The Symphony Club Of Waterford present a night of musical enchantment at Christ Church Cathedral in Waterford with the Hibernian Orchestra.
Hibernian Orchestra (Dublin)
Conductor – John Finucane
Beethoven – Coriolan Overture
Mozart – Clarinet Concerto. Soloist: John Finucane
Beethoven – Symphony No 3 “Eroica”
Unreserved seating for non Symphony Club members. Limited tickets will be available on the door, cash payment only.
About John Finucane, conductor and soloist
“Once considered unplayable, Francaix’s concerto is delivered with fluency and rich colour…A delight from first note to last.” Classical Music Magazine.
“Altogether the disc is an excellent showcase for an outstanding virtuoso from whom one expects to hear more.” Gramophone.
John Finucane enjoyed twenty-five years as Principal Clarinet of the RTE National Symphony Orchestra before retiring from it in 2020. He had previously been principal clarinet of the RTE (national broadcaster) Concert Orchestra since his 21st birthday. During all that time he was a regular concerto soloist, recitalist, and renowned professor of clarinet in the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where he still teaches.
He has recently performed the Weber first concerto and the Strauss Duet Concertino with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time as part of Pipeworks organ festival 2024, as well as conducting the National Symphony Orchestra in the National Concert Hall, Dublin. With the Hibernian Orchestra he has directed and performed the Weber First Concerto and conducted many concerts including recently Shostakovich 5 and the Prokofiev First Violin Concerto in the NCH. In addition to the NSO he has also regularly conducted the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra, and has been the director of the Hibernian Orchestra for nearly 40 years.
As a chamber musician he has worked with many groups, including the Ysaÿe, Navarra, Con Tempo, Vanbrugh, Piatti, Sacconi and Strada Quartets, has performed with pianists John O’Conor, Finghín Collins, Nathalia Milstein, Philip Martin, Michael McHale, and Barry Douglas and is the founder and director of Music In Monkstown which celebrated its tenth anniversary in September 2024. He was invited to perform in a festival in Switzerland just before Christmas.
Gramophone magazine has described him as ‘an outstanding virtuoso’. The CD “French Holidays” was reviewed as “…heartbreakingly beautiful”, and, “…the playing is superb”. His CD of the three sonatas for clarinet and piano by Grigori Frid, the premiere recording of these recently discovered works by the great Russian composer, was reviewed as “…masterful chamber music”, “magnificent”.
This year marks his 70th birthday and he has been celebrating this milestone with very many concerts including the recording of a new concerto written and dedicated to him by Shaun Davey in February, a major recital in the new Whyte Hall of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in April, several visits to Music Festivals around Ireland, and of course his Music In Monkstown in October.
