FUAIM Concert - Fionnuala Moynihan & Kieran Moynihan, 3rd December, 1.10pm, Live Streamed from the Aula Maxima

3 Dec 2021

Music for flute and piano

Kieran Moynihan - flute

Fionnuala Moynihan- piano  

PROGRAMME 

Songs Without Words, Op. 67: No. 1, Andante in E-flat Major - Mendelssohn 

Sarabande and Rondeaux from Partita no.2 - Bach 

Fantasia No.3 - Largo: Vivace: Largo: Vivace: Allegro - Telemann 

Sonata op.1 no.1 in E flat Major (1st movement) 

Nocturne no.10 in E minor - Field 

Syrinx - Debussy 

Fantasie Stücke Op.73 – Schumann 

Watch Online: https://www.youtube.com/user/musicatUCC

Brother and sister, Kieran and Fionnuala Moynihan, have performed as a duo for many years and this programme highlights some of their favourite works composed from the Baroque to the Impressionist era. The opening work by Mendelssohn highlights the lyrical nature of the flute and piano as a duo, Schumann’s three Fantasiestücke are virtuosic works filled to the brim with excitement and passion. The solo works by Telemann and Debussy for flute highlight the wonderful capabilities of the instrument and are truly beautiful works. John Field’s compositions for solo piano influenced so many of the great composers that followed and are exquisitely written for piano. Bach’s compositions need no introduction, it is a privilege both to perform and to hear them. 

This recital showcases both instruments in a wonderful range of styles. 

Widely acknowledged as one of Ireland’s leading pianists, Dr. Fionnuala Moynihan has a particular affinity with the works of baroque, classical and early romantic composers. In 2010 she performed the Complete Piano Sonatas of Mozart from memory in the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, in a series of five recitals. She is the only pianist to have undertaken the formidable challenge of performing this cycle in its entirety in Ireland. Since then, Fionnuala has performed seven complete piano sonata series, performing the complete cycles by Mozart, Haydn, Clementi and Schubert. Fionnuala has given solo recitals and concerto performances throughout the UK, France, Holland, Italy, Israel, U.S.A, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Poland, Japan, Holland and Hungary as well as extensively and regularly in Ireland. 

Fionnuala was invited by the University of Warsaw and the Irish Embassy in Warsaw to give a recital of works by John Field and a lecture recital exploring the link between Chopin and Field to commemorate the bicentenary of the composer’s birth in November 2010. In September 2011 she gave a recital of his works in the Glinka Museum of Musical Culture, Moscow, Russia, a special occasion as it is the city where Field both spent a great deal of his life and is buried. In November 2018 Fionnuala was invited back to Moscow to give a recital of works by Tchaikovsky to mark his 125th anniversary. This concert, streamed live on YouTube, was an enormous success and took place in Moscow’s largest Catholic Cathedral. Fionnuala is an active chamber musician and has recently performed with such celebrated artists as sopranos Daniele De Niese and Deirdre Moynihan, the Contempo Quartet, violinists Sarah Sew and Mia Cooper, tenor Gavan Ring, cellist Ailbhe McDonagh and flautist Kieran Moynihan. Fionnuala gave several concerts online during lockdown including recitals for the Great Music in Irish Houses Festival, Sligo International Chamber Music Festival, Triskel Arts Centre, Hugh Lane Gallery and was the artistic director of the much-loved ‘Mozart at the Triskel Festival’ in which she performed two piano concertos with string quartet accompaniment. 

In 2009 Dr. Moynihan became the first person to be awarded a Doctorate in Music Performance from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Dublin City University. Fionnuala began her piano studies at the Cork School of Music, received her Honours Bachelor of Music degree from the Birmingham Conservatoire where she graduated with the Graduate award for pianists and the prestigious Weingarten scholarship enabling her to commence her studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest (2001-2004). Fionnuala also studied at the Paris Conservatoire from 1999-2000. 

Fionnuala has been awarded many prizes both at home and abroad including a Bank of Ireland Millenium Scholarship, the prestigious Maura Teissier Bursary and the Rena Menasche Award from the Tel-Hai Piano Masterclass series held in Israel. She was awarded the John Field Prize at the 2009 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition. 

In July 2014 she gave a Summer concert tour in Japan with five of her brothers and sisters. Their fusion of both the classical and traditional genres has earned them praise both at home and internationally. Her debut CD ’The Ivory Lady’ was launched in January 2015. This CD is a classical-trad fusion CD and showcases Fionnuala’s love for both the classical and traditional music genres. In April 2016 she recorded a recital of sonatas by Muzio Clementi for The Lyric Concert on RTE Lyric FM Radio. She represented Ireland in the Embassy Festival in The Hague in September 2018. Recently Fionnuala has been performing and researching the music of Clara Schumann and gave a solo recital of her works at the 2019 Kilkenny Arts Festival and The Hugh Lane Gallery Dublin. She also gave a lecture-recital for the Gresham College of Music in Mercers Hall in London. Future engagements include: recitals in Cairo Opera House, Egypt, a Scriabin solo piano recital in Prague at the celebrated Bethlehem Chapel, a recital in the prestigious Catholic Cathedral in Moscow and a series of recitals as guest artist at the 2022 Sligo International Chamber Music Festival by kind invitation from the Vogler Quartet. 

Fionnuala holds the permanent position of University Tutor in Keyboard at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Her latest CD, ‘Melodies of Nations’, was released on the Hedone Label in June 2017. 

fionnualamoynihan.com

Twitter: @finnmoynihan 

“Moynihan's love for this genre - she performed the complete Mozart works at the Hugh Lane three years ago - is palpable, and she plays with a lightness of touch and enchanting freshness that captures the rapidly shifting colours of the short works”. - Sunday Business Post, Dick O’ Riordan, 24-11-2-13. 

“Her best playing came in the Trio of an unfinished Sonata in D, which she approached in an expressively probing way, almost as if she were playing a chromatic passage in a Fantasia by Mozart”. – The Irish Times, Michael Dervan,20-11-2013 

“I only got through a track or three of The Ivory Lady before I knew I would review it…. It will placate and refresh a restless soul. Fionnuala Moynihan’s Ivory Lady is a Top Shelf Selection”. Irish American News, John O’Brien , Jr. May 2015 

Kieran Moynihan – flute/piccolo 

Kieran began his studies at the Cork School of Music and graduated from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1999. 

Whilst in London he specialised in opera, performing with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, Welsh National Opera, Opera North and Scottish Opera. Symphonic engagements included BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He has worked with ballet companies such as English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet and Ballet National de Cuba. Kieran has toured with major West End productions of The King and I, Miss Saigon, Mary Poppins and Les Misérables. 

Since returning to Ireland in 2010, Kieran has worked with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Wexford Opera and Northern Ireland Opera. He continues to work with UK orchestras such as Scottish Ballet and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. 

CDs include recordings with Placido Domingo, Altan, Sharon Shannon, “Les Misérables Live!” and Brian Byrne. He has also recorded film soundtracks, including the Oscar-nominated “Room.”