Birr to host Festival of Music this bank holiday weekend
It's all eyes on Birr this May bank holiday weekend as the town's 2025 Festival of Music takes centre stage.
Taking place from Thursday, April 30 to Monday, May 4, the festival has one of the most exciting and ambitious programmes to date for the major music event.
Whether you love classical music, opera or jazz and swing, the 10th annual festival has something for all tastes.
Over the last decade, the festival has grown into a vibrant annual celebration of classical music in County Offaly presenting a dynamic programme of concerts, masterclasses, street performances and special events.
On Friday, May 1, join The Niall Kinsella Orchestra and Irish jazz diva Stella Bass for The Golden Age of Jazz & Swing in St Brendan’s R.C. Church on Wilmer Road. This live performance will feature the best of American Songbook standards by Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter and instrumentals of Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Count Basie and others.
World-renowned soprano Celine Byrne makes her festival debut in Songs of Inspiration & Hope at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre on Saturday, May 2, while on the Birr Castle Lawn on Sunday, May 3, TU Dublin Conservatoire present Henry Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, performed by 25 of the Conservatoire’s vocal and music students.
Other new events include The Merry Band at RHSI Bellefield in Shinrone and The Road Home by Birr’s Sing It! Community Choir featuring soloists Pascal Kennedy (baritone) and Sarah Luttrell (mezzo-soprano) in St Brendan’s Church of Ireland.
The international duo of Bruno Caproni and Julian Evans return to perform, deliver masterclasses and adjudicate at the Trench Award Gala Concert - the centrepiece of the festival.
There will also be a host of pop-up performances around the town including Birr Young Voices on Sunday, May 3, at Memory Lane Courtyard.
Speaking about this year’s programme, Artistic Director Niall Kinsella said:
“As we celebrate ten years of the Birr Festival of Music, this anniversary programme reflects how far we’ve come and the exciting future ahead.
"We are delighted to welcome back leading Irish jazz singer Stella Bass to this year’s festival and it is a particular pleasure that the wonderful soprano Celine Byrne makes her festival debut.
"We are especially excited to partner with TU Dublin Conservatoire and long-time Festival friend Dr Sandra Oman-Farren to present our first outdoor opera at Birr Castle, which is a landmark moment for the festival.
"Above all, this year’s programme brings together exceptional artists, emerging talent and our community in a way that truly captures the spirit of the festival.”
Tickets are on sale now via the Birr Festival of Music website www.birrfestivalofmusic.com or if you prefer to book over the phone, you can call the box office on (057) 9122911.
Birr Festival of Music is kindly funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, The JVM Trench Will Trust and Offaly County Council.