Imagine: The First Day

Day One Roundup

Pop Up Exhib. St Olaf's Hall photo Paul Dower

Art to Art: The arts fest proceedings set off gently with a pop up art exhibition at St Olaf's Hall from a group of lady artists. We like any event that starts with a glass of bubbly and nibbles. The task of quick and easy displaying of work by the seven lady artists was solved by erecting a few temporary railings in the lofty space with a wonderful stained glass window. We liked Lisa Byrne's Collection of Perspectives, a set of portraits of heads reminiscent of Louis le Brocquy.





Later at Greyfriars Gallery, there was a buzz of anticipation in to a packed municipal gallery  for the opening of a Patrick Morrison Retrospective, the headline exhibition of the Visual Art strand of the festival.

Anja Poche Lipfert

Over at City Hall, Camerata Kilkenny presented a smashing evening of baroque music by JS Bach. with guest soprano German soprano Anja Poche Lipfert and flautist Rachel Beckett. You can read the Irish Examiner review here    Great to see a good house in for this concert in the Waterford Music series. And in keeping with the festive spirit, there were canapés at the interval. Next event features the Con Tempo with accordionist Dermot Dunne on 30th October.

We caught the end of the world music double bill at Garter Lane. There was an alpine flavour to
Claudia Schwab's yodeling vocals melded with Eastern drones, quite a head swaying  fusion .  A Muriel Anderson and her surreal looking harp guitar joined Claudia and trio for a final waltz.

The Hard Ground 

All the way from Cork, The Hard Ground a five piece band from Cork provided the edgiest vibe of the day. Pat Carey had an impressive presence as front man and we loved the mellow duets with keyboard player Marlene Enright.  The bijou proportions of the Hall combined with the front row sofas (get in early to nab one)  made this experience pleasantly intense,  like watching late night Jools from the comfort of your living room on a very large screen. Close enough to engage in a little banter with the band if so inclined.  Next gigs at the venue  include Katakana and punk poet, Jinx Lennon. Full details here www.centralarts.ie

The Imagine Arts Festival continues until 26th October . Details here www.imagineartsfestival.com.

Fire Your Imagination at Imagine 2014

Imagine Arts Festival Waterford  16-26th October




Imagine Arts Festival  is almost upon us and there is a just a fortnight or so to peruse the programme and savour the anticipation of the impressive range of events lined up for this eclectic arts festival.  Here is my pick of the highlights of the  first three days.
Imagine 2014

Gary Curtin Euphonium

Black Dyke Band: Saturday 18th Oct Cathedral Barronstrand St 
The tradition  of Brass Bands associated with the industrial heartland of the North of England may have waned with the closure of the mines and cessation of the mills but some of the very best brass bands in the world are still found in this corner of England . Roy Keane is not the only Mayfield man to be excelling in Manchester arenas Embedded in The Black Dyke Band is Gary Curtin, a virtuoso euphonium  player from Cork.  The draw of hearing one of their own in

the only Irish appearance of the Black Dyke Band has led to a run on tickets and a move to a larger venue. Expect an influx of buses bearing Leeside brass fans to descend on the Cathedral on Saturday.
I asked Liam Daly, administrator of SCOW Symphony Club of Waterford,  what is so special about Curtin. "An amazingly talented musical and technically versatile musician to have come from the Banks of the Lee, to have studied at the Cork School of Music, to grace the stages of some of the greatest concert halls in Europe,and to hold the Solo Euphonium position with with one of the worlds greatest Brass Bands is a testament to his talent"   

Anja Poche Lipfert with Camerata Kilkenny  Thursday 16th Oct

Listeners to Gloria, RTE's sacred music programme will have heard Tim Thurston wax lyrical about the Calmus Ensemble from Leipzig who performed at the Borris River Arts Festival recently.  Anja Poche Lipfert, soprano with the ensemble returns to perform with the Kilkenny based Baroque ensemble led by Malcolm Proud at the harpsichord. The concert is part of the Waterford Music series and takes place in the elegant Georgian Large Room at City Hall . The programme will feature music by JS Bach. Waterford Music work hard to bring a regular offering of attractive  chamber music  to Waterford despite having their funding slashed . You can check out the full schedule for the Waterford Music series here 

Jim Nolan Book Launch Book Centre Friday 17th Oct. 6.30pm
The Gallery Press launch Dreamland by Waterford playwright Jim Nolan at The Book Centre.

Art Exhibition.
Gerard Scarfe's political cartoons are on view in The Waterford Port building on O Connell St from 7.00pm Sat 17th October

Lots more to choose from with two World Music ensembles at Garter Lane on Thurday and one man theatre presentations at Theatre Royal and Central Hall. The John Dwyer Trad Weekend will be in full swing with sessions all over the Quay. Legendary box player , Mairtin O Connor is headlining the bill on Saturday night at Dooley's Hotel.




John Adams in Waterford  Modern music buffs may like to note that Io Sone l'Amore, the film scheduled for Film and Feast evening on Sat 18th features a score by modern minimalist composer John Adams. I think I might have warmed to Nixon in China if it came with some lovely Chinese grub.