RTÉ Concert Orchestra
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
The RTÉ Concert Orchestra has been cherished by Irish audiences throughout its 60-year history, whether performing with international stars such as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Kiri Te Kanawa and Katherine Jenkins or with leading Irish artists ranging from Cara O’Sullivan and Virginia Kerr to Altan and Duke Special. With an unrivalled repertoire, the RTÉ CO appears at leading national and international festivals, on RTÉ Radio and Television and in the opera house, while through its commercial releases its recordings are distributed worldwide. The orchestra’s education programme is presented nationwide to tens of thousands of young people as the RTÉ/The Irish Times Music in the Classroom series.
The RTÉ CO has been heard across the world in seven Eurovision Song Contests and its commercial recordings embrace many styles from the phenomenally successful Riverdance to Declan O’Rourke’s Big Bad Beautiful World. Recent memorable concerts include performances with Ute Lemper, Sharon Shannon, Lesley Garrett, Ronan Tynan, Curtis Stigers and Cleo Laine and John Dankworth in their 80th birthday season.
Film credits for the RTÉ CO include The Island by Brian Byrne, Irish Destiny by Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse by Joby Talbot.
The RTÉ CO Signature Series 2009 features Lesley Garret (31 Oct), Ute Lemper (1 Dec) and Hayley Westenra (8 Dec) as well as Aled Jones (18 Mar), new all-male classical supergroup Blake (7 May) and the celestial sound of Libera (31 Jul) in the National Concert Hall, Dublin.
The RTÉ CO has an extensive discography on the Marco Polo, Naxos and RTÉ lyric fm labels. A recent performance on the CD Perfect State (RTÉ lyric fm) won critical praise: ‘dramatically realised by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra under David Brophy’s tightly-managed conducting’ (Journal of Music in Ireland) and ‘great playing here by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra’ (Sunday Business Post).
Full details of all upcoming RTÉ Concert Orchestra concerts are available on
www.rte.ie/performinggroups/rteconcertorchestra/