Tullamore Culture Night concert to champion living female composers

Offaly violist Aoise O'Dwyer will take to the stage this Friday for the "Women Composers and the Viola" concert.

The event will take place on Friday, September 19, at 7pm in Tullamore's Offaly History Centre.

Ms O'Dwyer has been engaged in researching and performing music for solo viola by women composers since 2023, and in this exciting concert, specially commissioned by Offaly Arts Office for Culture Night 2025, she will introduce listeners to the lives and music of five living composers.

One of these composers is Offaly's own Amanda Feery, who is Head of Music and Lecturer in Composition at the University of Galway, and whose music has been performed at festivals such as New Music Dublin, Cork Midsummer Festival and Galway International Arts Festival.

Aoise will play one of Amanda's early works, entitled Boreal. Other featured composers include Libby Croad (England), Katia Tiutiunnik (Australia) and Dobrinka Tabakova (Bulgaria).

Ms O’Dwyer is herself a Offaly native violist, and enjoys a varied career encompassing solo, duet, chamber, symphony and opera orchestral playing, and has worked extensively with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Irish National Opera Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.

She holds a BMus in Viola Performance from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and an MA in Viola Performance from the MTU Cork School of Music, and has received Arts Council and Offaly Arts Office support for her research and performance of music by women composers.

This is a free event open to audience members of all ages, with a duration of one hour. Offaly History Centre is located on Bury Quay in Tullamore.

Please book your ticket at 057 932 1421 or by emailing info@offalyhistory.com. Tickets on the door only if venue capacity allows.