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The Irish Chamber Orchestra (ICO) is an Irish classical music ensemble, administratively based at the University of Limerick. János Fürst founded the ICO in 1963.^[1] The ICO consisted only of strings as its regular ensemble for many years, adding wind, brass and percussion players on a freelance basis when needed. The ICO was reformed in 1970 under the name of the New Irish Chamber Orchestra and the principal conductorship of André Prieur.^[2] The orchestra first toured North America in 1978. In 1995, the orchestra was again reconstituted, reverting to its original name of the Irish Chamber Orchestra.^[3]

Overview

Since May 2022, Thomas Zehetmair has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Partner of the Irish Chamber Orchestra.^[4]

Irish composers who have worked with the orchestra include Frank Corcoran,^[5]^[6] Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin,^[7]^[8]^[9] and Bill Whelan.^[10]

Plectrum & Bow, a CD release, marked a collaborative recording with US composer and guitarist Steve Mackey.^[11] It features his Concerto for Violin and Strings, Four Iconoclastic Episodes, which was jointly commissioned by the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, University of Notre Dame, US. Other recordings include Night Moves, conducted by Gérard Korsten,^[12] and Hommage, which features works by Irish composer John Kinsella.^[13]^[14]

It owns a custom built studio, which has been acoustically modelled, on campus at UL, Limerick.^[15]

Music and artistic directors

János Fürst
André Prieur
Nicholas Kraemer (Artistic Director, 1986–1992)
Fionnuala Hunt (Music Director, 1995–2002)
Nicholas McGegan (Music Director, 2002–2005)
Anthony Marwood (Artistic Director, 2006–2011)
Jörg Widmann (Principal Guest Conductor/Artistic Partner, 2011–2017; Principal Conductor/Artistic Partner, 2017–2022)^[16]
Gábor Takács-Nagy (Principal Artistic Partner, 2013–date)
Thomas Zehetmair (Principal Conductor/Artistic Partner, 2022–present)^[4]

References

^ Martin Anderson (10 January 2007). "Obituary for Janos Furst". The Independent. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
^ Boydell, Brian (June–September 1984). "Half a Century of Music in Dublin". Dublin Historical Record. 37 (3/4): 117–121. JSTOR 30100640.
^ "Take a bow". The Irish Times. 7 June 1997. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Thomas Zehetmair – Classical Music". Irish Chamber Orchestra. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
^ Adams, Martin. "Showcase for strings". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
^ "Reviews". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
^ "Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin obituary: Exceptional musician who straddled classical and Irish traditional music". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
^ "Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin Composer". RTÉ Archives. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
^ "Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin". The Journal of Music. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
^ Wallace, Arminta. "Irish-America comes out in force for night of island arts". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
^ "Plectrum and Bow". Irish Chamber Orchestra. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
^ Gérard Korsten, Night Moves
^ "Hommage – John Kinsella". Irish Chamber Orchestra. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
^ "Reviews". The Irish Times. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
^ "Irish Chamber Orchestra to move to €3m campus studio". Irish Examiner. 5 November 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
^ Scully, Meghann (19 April 2022). "Jörg Widmann hosts his final concerts as Principal Conductor in UCH". Limerick Post Newspaper. Retrieved 9 May 2022.