The Dublin Philharmonic performs music by Irish composers as part of a 49-city tour of the United States during January-March 2009.

The orchestra's inaugural American tour, under the direction of music director Derek Gleeson and principal conductor Colman Pearce, will feature four different concert programmes, one of which will exclusively focus on Irish composers.

The Celtic Spectacular concert will blend traditional and contemporary Irish music and feature music by Patrick Cassidy, Vincent Kennedy (including the premiere of Dreams, a new 10-minute work for solo violin and orchestra specially written for violinist Cora Venus Lunny), Mick Langan and Bill Whelan (his concerto for traditional fiddle and classical violin, Inishlacken).

Soloists featured on the tour include Celine Byrne (soprano), Cora Venus Lunny (violin), Conor Linehan and Peter Tuite (piano), Frankie Gavin and Athena Tergis (fiddle), Aidan O'Brien (uilleann pipes, flute and whistle), and Peadar Townsend (percussion).

The tour, under the auspices of Columbia Artists Management, begins on Saturday 10 January in Orlando, Florida and ends on Tuesday 17 March in Costa Mesa, California.

For details, please see our calendar or visit www.dublinphilharmonic.com.

Posted: 22 December 2008