National Concert Hall: The best bits from 40 years of performance

Loah – singer/songwriter

What has been a highlight or standout moment for you at the National Concert Hall (NCH)?

I adored seeing Tinariwen play there years ago. I still didn’t have much of a music career then, but it felt so special enjoying the work of a band that influenced me a lot, singing away on a stage I know so well.

To hear the sounds of Malian desert music that I remember from my years in West Africa, right there in my home concert hall where I’d heard orchestral music as a child, felt like a beautiful meeting of all the Venn diagrams of my musical imagination.

What one wish would you have for the NCH and/or the future of music in Ireland for the next 40 years?

Garth Brooks: Selling 400,000 tickets for five Dublin gigs again 'impossible'

---

The Music Quiz: Which bit of Adam Clayton appears on the back of Achtung Baby?

---

Jane Willow: Burn So Bright – A vivid, lyrical voice rings out

---

Keep doing what they do, and keep pushing the boundaries of what constitutes “music that should be in a concert hall”.

Colman Pearce – conductor, pianist and composer

What has been a highlight or standout moment for you at National Concert Hall?

In 1981, I became principal conductor of the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra. As a consequence, it was my honour and privilege to conduct the orchestra for the official opening of the NCH on September 9th that year.

The fact that the four excellent solo singers for the occasion (Violet Twomey, Bernadette Greevy, Louis Browne and William Young) were all Irish was a matter of pride and satisfaction. Two major works were performed – the première of Seóirse Bodley’s “Ceol” (specially commissioned for the occasion) and Beethoven’s “Choral” Symphony. The choir was Our Lady’s Choral Society.

Until I retired from conducting at the end of 2014, I conducted many concerts in our NCH, but that first concert in the newly re-designed and designated auditorium holds a special place in my heart.

What one wish would you have for the NCH and/or the future of music in Ireland for the next 40 years?

In the next 40 years I hope that the refurbished and further-developed NCH will play a huge central role for the performing arts in Ireland. Apart from serving the capital city, it should also be the mecca for the whole country – hopefully, it will be Ireland’s Carnegie Hall!

It should be the prestigious venue for all types and forms of music, and also the epicentre of debate and artistic endeavour. Enhancing and supporting the careers of Irish performers and composers should be to the fore.

Visits by international performers can, of course be stimulating and educational, but the NCH has the responsibility to foster, cultivate and develop native talent.

Paul Noonan – frontman of Bell X1

What has been a highlight or standout moment for you at the NCH?

With the Lucan Concert Band I jumped from the flute to drums and percussion and I remember a particularly sweet moment on the triangle during Jesus Christ Superstar. I also met the composer and violinist Éna Brennan through the NCH, which has led to us collaborating on the Bell X1 catalogue, and a real shot in the arm for the band.

We’ve been performing with her Dowry Strings ensemble for the past few years and have had some beautiful string-soaked nights in the Hall.

What one wish would you have for the NCH and/or the future of music in Ireland for the next 40 years?

The Writers Bloc at NCH has been a great resource for making music and cross-pollination between artists. I’d love to see it evolve and develop into a more formal setup, with a residency scheme, and a periodic turnaround of artists.

The space could feed into the programming of the various performance spaces in the building, with concerts of work written and developed there.

Liam O’Connor – Director of the Traditional Music Archive and Irish fiddler

What has been a highlight or standout moment for you at the NCH?

I found myself on the wrong side of inspiration a few times. Hearing classical violinist Maxim Vengerov for the first time was beyond awe-inspiring. It came at a time when I thought I was moving towards a half decent technical proficiency on the instrument.

His musicianship seemed to go beyond the realms of worldly possibilities and his dexterity seemed outrageous. However, attending his masterclasses over the years offered insights into a more holistic and informed approach to music making which I believe has universal relevance to all art practice.

What one wish would you have for the NCH and/or the future of music in Ireland for the next 40 years?

I wish that the NCH continue to develop the Musician-in-Residence scheme. For many artists, focusing on pre-defined onstage performance outcomes can stifle risk-taking.

By supporting artists to commit more preparatory time to being creative, it can lead to more thoughtful collaborations and new works. When Cormac Begley arrived at the NCH with his camper van full of concertinas for a Musician-in-Residence stint 2017, I enjoyed a week experimenting and swapping tunes with him in advance of our concert.

This type of residency empowers artists to spend time developing musical relationships. The public performance is then shaped by a more meaningful process. In my opinion, dedicating resources to residencies in the NCH can help shape the future of music in Ireland.

Eimear Noone – Irish conductor and composer

What has been a highlight or standout moment for you at the NCH?

My first time conducting at the NCH, was with the Dublin City Concert Orchestra, which I formed with a classmate while at Trinity College Dublin. The concert programme was film music, much of which was having its Irish debut.

We had booked the hall, produced the concert, sourced the music, orchestrated the parts, rented instruments and rehearsals rooms, contracted musicians, had just a 250 euro budget for advertising. By some miracle, not discounting the help of RTÉ’s Colm Connolly, the concert sold out.

The great and good of the Irish film industry attended, including John Boorman who became one of our honorary patrons, alongside composer Elmer Bernstein and producer Noel Pearson.

We got a standing ovation and all I could think was A; what on earth is going on and B; I’m so exhausted ... does this mean we have to do an encore!

What one wish would you have for the NCH and/or the future of music in Ireland for the next 40 years?

Firstly, I’m passionate about sharing the work of Irish musicians with a global audience and thanks to technology I can do that from home.

I would love to see the NCH wired for world-class digital broadcasting capabilities, including 3D and VR compatible platforms. I’ve been experiencing how this is happening abroad and am involved in retro-fitting a UK venue for digital audiences.

Secondly, I love how the stage sounds and feels. I am passionate about our orchestras and giving the NCH stage the capability to morph into a world-class scoring stage, that would add another string to our bow. Finally, this summer I will conduct for the first time at London’s Royal Albert Hall and will gladly not be the first Irish woman to do so.

The first Irish woman, and indeed first woman, was suffragette and composer Alicia Adelaide Needham from Co Meath. I was shocked to only learn of her existence recently. What a difference it would have made to me growing up to have known about her work and success.

I would be delighted to see a space at the NCH dedicated to her contribution to music and have her work made easily accessible to Irish students.

John O’Connor – Irish concert pianist and pedagogue

What has been a highlight or standout moment for you at the NCH?

Without doubt the highlight of my association with the hall was the evening when I was presented with the NCH Lifetime Achievement Award by President Michael D Higgins in 2017.

It was a thrilling evening and I loved the whole event with Olivia O’Leary being such a wonderful presenter and having so many of my colleagues, students and friends performing with me on stage.

What one wish would you have for the NCH and/or the future of music in Ireland for the next 40 years?

My main wish for the future of the NCH is for it to receive more money! It's wonderful that the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) has a home there but the fact that the Orchestra has to occupy the hall so much in order to rehearse means that many more events cannot take place there.

The NCH needs to have the money to build a rehearsal hall in the complex to solve this problem. The space is there. Dublin is also in dire need of a recital hall of about 400 seats. Earlsfort Terrace is the ideal venue.

Majella Cullagh – soprano and vocal coach

What has been a highlight or standout moment for you at NCH?

I felt very proud to be involved in the hall’s 25th anniversary as soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Symphony conducted by Gerhard Markson. The programme was a repeat of the inaugural concert in 1981.

You can imagine how happy I am to be around and functioning for the 40th anniversary. Another big moment was the 2013 world premiere of Raymond Deane’s The Alma Fetish with Wide Open Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Fergus Sheil. There was great excitement and electricity in the Hall that night.

What one wish would you have for the NCH and/or the future of music in Ireland for the next 40 years?

Ireland has always punched above its weight when it comes to talented singers and instrumentalists. Given our population, we have an incredible number of artists operating at the highest level, performing all over the world.

This is in part due to our rich cultural heritage and the wonderful teaching available here but we also need the NCH and other venues to provide a platform to showcase young and established talent so that our public have the opportunity to hear them. The citizens of this country deserve to rejoice and be uplifted by experiencing music in our wonderful venues.

There must be the political will to drive future financial support as governing bodies have a duty and a responsibility to performers and audiences alike. Our precious talent needs to be valued and supported and not taken for granted.

Gemma Doherty – harpist, vocalist and one half of Saint Sister

What has been a highlight or standout moment for you at the NCH?

Morgan and I played one of our first Saint Sister headline shows in the NCH in 2017, that was very special. It was very early days for the band and we were still building up to our first album at that point.

We arranged the set for full band, 6 backing vocals and 3 brass players, and invited Lisa Hannigan to sing with us for the first time. I’ll always remember how exciting and overwhelming it was to walk out on to the stage that night.

What one wish would you have for the NCH and/or the future of music in Ireland for the next 40 years?

It’s great to see the NCH continue to be adapted to different forms and genres of music and art. As such an iconic and important space for music and culture, it would be amazing to have a space like this opened up as a hub for artists and creatives to meet, write, rehearse and collaborate in the heart of the city.

The National Concert Hall's 40th Anniversary Celebration Concert will take place Friday 10th December at 7.30pm. nch.ie