Latest Laois Event: Unmissable night of Classical Music in store
Laois Classical Artists to unite for an Unmissable Concert
Laois pianist David Vesey will bring an evening of classical music and song to the Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise on Saturday 16th September at 8pm. Following his debut concert at the Dunamaise in 2022, David will now join forces with the talents of mezzo-soprano Sarah Luttrell and flautist Martina Rosaria O’Connell for an exciting concert of well-loved classical music and song.
David hopes to further expand the audience for classical music in Laois through this concert. “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to perform once again in Laois. To perform alongside two outstanding musicians with strong Laois connections in Sarah Luttrell and Martina Rosaria O’Connell will make this concert extra special. Presenting live performances of such high-quality musicians will help to develop classical music in Laois by providing young people with role models, building audiences, and making a real contribution to the cultural landscape of Laois. Classical music in Laois has grown considerably over recent years due to the Laois School of Music, Music Generation Laois and other music teachers across the county. I hope that it continues to develop, and I am delighted to perform at this concert in Portlaoise”.
David Vesey is an award-winning Irish pianist with a passion for music. An 1848 scholar at the Royal Irish Academy of Music studying with Hugh Tinney, David’s reputation as a rising Irish pianist continues to grow. David graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2021 from the MTU Cork School of Music, graduating as the highest placed student with First Class Honours. He then studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM), completing the Master’s in Music Performance Degree in June 2023 with First Class Honours.
David has won national prizes for both classical and traditional Irish music. In 2021, David won the Audrey Chisholm award at the Birr Festival of Music. He has had success at Feis Ceoil, winning first prize in the John A. Piggott Cup (2021) and Hamilton Harty Cup (2022). David was awarded the prestigious Lucien and Maura Teissier Bursary for young Irish pianists at RIAM in 2023. David is an accomplished traditional Irish musician, achieving success in the Fleadh Cheoil competitions. In 2020, he arranged compositions by Turlough O’Carolan for solo piano, marking the 350th anniversary of the birth of O’Carolan. He is a member of the Comhaltas “National Folk Orchestra of Ireland” and was a past performer on the Comhaltas Tour of Ireland and Britain.
Martina Rosaria O’Connell is an Irish-Italian flautist and is an 1848 scholar at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, studying for a Masters in Flute Performance degree, following a First Class Honours in the Bachelor of Music Education from Trinity College Dublin. Martina was the overall winner of the Trench Award at the 2022 Birr Festival of Music. She was also awarded an Arts Council of Ireland Agility Award in the same year. At the Feis Ceoil, Martina has received third place in the McCullough Cup and First Place in the Senior Flute competition. As an orchestral musician, Martina has played with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Dublin Symphony Orchestra, RIAM Philharmonia, Esker Festival Orchestra and the Irish Youth Baroque Orchestra.
Irish mezzo-soprano Sarah Luttrell, from Co. Laois, is an honours graduate of the TUDublin Conservatoire and a graduate of the Masters Programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she was awarded First Class Honours under the tutelage of Wilma MacDougall. Sarah was the recipient of the ‘RCS Trust Postgraduate
Scholarship’. Sarah has performed with Irish National Opera, Lyric Opera, Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, Clonter Opera and Northern Ireland Opera. Sarah is a multi-award winner of the ESB Feis Ceoil where she has previously been awarded the Mrs. J.P Geoghegan Memorial Cup, first prize in the Contralto Cup and The Margaret Burke-Sheridan. At the Birr Festival of Music’s Trench Award, she was awarded the Canto al Serchio prize for voice. In previous years, she was selected as a finalist for the ‘Charles Wood Song Competition’ and Northern Ireland Opera’s ‘Glenarm Festival of Voice’. In 2021-22, Sarah was a scholar with the 2023 Grammy-nominated British vocal group Voces8. Sarah is now a regular singer with Chamber Choir Ireland.
This concert is partially funded as part of the Arts Act Grant Programme by the Laois County Council Arts Office and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Tickets are available at www.dunamaise.ie .