Out to Lunch at Belfast

I made my first festival  excursion last week to catch a couple of events at the Out to Lunch Festival. I haven't been to Belfast very often and it is so accessible now with good road and public transport routes. We made the journey by car by passing Dublin on the M50 and the journey time was 3 and 1/2 hours with a coffee stop. I hope it won't be too long before I visit again and next time, I would consider going by bus or train. There are several venues that I haven't visited yet and there is  always plenty of events  happening on the lively arts scene. I'd love to see something in the Grand Opera House and the Waterfront Hall.

If You Can Find Me: A celebration of Stephen Sondheim

The Black Box is pretty much as you'd expect. It is a large functional space with a bar on the side and a small stage.. It has a relaxed clubby atmosphere. It was full for a lunchtime Sondheim selection. There was a light lunch thrown in for the modest entry fee of £8. The dozen songs drawn from diverse shows were loosely wrapped in a obscure  narrative and showcased singers, Margaret Bridge, Elaine McDaid and Rebecca Murphy from the NI Opera Studio programme . There was some adaptation of lyrics to inject some local humour. It was good to hear Wicklow tenor Ross Scanlon in fine form .  Keith McAlister accompanied on piano.

Tenx9

I was back later for tenx9, a regular monthly storytelling session. The format is in the title. Nine people have ten minutes to tell a true story and there is a theme. The event was free and coordinated by Padraig O Tuama and Paul  Doran. There was queue at the venue of an inter-generational audience. The theme on the night was 'Pets' and  even if some of the tales about endearing moggies weren't that gripping, the format meant no item was too long. More about the event here http://www.tenx9.com/

You can listen to a podcast of the evening here. http://www.tenx9.com/podcast/

We finished the evening in a salubrious velvet clad booth at Bert's Jazz Bar in the Merchant Hotel where the mood was mellow for a midweek guitar, piano and drums trio.

Cultural Events to Banish Post Festive Blues 2015

Grand Opera House 

 Mid Winter is a time when I retreat to the sofa and wrestle for domination of the remote control. But this will pass and  I enjoyed putting together this round up of cultural events to tempt culture vultures off the couch. My selection  appeared in the print edition of the Irish Examiner  on Friday 2nd January.
Arts Events Selection for month's ahead.

 Here are some further  suggestions.


Opera in Belfast .
I visited Belfast for the first time in decades back in the September  and was impressed with the scale and elegance of the city centre and the many venues. With a journey time of less than 2 hours by bus to Dublin, it is closer than I imagined.   I have a yen to see some opera in the Grand Opera House with it's splendid red brick Victorian facade.

 In February, Northern Ireland Opera present  Richard Strauss’ potent late Romantic setting of Oscar Wilde’s play based on the biblical femme fatale, Salomé.

Belfast-born Giselle Allen sings the title role of the bloodthirsty Princess .  Nicholas Chalmers conducts the Ulster Orchestra in this new production directed by Oliver Mears. There is more opera at the venue when English touring company Opera North  brings two rather more genteel   productions , to this historic venue

Opera at the Grand Opera House www.goh.co.uk

Salomé   Strauss 6-8 Feb

Marriage of Figaro Mozart  Mar 19^th and 21^th

La Travaiata Verdi Mar 18 and 20^th 

Special Consensus at Sixmilebridge

Superpowers in Galway

Festival of Youth Orchestras NCH Feb 7th

RTE Philharmonic Choir celebrate 30 years 

Hearing Van - The Listening Sessions in Belfast

For the second time  I stumbled on an interesting musical  experience in Belfast. There I was looking for a spot for a quick lunchtime coffee and sandwich and a sign outside the Black Box music venue caught my attention. The Green Room within  had organised a daily lunchtime 'listening session' where an album is played uninterrupted   as you dine.It was part of Belfast Music Week

My luck was in as the album du jour  for my visit was Astral Weeks by the local lad Van Morrison. The work was released in 1968 when Van was just 22. It  and has big connections with the city and  includes songs such as Cypress Avenue and Madame George. It was reputedly recorded in a few takes.

The classic album  was played on the traditional  turntable and the original artwork was passed around for the perusal of the audience.


 The attendance consisted of some s obvious  aficionados of the great man and others, content to listen and chat. And the coffee and snack were good too,

What a genius  idea and one that should  be replicated elsewhere.

John Hartery