CONCERT FOR HAITI

22 March, 8pm - National Concert Hall Dublin - Barry Douglas will be one of the guests joining the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in this very special concert in aid of Haiti. He will be conducting the entire concert and playing a Liszt showpiece. www.nch.ie

COMPOSE YOURSELF

What a fantastic finale there was to this six week BBC series where Barry Douglas prepared seven novices for a public performance with Camerata Ireland in Belfast’s City Hall, as part of the Queen’s Festival.

The twists and turns of their musical journey of discovery made for truly engaging viewing. With only one exception, none of the young people who were selected from secondary schools in Belfast had any musical experience and preparing them to perform Pachelbel’s Canon with the orchestra in the limited time frame, was more than a small challenge. But the young people rose to the occasion as they joined Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland on stage where they won the audience’s heartfelt applause for their performance and their professionalism.
Barry Douglas is grateful to all the students for the commitment they showed to this ambitious project  -

‘this was an enormous challenge for these young people but it is so important that we do all that we can to create opportunities for the next generation to learn about music and have the chance to experience the rewards of learning  a musical instrument. The icing on the cake was of course when the Arts Council of Northern Ireland so generously donated the instruments to the youngsters after their performance. I hope this will encourage them to build on all they have achieved and to continue to explore classical music in the future’ 

To see the entire Compose Yourself series, visit BBC iplayer click here

Camerata Ireland
Barry Douglas founded Camerata Ireland in 1999 as an orchestra of Irish musicians determined to match the best in the world. Through its tours in USA, South America, China and most of Europe it has quickly developed a reputation for excellence and for creating a particularly distinctive Irish string sound.  In 2004, President McAleese and Queen Elizabeth II became joint Patrons of Camerata Ireland, testament to Camerata Ireland’s all Ireland commitment and to its determination to create opportunity for the very best young Irish musicians.

Camerata Ireland has three sources of uniqueness:

Our Joint Patrons

Barry Douglas

Our commitment to the best of young Irish musical talent – north and south.

We provide opportunities for them to learn … to tour … to play with the best … and perhaps to go solo.  We are delighted, for instance, that Michael McHale – the Camerata Ireland/Accenture Young Musician of 2004 - performed the Mozart Double Concerto with Barry and the Hallé orchestra.

Camerata Ireland’s reputation has been further – and dramatically - enhanced over the past 2 years following the autumn tour of the United States and, most particularly, by the 2005 launch of their CD of Beethoven Piano Concerti 2 & 4. It received extraordinary reviews in Europe and North America. Concerti 1 & 5 were recorded in April and the CD has recently been issued, attracting more excellent reviews. Concerto 3 and the Triple Concerto were recorded in May for release later in 2007.