Ficino Quartet - part of Quartets at Triskel

Ficino Quartet, presented by Triskel Arts Centre in association with the National String Quartet Foundation, on Saturday 7 December at 1.10pm.

Ficino Ensemble was formed by Artistic Director Nathan Sherman in 2012 as a flexible group aiming to perform popular chamber music alongside lesser known works that deserve to be appreciated. The Quartet features four outstanding musicians who are building an impressive reputation and an exciting repertoire. Their programme opens with one of Haydn’s finest string quartets – the one with the other-worldly slow movement in F sharp major and the riotous finale. Donnacha Dennehy’s rhythmically entertaining Stamp provides an interlude before a major and rarely heard British masterpiece from 1946, William Walton’s second string quartet, written just two years after his celebrated score for Laurence Olivier’s film of Shakespeare’s Henry V.

Elaine Clark, violin        
Lynda O'Connor, violin
Nathan Sherman, violin
Ailbhe McDonagh, cello

Programme
Haydn String Quartet in D major Op. 76 No. 5
Donnacha Dennehy ‘Stamp (to avoid erotic thoughts)’
William Walton String Quartet No. 2 in A minor

The National String Quartet Foundation is a legacy of the work of the Vanbrugh Quartet. Resident Quartet to RTÉ from 1986 to 2013 and Artists in Residence at University College, Cork from 1990 until the retirement of violinist Gregory Ellis in 2017, the Vanbrugh Quartet gave nearly 2,000 concerts throughout Ireland as well as enjoying a successful international career.

The Foundation creates and sponsors projects which bring live chamber music to audiences throughout Ireland. It is committed to supporting musicians who wish to explore and perform the string quartet repertoire and to helping concert promoters present this rich and rewarding music.