FUAIM Concert: The Vanbrugh & Friends, 18th November, 1.10pm, Aula Maxima

18 Nov 2022

BRAHMS – String Sextet No.1 in B flat major (1860)

The Vanbrugh & Friends

Keith Pascoe, violin Marja Gaynor , violin Simon Aspell, viola Ed Creedon, viola Christopher Marwood, cello

Maria O’Connor, cello

The Vanbrugh and their guests present Brahms’ great B flat major sextet, one of his most beautiful creations

THE VANBRUGH

Keith Pascoe, violin - Simon Aspell, viola - Christopher Marwood, cello

The Vanbrugh has evolved from the work of the Vanbrugh Quartet which was based in Cork as RTE’s Resident Quartet from 1986 to 2013 and as Artists-in-Residence at University College, Cork from 1990 until the retirement of violinist Gregory Ellis in 2017. Over three decades the quartet gave close to three thousand concerts, presenting the chamber music repertoire to audiences throughout Ireland, Europe, the Americas, and the Far East. Commercial recordings include more than thirty CDs of repertoire ranging from the complete Beethoven quartets to many contemporary Irish works. In 2016 the group was presented with the National Concert Hall’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their contribution to music in Ireland.

Keith Pascoe, Simon Aspell, and Christopher Marwood continue to perform together as the nucleus of the Vanbrugh and are joined by guest artists for performances of a wide range of chamber music repertoire.

Marja Gaynor, violin

Marja Gaynor was born in Finland but has been based in Cork since 2005. She was awarded a 1st class honours MA at Cork School of Music, and continued her Baroque violin studies at The Royal Conservatoire of The Hague with Pavlo Beznosiuk.

Marja is a member of the Irish Baroque Orchestra and Camerata Kilkenny. Both ensembles have released much-acclaimed recordings and toured nationally and internationally. Marja is also a founder member of Giordani Quartet, Ireland’s only chamber group specialising in early Classical repertoire using period instruments.

Outside Ireland Marja works with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and other leading European period orchestras, and is increasingly in demand as a leader, soloist and workshop facilitator. She was the Artistic Director of East Cork Early Music Festival 2013-2015, and has also been invited to act as guest curator for the Kaleidoscope Night concert series.

With her various areas of interest and expertise (Baroque, traditional music, and improvisation) Marja is much sought after as an arranger, studio musician and collaborator in all genres. Her proudest project to date was her critically acclaimed arrangement of Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’ (Cork Opera House), and she also arranged and played the strings of ‘Falling Slowly’ for the movie ‘Once’, Oscar winner for best song in 2008.

Ed Creedon, viola

Ed Creedon enjoys a varied career as a viola player, performing chamber music, in recitals and as an orchestral musician. Recent performances include the National Concert Hall Chamber Music Gathering, tours throughout Ireland with the Lir String Quartet, tours to Finland, France and India with Camerata Ireland as well as solo performances with Camerata Ireland and Barry Douglas.

Chamber music highlights include performances with the Vanbrugh Quartet, as well as appearances with the Ficino Ensemble in Dublin, the Piatti Quartet in the U.K., at the Ortús Festival in Cork, and repeat invitations to the Clandeboye Festival in Belfast and the Killaloe Festival of Chamber Music. For four consecutive summers he took part in the West Cork Chamber Music Festival’s Young Musicians Programme.

Ed comes from Cork and studied with Constantin Zanidache and Simon Aspell at the Cork School of Music.

Maria O’Connor, cello

Maria O’Connor enjoys a enjoyed a diverse career as a chamber musician, orchestral player and teacher. She has performed with the Vanbrugh Quartet, Cello Ireland, IMO Quartet, Strung, Atlas and the Scotia Ensemble. She is the principal cellist with the Irish Memory Orchestra and has toured with them in both Ireland and abroad. As a freelance cellist she also plays with Cello Ireland, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra.

She has performed in numerous chamber music festivals and venues around Ireland and abroad including the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Killaloe Music Festival, the Music in Drumcliffe festival, RDS Rising Stars Series, the Jenneusses Musicales Festival, London’s Guildhall and the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris.

Maria has had the pleasure of performing and recording with contemporary Irish artists including, Enya, Walking on Cars, Irish Women in Harmony, Eimear Quinn, Lisa Hannigan and Mick Flannery. Recent highlights include a televised performance with Strung on TG4 for the Cork Folk Festival and also a performance for the FUAIM concert series in UCC. In 2022 she will be beginning a tour with Strung commencing with performances in Turkey in March.

Maria is currently an assistant lecturer in Musicianship at the MTU Cork School of Music and

teaches cello both privately and with Sempre Music Academy.