Galway Cathedral, Galway, Ireland https://recitals.galwaycathedral.ie FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Galway Cathedral Summer Concerts 2018 5 July – 9 August 2018 Thursdays at 8:00pm Galway Cathedral Recitals is delighted to announce its international summer concerts for 2018, the 25th series to take place in Galway Cathedral. To celebrate this landmark year we have a particularly exciting line-up of concerts: three mixed genre concerts and three organ-only performances. The first event, on 5 July, is a thrilling new departure for GCR: a movie screening with live improvised organ music. Enjoy a uniquely immersive experience, watching a movie in a huge auditorium with lighting filtered by stained glass! The 1928 classic silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc is presented in association with the Huston School of Film & Digital Media, NUI Galway. Irish organist John Columba McCann will improvise a live sound-track to the movie, which will be shown on an extra-large screen; seating will be arranged so that the audience will see both the movie and the organist at work. The screening will be introduced by Dr Tony Tracy, Huston School of Film & Digital Media, NUI Galway. Distinguished Italian organist, composer and improviser Eugenio Maria Fagiani plays masterworks by Bach, Franck and Respighi on 12 July. He will also improvise on well-known themes submitted to him on the night. On 19 July, female vocal ensemble Schola Gregoriana Maynooth, directed by Galwegian Darina McCarthy, presents a programe of music centred on St Malachy and St Hildegard. They are joined by uilleann piper Michael Vignoles and organist Ramond O’Donnell to create a unique sound combining ancient and modern melodies. New Zealand native Thomas Gaynor is the hugely talented winner of the 2017 St Albans Organ Competition (UK); he plays a captivating programme of works by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Pachelbel and others on 26 July. On 2 August, renowned performer Christophe Guida, from France, plays a programme of music by Bach and by Bach’s student Krebs (including Krebs’ fugue on the notes B-A-C-H). To conclude the 2018 series on 9 August, Dublin Brass Ensemble – which comprises some of Ireland’s finest brass players – is joined by Cathedral organist Raymond O’Donnell in a programme combining masterworks and lighter repertoire. The resonance of mellow brass in the magnificent acoustic of Galway Cathedral is not to be missed! Admission to each concert is €15 (concessions €12); tickets are available on Eventbrite and at the door. Full details of all performers and their programmes are available on the Galway Cathedral Recitals website; press material is available under the “Press” link: https://recitals.galwaycathedral.ie Further information from Raymond O’Donnell, Director of Music, Galway Cathedral at music@galwaycathedral.ie, 087 2241365 or 091 531438. *** ENDS ***