orchestra
is Ireland’s most dynamic ensemble. Mixing traditional repertoire with new commissions and collaborating with everyone from DJs to dance companies, the ICO pushes the boundaries of what a chamber orchestra can do. These days, you are as likely to find us at the Electric Picnic as Mozartfest, but wherever we perform, the ICO delivers world-class concerts feted for their energy and style.

Each year, Ireland’s busiest chamber ensemble presents concert seasons in both Limerick and Dublin, embarks on two national tours, and makes a series of prestigious international appearances supported by Culture Ireland. Our Artistic Committee works closely with our Artistic Partners to devise exciting, diverse and innovative programmes, mixing standard repertoire with new work – often specially commissioned – from the best young Irish composers. This versatile approach enables us to appeal to music fans of every stripe while upholding the highest artistic standards.

The driving force behind our recent success is our Principal Conductor/Artistic Partner Jörg Widmann, a composer, conductor and clarinettist whose irrepressible energy and pursuit of excellence has enabled the ICO to expand its horizons, attracting outstanding international performers such as Thomas Zehetmair, Brett Dean, Sheku Kanneh-Mason Tabea Zimmermann, Igor Levit and Elisabeth Leonskaja. The last seven years have seen ICO perform at leading concert halls and festivals across Europe, the U.S. and South America. The ICO released a series of acclaimed recordings on the prestigious Orfeo label with another recording due to be released on Alpha Classics in the Autumn. The ICO was the first Irish Orchestra to complete a three-year residency at Heidelberger Frühling and is currently orchestra-in-residence at Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Widmann’s enthusiasm and commitment is matched by the orchestra itself, led by the ebullient Katherine Hunka, and comprises of 22 outstanding musicians. The ICO’s special rapport, forged by over 20 years of playing – and sometimes singing! – together, creates the unique sound that has captivated audiences all over the world.

The orchestra enjoys outstanding support. The enthusiasm and forward thinking of CEO Gerard Keenan has been instrumental in realising some of the ICO’s most exhilarating collaborations, while the board, chaired by Aibhlín McCrann, comprises members whose diverse professional expertise is matched by their determination to realise the orchestra’s vision.

At the heart of this vision is the belief that music is for everyone. That is why the ICO has implemented an ambitious and far-reaching strategy that aims to take music out of the concert hall and into the local community, inspiring children to try music for themselves, and supporting them on their journey from first lesson to public performance.

Our groundbreaking initiative, Sing Out with Strings (SOWS), offers primary school children in Limerick the chance to learn free music. Now in its eleventh year, the project has been hailed as a model of social inclusion, offering opportunities for young people, developing key life skills and providing tangible long-term benefits for participants, their families and the wider community.

The success of SOWS has inspired us to set up a youth orchestra, the ICOYO, which provides aspiring musicians aged 12 to 18 with the support they need to grow. However, it doesn’t stop there: the orchestra has made its home at the University of Limerick for over 20 years, and UL’s MA in Classical String Performance is run under the auspices of the ICO – providing a rigorous programme with close, “hands-on” contact to the orchestra, its visiting directors, soloists and guests.

The ICO is orchestra-in-residence at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, and is funded by The Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.

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