Dictating the sound

JENNIFER WALSHE, (VOICE, VIOLIN, PSALTERY, CD, DICTAPHONES), NCH, Kevin Barry Room, Dublin Tues 8.30pm 10 01-4170000

JENNIFER WALSHE, (VOICE, VIOLIN, PSALTERY, CD, DICTAPHONES), NCH, Kevin Barry Room, Dublin Tues 8.30pm 10 01-4170000

Once the Opera Ireland season is over, Christmas musical activities seem to take over the schedule. But while Christmas concerts are starting in earnest, there are still plenty of other choices during the upcoming week.

Tasmin Little takes solo violin music on tour for the Music Network. The NSO's Tchaikovsky/Shostakovich series continues under Vladimir Altschuler on Friday, in a programme that includes the premiere of Siobhán Cleary's Cokaygne. The orchestra is back at the NCH again on Thursday, when the soloist will be Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska.

Flautist James Galway celebrates his 70th birthday at the NCH on Saturday. The National Chamber Choir and Paul Hillier explore Irish connections in a programme called One Day Fine in Belfast on Tuesday, and Dublin on Thursday. The early music ensemble eX recreate a Carolingian masque in Drogheda on Monday (with a repeat in Dublin on December 6th). Galway city has a mostly Handel programme from Eleanor Harrison (violin) and David Wright (harpsichord) on Wednesday, and pianist Peter Donohoe starts a tour with the RTÉ Vanbrugh that same evening.

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The most intriguing clash, however, is at the National Concert Hall on Tuesday, when German chanteuse Ute Lemper is in the main auditorium with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and that most adventurous of Irish composers, Jennifer Walshe (above), performs pieces by herself and a number of her aliases (Ukeoirn O’Connor, Detleva Verens, Turf Boon, and The Dowager Marchylove) at the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room.

Those strange names, and Walshe’s list of instruments – voice, violin, psaltery, CD, dictaphones – give a hint of what might be in store.

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor