MusicTown announces programme highlights for April 2017

Some highlights of MusicTown 2017 include:

- The very first concert of the inaugural Dublin International Choral Festival will be performed as part of MusicTown 2017 in the historic surrounds of St Patrick’ Cathedral. Irish and visiting choirs will perform a variety of choral repertoire on Saturday 8 April. The following night, the Dublin International Choral Festival - Closing Gala Concert, will take place in the same iconic venue, featuring participating choirs and special guests performing a repertoire of choruses from The Messiah with orchestra under the direction of David Brophy.

- Craig David will play 3Arena Dublin on 7 April. Having sold over 15 million albums, achieving 16 Top Ten hits and multi-platinum status in more than 20 countries, from taking over festival stages around the world, selling out headline tours in seconds, to securing a residency at the iconic Ibiza Rocks Hotel 0 Craig David has made a comeback in a big way.

- Celebrating the 275th Anniversary of the World Premiere of Messiah in Mr Neal's Musick Hall in Fishamble Street April 13 1742, Our Lady's Choral Society perform excerpts from Messiah with The Dublin Handelian Orchestra and soloist Peter O'Reilly (tenor). Conducted by Proinnsías Ó Duinn. Thursday 13 April at 1pm in Fishamble Street.

- For one night only, Globe comes to Smock Alley Theatre on 13 April. Experience this world music concert which combine virtuoso individual performances and different instrumentation from around the world. The show features world-class performers (including Robbie Harris), who trade and fuse their music and singing skills to achieve extraordinarily original, exquisite and powerful soundscapes.

- Brady and Irvine: A Tribute. Members of Dublin’s burgeoning young folk scene will perform songs from the repertoires of Paul Brady and Andy Irvine on the forty-year anniversary of the timeless, iconic album. The Line-up, on 7 April at Liberty Hall, will include Radie Peat (Lynched), Ye Vagabonds, Lisa O’Neill, Ian Lynch (Lynched), Landless and more.

- Two time Grammy-winner, singer-songwriter, John Prine will play the Bord Gais Energy Theatre on 13 April. Forty-five years into a remarkable career that has drawn effusive praise from Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, Roger Waters, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and others who would know, Prine is a smiling, shuffling force for good. His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Tom T. Hall, the Everly Brothers, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Norah Jones, George Strait, Miranda Lambert, and many others. But his genius isn’t found in his resume, it’s found in the brilliance of lyrics from his large catalog of songs.

- Following the release of her most recent album gather your greatness last year, Bronagh Gallagher will take to the stage, with her band, for an unforgettable night at Whelans on 7 April.

- Music Together was established to organise workshops for adult musicians with disabilities, leading to annual performances in Greystones Arts Festival and Brayfest. As part of MusicTown 2017 Music Together Ireland with the support of Sunbeam House Services will present Heartbeat of the City in The Atrium, Trinity College on 13 April.

- Young Hearts Run Free and Nialler9 come together for a once-off collaboration especially created for MusicTown on 9 April, Darkness to Light, which will bring new and established Irish artists in different creative fields together under a shroud of mystery. All profits from Darkness to Light will go to the Simon Community.

- Opera Theatre Company presents one of Handel’s most treasured works, Acis and Galatea, at O’Reilly Theatre Dublin on 11 April. Sung in English, this production will be conducted by renowned Baroque specialist Peter Whelan and directed by Tom Creed, with a cast including Eamonn Mulhall, Susanna Fairbairn, Edward Grint and Andrew Gavin and featuring the dazzling Irish Baroque Orchestra.

- With her stunning seventh album ‘Version Of Me’ released on her own Red Girl Records label last October, Melanie C is back on the road and will play Vicar Street for one night only as part of MusicTown on 13 April.

- Bottlenote and the Irish Film Institute present Sound of Silents 2017 - An improvised music and silent film project drawn from collections at the IFI Irish Film Archive. The selection of films has a distinct German inflection and includes a captivating array of Irish social, cultural and political life as represented in newsreels, ethnographic films and early documentaries from the early days of cinema to the 1950s. The programme on 8 April will be accompanied by a series of improvised scores performed by six leading musicians working between the fields of Irish traditional, improvised and electronic musics. Shane Latimer, Seán MacErlaine and Ailbhe NicOireachtaigh will be joined by three musicians from the Ruhr area of Germany to collaborate to create these improvised scores: Saxophonists Julius Gabriel and Florian Walter and electronic artist Achim Zepezauer.

- On 13 April, ChoiceCuts presents Yussef Kamaal - Future Jazz Series at The Sugar Club, an enthralling new voice in British music. Comprised of keyboardist/producer Kamaal Williams and drummer Yussef Dayes, the duo are rhythmic improvisation incarnate. Taking their cues from ‘70s jazz-funk refracted through the bass-heavy sounds of London club culture, the pair have recently released their debut LP, 'Black Focus'.

- On Sunday 15 April the Ficino Ensemble will perform at the Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle. The Ensemble was formed by Artistic Director Nathan Sherman in 2012 as a flexible chamber music group that performs all the great music for small ensembles, ranging from string trios to works written for larger ensembles. For MusicTown 2017 they will perform: Philip Glass: String Quartet No 3 (Mishima), William Walton: String Quartet in A minor and Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet op. 115

- Following on from her final (Last Call) tour abroad, which brought her to the USA, Japan, Belgium, Holland, Germany, the UK and Australia, Mary Black is back in Dublin and will perform at Vicar Street on 15 April accompanied by her world famous band of musicians: Bill Shanley (guitar), Pat Crowley (piano and accordion), Nick Scott (double bass) and Richie Buckley (saxophone).

- In the Chester Beatty Library on 9 April will be a concert entitled The Book of the Dead, created and presented by Lorcán Mac Mathúna and also featuring Martin Tourish and Éamonn Galldubh. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is the inspiration for this recital of songs concerning supernatural encounters at the approach of deaths hour –‘the moment of truth’.

- Katie Kim and Crash Ensemble are excited to bring their collaboration “Salt Interventions” to the Grand Social for a debut Dublin show on 8 April. This performance will feature arrangements from Katie Kim’s critically acclaimed recent album “Salt”. Katie has a long history of collaborations with a selection of Irish and international artists including David Kitt, Adrian Crowley, Milosh, and The Waterboys. This collaboration with Crash Ensemble, builds on Katie’s collaborative nature but approaches it in a different manner concentrating on her newly finished third album “Salt” which was released October of 2016 to critical acclaim.

See full details at: musictown.ie