Athlone gallery celebrates McCormack
Luan Gallery in Athlone is hosting a very special exhibition this Christmas and New Year dedicated to the town’s most famous musical export, John Count McCormack. The exhibition features the famous portrait of John Count McCormack by renowned Irish artist Sir William Orpen KBE, RA, RHA on loan from the National Gallery of Ireland. Accompanying this celebrated piece of Irish art history is an acclaimed documentary; The People’s Tenor and a bronze portrait bust by Elizabeth O’ Kane. The exhibition concludes on Sunday 10th January.
Upcoming events include a musical recital by award winning Irish tenor, Peter O’Reilly accompanied by pianist, Kevin Corcoran at 1pm on Saturday 2nd January. Tickets retail at €10 and booking in advance is essential.
Details of these events can be found on the Luan Gallery facebook page: facebook.com/athloneartsandtourism or onsite at Luan Gallery on Grace Road, Athlone.
Peter is a former chorister of St Patrick’s Cathedral. At present, he is a student of Emmanuel Lawler, and is currently studying for a Master of Music Degree in the Dublin Institute of Technology’s Conservatory of Music and Drama, where was also awarded a B Mus Perf (1st class hons). He was selected as a performer for the RDS Rising Stars Concert in November 2014 in partnership with RTÉ Lyric fm. At the Electric Ireland Feis Ceoil in 2013, he was the winner of the J J Watt Trophy for Tenor Solo and the John Count McCormack Cup. At the 2014 competitions he won the Dermot Troy trophy for oratorio performance. At this year’s festival Peter won both the Nancy Calthorpe Cup for French Song, and the Lieder Prize. Peter played Nanki Poo in Festival Productions/Lyric Opera’s production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘The Mikado’ at the 2013 Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England. He reprised the role for the Rathmines & Rathgar Musical Society for their Centenary production in the National Concert Hall with the RTE Concert Orchestra, under the baton of Gearoid Grant.
Kevin Corcoran is a First Class Honours graduate from the Bachelors of Music, DIT. Kevin majored in composition but has studied classical piano extensively, achieving success in several competitions on a National Level and is currently continuing his piano studies with Dr David Mooney in DIT. He has also worked extensively in the popular music field, working regularly as a session piano and keyboard player for different groups and artists both live and in the studio as a recording musician. Kevin has six years of teaching experience both privately and in various music schools in Ireland and in 2014 was selected by Lyric FM to be the resident piano teacher in the Lyric FM tent of Electric Picnic. As a composer, Kevin has written pieces for a variety of different ensembles, including piano, various piano trios, voice, solo flute, choir, string quartet, brass ensemble and orchestra. In 2015, his choral piece ‘Sleep Now, O Sleep Now’, written using a James Joyce poem, was selected for a performance reading by Chamber Choir Ireland at the Cork Choral Festival. Kevin also works as an arranger, regular composing string and brass arrangements for a several different artists and genres, and has recently branched in to the world of soundtrack, collaborating on the soundtrack for an app-based video game to be released in late 2015.
The Luan Gallery McCormack Recital, entitled 'Song Book', promises to be a very special afternoon featuring two accomplished young Irish musical talents. John Count McCormack’s repertoires will be visited for the afternoon of song. Seats are limited and tickets can be reserved by calling 0906442154 or by emailing info@luangallery.ie
On Saturday 9th January, documentary film maker Martin Dwan will be delivering a talk on film making. Any budding directors, writers or film makers ought not miss out on this opportunity to ask Martin his tricks of the trade!
Martin is a graduate of University College Dublin with a BA in Economics and Politics and an MA in Film Studies. He has worked in the Irish television industry for two decades; producing, directing, scripting and editing a number of critically acclaimed documentaries. His profiles on two legendary Irishmen, Shay Elliott-Cycle of Betrayal and the public servant TK Whitaker – Seirbhíseach an Stáit were nominated for an Irish Film & Television Academy Award.
His work has aired on TG4, TV3 and Setanta Ireland. In 2013 he directed and co-wrote the controversial two part documentary series, In The Name of the Republic. Presented by eminent historian Professor Eunan O’Halpin the series went in search of the ‘Disappeared’, people abducted, killed and secretly buried by the IRA during the Irish War of Independence. The production made extensive use of drama reconstruction. 2015 will see the broadcasting of his most ambitious production to date. Revolution in Colour tells the story of Ireland’s revolutionary years exclusively through archive footage and photographs that have been painstakingly colourised and restored. He is currently in production on an RTE docudrama to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising.