Welcome to Dublin International Chamber Music Festival 2022. 

There’s an old adage that suggests that anything good is worth waiting for and we hope you will find that this first live Dublin International Chamber Music Festival in two years will live up to that promise. Notably, it is also the first live iteration under our new DICMF title, which was adopted just as the Covid-19 Pandemic put an end to audience participation in live music performances world- wide. That being said, we have managed to keep our profile alive and kicking by streaming live concerts, with considerable success in terms of audience engagement, on our dedicated DICMF website and on social media outlets. 

It’s also said that an ill wind blows no good but the global impact of the pandemic and its disruptive impact on the arts afforded us the time to look to the future from a wider perspective. We have taken stock of how courageously our frontline health workers faced the almost overwhelming impact of the virus. With this in mind, we are revisiting a special concert we introduced last year, The Music of Friends. This special event features leading Irish pianists Márie Carroll, Thérèse Fahy, Ruth McGinley, Veronica McSwiney and Fionnuala Moynihan playing works of special importance to some of the heroes of the pandemic as they faced the challenges it threw at them. Among the nominations are Professor Luke O’Neill and Professor Teresa Lambe, co-developer of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. 

We open this year’s Festival in Killruddery House with a touch of sadness in our hearts. Killruddery was one of the favourite venues of ardent Festival supporters, the late Frank and Alison Casey. Frank was President of the Festival for a number of years, and in tribute to his invaluable support the concert, featuring the Carducci Quartet and Hugh Tinney, will feature works by some of his and Alison’s favourite composers, Schubert and Brahms. 

Many major international ensembles have made their Irish debuts with the DICMF over the years, including the Ébène, Pavel Haas and the Belcea Quartets. This year we mark another Irish first with the captivating and award-winning Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective. 

Partnerships have always played an important role in our Festival, and the continuation of the supportive relationship is invaluable. This year a number of OPW properties feature as venues, the National Botanic Gardens, the Chapel Royal, Rathfarnham Castle and Castletown House, the birthplace of the Festival. This year we introduce a new venue as we partner with The Windmill Quarter for a concert at the Townhall, Windmill. 

We want to acknowledge our many supporters and volunteers, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Arts Council, Embassy of Ireland, Germany, Kingspan, RTÉ, and, of course, our loyal Festival Friends at all levels. We also thank you the audience. Together you all help to keep alive and vibrant Ireland’s longest-running chamber music festival. We look forward to seeing you in person again after three years enforced separation.

Festival brochure in PDF