Co-founder & Artist Director of the Ortús Chamber Music Festival, Sinéad O’Halloran is passionate about bringing together Irish and international musicians for concerts, education work and audience development in the wider community. As cellist of the award-winning Marmen Quartet, Sinéad has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, Boulez-Saal, BBC Proms, Lucerne Festival & Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale. Winner of the RNCM Gold Medal 2021 and a strong affiliation with IMS Prussia Cove, she is also a regular guest with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. In 2023 Sinéad performed the world premiere of Shaun Davey’s Cello Concerto “Refuge” with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. A Pirastro Artist signed with the BIS label, her debut album with the Marmen Quartet (released in January 2025) features works by Ligeti & Bartok. Future releases include works by Debussy, Ravel and Takemitsu and a CD of collaborative works with composer/violist Garth Knox. Sinéad teaches chamber music at the Royal College of Music London and plays on a cello made by David Tecchler (Rome, 1714) generously on loan to her from the Royal Society of Musicians. Sinéad gratefully acknowledges support from the Arts Council of Ireland, Music Network, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
With the courage, vitality and intensity of its performances, the Marmen Quartet is fast establishing itself as one of the most impressive and engaging talents in chamber music, demonstrated by recent first prizes at the prestigious Bordeaux and Banff International String Quartet Competitions.
The quartet brings its energy and intelligence to an impressive range of repertoire, ranging from Haydn to music of today. Last season they gave the world premiere of Garth Knox’s Secret Letters, written for them as a companion piece to Janáček’s Intimate Letters. Previous commissions have included Salina Fisher’s Heal, composed for them in the wake of the pandemic, and they made their Australian debut in 2023, playing a work written for them by Hannah Kendall as part of the Australian National Academy of Music’s Quartetthaus project. They are currently working on a new project with composer Samuel Adams and percussionist DOMNIQ.
Their recording schedule for BIS also demonstrates their wide-ranging musical appetite. Their debut recording in 2024 features works by Ligeti and Bartók, with future recordings including Debussy, Ravel and Takemitsu; Haydn quartets and Chausson’s Concert and Franck’s Piano Quintet with violinist Johan Dalene and pianist Can Çakmur.
The quartet has played in the UK’s most prestigious halls and festivals, including Wigmore Hall and BBC Proms, and its reputation is spreading quickly across Europe, with performances including at Berlin Philharmonie, Boulez Saal, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Stockholm Konserthuset, Palladium Malmö and Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, as well as festival appearances at Lockenhaus, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Rheingau, Heidelberg and Zeister Musiekdagen music festivals, as well as the Amsterdam, Barcelona and
Gulbenkian Foundation string quartet festivals.
Recent North American highlights have included performances in Calgary, Kelowna, Victoria and Capital Region Classical and the group recently completed its Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, in partnership with the Banff International String Quartet Competition The quartet formed at the Royal College of Music in 2013, and has returned there as Quartet in Association, giving regular coaching to chamber music groups, playing in side-by-side projects, and mentoring young quartets through the RCM String Quartet Platform.
They held a Guildhall School of Music String Quartet Fellowship (2018–20) and studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover with Oliver Wille, as well as in London with Simon Rowland-Jones and John Myerscough (Doric Quartet). They were mentored by the late Peter Cropper and have received support from the Musicians Company/Concordia Foundation, Hattori Foundation, Help Musicians and Royal Philharmonic Society (Albert and Eugenie Frost Prize). The Marmen Quartet is an official Pirastro Artist.
Learn more at www.marmenquartet.com.
Strung are a contemporary Irish music ensemble based in Cork, comprising Maria Ryan (violin/vocals), Lucia Mac Partlin (violin), Kaitlin Cullen-Verhuez (cello) and Luke Howard (piano). While undergoing classical training at Cork School of Music, they maintained a participating interest in Irish traditional music. Their dynamic ensemble and unique backgrounds allow them to subtly integrate complex harmonies and innovative motifs, while staying true to the deep-rooted authenticity of traditional Irish melodies. Strung’s sound radiates with originality, yet has an understated energy that instantly captivates.
In April 2017, Strung performed their album with the Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra at Cork Opera House. This project, which took place as part of the ‘Right Here Right Now’ festival, involved the arrangement of the entire album. More recently, Strung performed in Gothenburg Sweden as part of the TIMSIG series of concerts.
“Strung is a group whose star is on the ascent, and will no doubt take their rightful place as one of the great contemporary Irish bands in the years ahead”
– Éamonn de Barra
“A new approach to the tradition using the rarely heard instrumental combination of piano, two fiddles and cello. It is a must listen for lovers of the traditon as well as forward thinking innovators within music” – Pádraig Rynne
“As the first place winners of the Michigan Irish music initiative, Strung travelled to Michigan and entranced our very discerning audience and were the talk of the festival”– Tom Schaub
“This album aptly showcases the sheer ability and creative spark of the group, combining classical music with traditional music in new and exciting ways” – Seán Óg Graham, Beoga
“…symphonic grace and contemporary brilliance alongside a sound that can only come from a deep knowledge of the Irish tradition”– Martin Tourish, Altan.
Johannes Marmen enjoys a varied, international career as a chamber musician and orchestral leader. He is the first violinist of the award winning Marmen Quartet, member of the O/Modernt chamber orchestra and a regular guest leader of various orchestras and ensembles. He studied with Radu Blidar and Carolin Widmann at the Royal College of Music, and was mentored by Peter Cropper of the Lindsay Quartet.
Since winning the Banff and Bordeaux international string quartet competitions in 2019, the Marmen Quartet is one of the most sought-after young quartets around, appearing at Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Lucerne Festival, Amsterdam Quartet Biennale amongst others. As a composer and interpreter of contemporary music, Johannes is regularly commissioned and has recently had works and arrangements performed in the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and Berlin Konzerthaus as well as being featured on releases by Signum Records and Orchid Classics.
Described as one of the most accomplished and sophisticated young violists working in the UK today, Bryony Gibson-Cornish was born in New Zealand and has been based in London since 2015. Various accolades include being awarded the Tagore Gold Medal upon graduating from the Royal College of Music and studying at the Juilliard School as a Fulbright Scholar. She is the violist of the Marmen Quartet, winners of the Banff and Bordeaux International String Quartet Competitions. They regularly tour throughout Europe and are the Peak Fellowship Ensemble in Residence at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Bryony has been teaching chamber music and assisting her former professor, Andriy Viytovych, at the Royal College of Music since 2017 and was delighted to be join the distinguished String Faculty from 2022 as a Viola and Chamber Music Professor. She is grateful for numerous grants and scholarships, including the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Pettman Foundation and the Kathleen Trust. She is a Stradivari Trust Artist, and with their support, plays a ca. 1600-1610 Brothers Amati Viola, an instrument that was formerly played in the Lindsay and Allegri Quartets.
Swiss born violinist Laia Valentin Braun enjoys a vivid chamber music career, having appeared in halls and festivals all around Europe. In 2022 he was appointed as the new second violinist of the award winning Marmen String Quartet, which has appeared in some of the most prestigious concert venues and festivals all across the world. Highlights in his career so far include chamber music performances in Wigmore Hall London, Philharmonie Berlin, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian Lisbon, Konserthuset Stockholm, appearing as a Soloist with Camerata Zurich and most recently performing Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto with the Kammerorchester Basel. Laia regularly plays with the Italy based project Spira mirabilis and has co-founded the chamber music collective Ensemble Vindeleia, which meets bi-annually in northern Spain.
Apart from solo and chamber music performance, Laia has enjoyed playing as a guest in orchestras such as the Zürcher Kammerorchester, Camerata Bern, CHAARTS, BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Manchester Camerata, among others. His studies have led him to London where Laia learnt at the Royal College of Music under Detlef Hahn, later to the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole under Lorenza Borrani and finally he concluded his studies at the Musik Akademie Basel under Rainer Schmidt. Furthermore, Laia has received coaching from musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos, Maxim Vengerov, Thomas Zehetmair and Heinrich Schiff, among others.
Aljaž Beguš was born in 1985 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He began his musical studies at the age of seven in the Music School Ljubljana Moste-Polje with Joze Kregar and Franc Trzan. At thirteen he entered the High School for Music and Ballet of Ljubljana where he studied with Joze Kotar. He continued his studies in the Music Academy of Ljubljana with the same professor and was awarded his Diploma in May 2009 with the highest marks. In the year 2008, he was accepted in the class of Michel Arrignon at the prestigious Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain, where he studied for two years.
Aljaz Begus was awarded several prizes and honors. Among them are five first prizes on the Young Musician Competition of the Republic of Slovenia TEMSIG (1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2006 ), with three additional special prizes for the performance of Slovenian compositions. He was also the winner of International Competitions such as Citta’ di Carlino and Marco Fiorindo in the Junior Category (Italy, 2002). In 2004 he was awarded the 3rd Prize in the Senior Category in Citta’ di Carlino. In 2007 he was also a semifinalist in the International Competition EBU New Talent in Bratislava. With the woodwind quintet Spirito he was semifinalist of ARD Munich competition 2014. In 2005 was awarded the Preseren Student Prize. Aljaž Beguš participated in masterclasses with Mate Bekavac, Charles Neidich, Eduard Brunner, Jacques Zoon ( Academie musicale de Villecroze ), Sergio Azzolini and Menahem Pressler.
As a chamber musician he appeared with the following musicians: Alexander Lonquich, Sergio Azzolini, Dag Jensen, Giorgio Mandolesi, Jacques Zoon, Nicholas Daniel, Enrico Bronzi, Bruno Canino, Maria Joao Pires, Lorenza Borrani, Dora Schwarzberg, Mate Bekavac, Ramon Ortega Quero, Ensemble Midwest.
He has been a member of orchestras such as English National Opera, Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Spira Mirabilis, Orchestra Mozart, Haydn Philharmonie, European Union Youth Orchestra, and in Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester. He has been a regular collaborator with the SNG Maribor, RTV Slovenia, Academia Sancti Petri, Chamber Orchestra Festine, and with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. He appeared as a soloist with all of the above Slovenian orchestras and also with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Jeaner Philharmonie,Orquesta da camara de Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia, Brass Orchestra of the Ljubljana Music Academy and with the RTV Big Band Orchestra. He has also appeared in the following music festivals, Bolzano Festival, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus, Mantova Chamber Music Festival, Podium Festival. Currently, he is a bass clarinetist with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Violin virtuoso duo Lucia Mac Partlin and Maria Ryan, also known as “Lucia and Maria” met while studying in Cork and quickly realized their shared passion for folk music. While they both have been studying Classical music on the violin from an early age, the pair have also been deeply immersed in the world of Traditional Irish music, among other genres, and now draw on all of these influences in their music to stunning effect. The duo completed their Masters’ at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden before returning home to record their debut album “Live at the Chapel” at Griffith College Chapel in Cork in 2018. Since then Lucia and Maria have toured worldwide, both as a duo and with their contemporary Irish Ensemble Strung. They aim to forever push the boundaries of fiddle music and enthrall audiences both nationally and internationally.
Celebrated Irish violinist Mairéad Hickey is acclaimed for her captivating expression, soaring tone and fearless virtuosity. Her natural ability to communicate sincerely, with beauty and integrity, entrances audiences worldwide.
As a soloist Mairéad has performed with the RTÉ Irish National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Irish National Concert Orchestra, Hessicher Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Württembergisches Kammerorchester, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz, Kremerata Baltica, Chamber Orchestra of Europe , Camerata Ireland and with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach in some of the major halls around the world. Her Carnegie Hall debut was described as ‘…magical, penetrating to the heart and soul of the music.’ (New York Epoch Times)
Mairéad was the concertmaster of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire from 2021 to 2023. She is frequently invited to perform as guest concertmaster in orchestras including Orchestra National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre de Paris and Orquesta Simfónica del Gran Teatre del Liceu.
A passionate chamber musician, Mairéad has performed with Sir András Schiff, Barry Douglas, Tabea Zimmermann, Renaud Capuçon, Mate Bekavac, Irena Grafenauer, Alexander Lonquich, Steven Isserlis, Christian Tetzlaff, Alain Altinoglu, Kirill Gernstein, Paul Neubauer, Pieter Wispelway, Michel Lethiec, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and the Vanbrugh Quartet among many others.
Mairéad has been invited to perform at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Westport Festival of Chamber Music, the Clandeboye Music Festival, the Rheingau Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Festival International de Colmar, Mantova Chamber Music Festival, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Rolandseck Festival and Chamber Music Connects the World.
Her love of chamber music led her to co-found the Ortús Chamber Music Festival in 2016 in her native Cork, of which she is Artistic Director.
Mairéad was Irish NCH Young Musician of the Year 2010 – 2012. As well as winning prizes at renowned Irish competitions, she won third prize as well as a Special Prize for the best interpretation of a virtuoso work at the 2016 International Louis Spohr Competition and first prize in the Jeunesses Musicales Violin Competition, Romania 2012. In 2017 she was awarded a Special Prize in the Berliner International Music Competition and the Manhattan International Music Competition. She was awarded the André Hoffmann prize at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad in January 2022 for her interpretation of the world premiere performance of Wolfgang Rhim’s ‘Episode’.
Born in 1996, Mairéad began playing the violin at the age of three with Jyrki Pietila. From 2003 to 2014 she studied with Adrian Petcu at the CIT Cork School of Music, Ireland and spent a year in France studying at the Conservatoire de Nantes with Constantin Serban. In 2020 she graduated with a Masters in Performance from Kronberg Academy where she studied with Mihaela Martin, sponsored by the Hilmar Kopper Stipendium.
Mairéad has taken masterclasses and worked intensely with artists such as András Schiff, Rita Wagner, Ferenc Rados, Gidon Kremer, Dora Schwarzberg, Elena Bashkirova, Hugh Maguire, Vadim Repin, Mariana Sirbu, Ana Chumachenco, Vadim Gluzman, Steven Isserlis, Yossi Zivoni, Mauricio Fuks, Gabor Takács-Nagy, Christoph Eschenbach, Marc Danel and Ivry Gitlis among others.
Mairéad also plays traditional Irish music and has won eight world Irish fiddle titles.
Mairéad currently plays a 1702 Giovanni Tononi violin.
Learn more at www.maireadhickey.com