Castleconnell Autumn Concert Series

PLEASE NOTE THIS CONCERT WILL BE TAKING PLACE IN ALL SAINTS CHURCH, CASTLECONNELL

Performing Artists: Ailbhe McDonagh (Cello), John O Connor (Piano)

Ailbhe McDonagh is an internationally recognised cellist known for her work as both a soloist and chamber musician.  As an accomplished chamber musician, Ailbhe collaborates with the acclaimed pianist John O’Conor, with her sister Orla McDonagh and with violinist Lynda O’Connor. She is a member of the Ficino Ensemble and the traditional Irish music crossover group Trio Elatha.  In addition to her performance career, Ailbhe is an established composer. Her debut orchestral work 'Irish Isles Suite' was recorded and released by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in 2023.  In 2021, Ailbhe released ‘Beethoven: Complete Cello Sonatas’ with John O'Conor on the Steinway label. In 2024, she released her new album, ‘Bach: Complete Solo Cello Suites’ on the Steinway & Sons label. This is the first such recording by an Irish cellist. Ailbhe has been a member of the Strings Faculty at the Royal Irish Academy of Music since 2010. She is also in demand as a masterclass instructor.  Ailbhe performs on an Andrea Postacchini cello from 1833.

John O’Conor:  The Irish pianist John O'Conor has been gathering wonderful reviews for his masterly playing for over forty years. Having studied in his native Dublin, in Vienna with Dieter Weber and being tutored by the legendary Wilhelm Kempff, his unanimous 1st Prize at the International Beethoven Piano Competition, in Vienna in 1973, opened the door to a career that has brought him all around the world. His recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas led CD Review to say that he "by now should be recognised as the world's premier Beethoven interpreter" and his recent recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra and Andreas Delfs have also been greeted with acclaim. In the past two years he has released three new CDs on the Steinway label, one of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and two of Haydn Sonatas. Last summer he recorded a CD of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas with the Irish cellist Ailbhe McDonagh.  A Steinway Artist, he is Chair of the Piano Division at Shenandoah University in Virginia, Professor of Piano at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, distinguished Visiting Artist at the TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Visiting Professor at Showa University in Japan.

*Please note booking fee included in ticket price.