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  • Welcome to the final episode in this series of Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, sweet and bittersweet memories and experiences of classical musicians during the pandemic. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it’s an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit.

    My final guest is Emma Roche, a Glasgow-based freelance flautist, who is a regular in the Irish Chamber Orchestra. This means I’m lucky enough to call her a dear colleague.

    She shares her bitter experience of being terrified and alone in the hospital with her newborn son Charlie.

    Her sweet memories are of the community spirit and support she found in her neighbourhood in Glasgow, and of bringing Charlie back to Cork to meet her Mum for the first time.

    Her bittersweet is her first day back at work. She felt a rush of excitement as she heard the oboe give an A. The glorious sound of the orchestra tuning up gave her that thrill we all know so well. This was followed by the nightmare of trying to make music together while so far apart.

    This interview was recorded in September 2021.

    Emma was born in Cork and was a student at the Cork School of Music until she moved to Glasgow in 1995 to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She currently plays with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and also enjoys a busy freelance career as an orchestral player, performing with Scottish Ballet, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Improvisation is an important and regular part of her musical life. She is a founder member of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra with whom she loves playing with, in both large and small groups. As well as teaching, she also delivers workshops and masterclasses for musicians of all ages through her work with GIO and Children’s Classic Concerts.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, sweet and bittersweet memories and experiences of classical musicians during the pandemic. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it’s an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit.

    My guest in episode fifteen is Irish Chamber Orchestra violinist Louis Roden.

    His bitter memory was a concert, a world premiere and a tour cancelled due to a Covid case in the orchestra, while his sweet is the quiet hours he spent working in companionable silence with his wife Monica in their allotment. Here with his hands in the earth and alongside his wife, he found nourishment for his soul, his spirit and his family. His bittersweet recollection is of performing for a small audience of 50 who were clustered in pods, at Kilkenny Arts Festival in August 2020. He couldn’t help but notice the many audience members with tears streaming down their faces. When he looked around at his fellow musicians, he saw that they were also in tears. It was a profoundly moving moment, which was both beautiful and painful.

    This interview was recorded in September 2021.

    Born in Dublin, Louis Roden studied violin with Yossi Zivoni in London before attending the conservatoire in Marseille, where he studied chamber music and violin. Although he is based in Ireland, he has maintained a special relationship with France and has returned to perform on numerous occasions to perform with the Camerata de Provence.

    He has toured across Europe, the Far East, Australia and the USA. His passion for new music has seen him perform world premieres by composers such as Gerald Barry, Sam Perkin and Linda Buckley. He has enjoyed his collaborations with the Rubato Ballet Company in festivals across the world.

    Over the years Louis has had a special interest in educational work. He has taught, coached youth orchestras and took part in the Music Network projects in schools. More recently he has been giving concerts in hospitals as part of an outreach project.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

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  • Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, sweet and bittersweet memories and experiences of classical musicians during the pandemic. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it’s an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit.

    My guest in episode fourteen is Elaine Clark, violinist and co-leader of the National Symphony Orchestra in Ireland.

    Her bitter experience is the almost physical ache she felt due to the prolonged separation from her mother in Aberdeen. Her sweet was performing a live stream of Beethoven’s String Quartet Op.131 on the stage of the National Concert Hall. On stage, at that moment, she felt “This is where I am meant to be!”. Her bittersweet was also the live streaming experience. While she loved playing and being back with her colleagues, the distance, the difficulty in communication, and the lack of an audience inhibited true, meaningful connection.

    Born in Aberdeen, Elaine studied with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she won several awards and prizes. After graduating with a First Class Honours Degree, she continued her studies with Viktor Liberman at the Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands.

    Since 1996, when she was appointed Co-Leader of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Elaine has made Dublin her home. She is a regular soloist with the NSO, most recently in performances of Bach Double Concerto and Deirdre Gribbens's Venus Blazing as well as performing as soloist in John Williams ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Suite in the presence of President Michael D, Higgins. She has also led many orchestras both home and abroad, including RTE Concert Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.’

    Elaine has a deep love of chamber music and has been able to nourish this by being a member of the Ficino Ensemble, Ficino Quartet and Clarion Horn Trio, as well as performing numerous freelance chamber music concerts. She has also travelled extensively with the contemporary music ensemble Concorde and performed numerous world premieres.

    She has given masterclasses at Royal Irish Academy of Music, University of Limerick and Cork School of Music and sits on the board of UCD Symphony Orchestra.

    This interview was recorded in September 2021.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life for classical musicians when the music suddenly stopped. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it’s an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit.

    My guest in episode thirteen is oboist Dan Bates, my colleague in the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

    After an initial sense of exhilaration in the first few weeks of lockdown, Dan shares his experience of a crushing depression, the treatment he was offered, and the impact this had on him. His sweet memory is of the three chickens he reared; Anastasia, Garbo and Clemmie Bunting. His bitter was witnessing the effect of lockdowns on his Mum.

    This conversation was recorded in September 2021.

    Daniel Bates (MA CANTAB, FRSM, FTCL, ARAM, AGSMD) is principal oboe with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia and co-principal oboe of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Previously, he also held the principal oboe position with the Royal Northern Sinfonia at the Sage, Gateshead. He has played guest principal for all the major UK orchestras as well as various international orchestras such as the National Orchestra of Colombia, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. As a session musician, he has recorded for numerous pop acts and films, including the Harry Potter franchise and for Barbra Streisand, Mary J Blige, Rihanna and Stevie Wonder.

    Born in London, Daniel attended the Purcell School of Music. He was subsequently offered scholarships to every music college in the country and chose to study at the Royal Academy of Music under Celia Nicklin and Dougie Boyd. This was followed by a music scholarship to study at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he read Music and the History of Art.

    He has performed solo concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Brasov Filharmonica, the Turin Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Mozart Players and the English Chamber Orchestra. Solo recitals include venues such as the Wigmore Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Usher Hall and the Purcell Room. Internationally, he has given solo recitals in venues such as the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and at various European festivals partnered with musicians of international renown including Jörg Widmann, Elizabeth Leonskaya, Joan Rodgers and Anthony Marwood.

    As an actor, having studied classical acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, his credits include the title role in The Picture of Dorian Gray (Vienna’s English Theatre), Fedotik in The Three Sisters (alongside Kristen Scott Thomas and Eric Sykes in the West End) and Adrian Green in Casualty (BBC TV).

    Daniel is the founder and Artistic Director of FitzFest (www.fitzfest.co.uk), a community chamber music festival, based in Fitzrovia, central London.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, sweet and bittersweet memories and experiences of classical musicians during the pandemic. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it’s an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit.

    My guest in episode twelve is violinist Anita Vedres. There are three significant areas of her life she explores with us; her family, her working and musical life, and nature and the environment. In each of these areas, she reflects on her bitter, sweet and bittersweet memories and experiences.

    She shares her thoughts on the impact of international touring on the environment, her engagement with nature, freelance life, the place of music in our society, how that is or isn’t represented and reflected in the decisions our government makes and finally "our glorious insignificance."

    Anita left Ireland to studying in London and Utrecht. She returned to Ireland and joined the Irish Chamber Orchestra. A full member there for years, she continues to perform regularly with them. She is also a former member of the National Symphony Orchestra and performs regularly with the RTE Concert Orchestra. Holding a master’s degree in baroque violin she is a founding and active member of the Irish Baroque Orchestra.

    Aside from her diverse orchestral activities she enjoys playing 17th- & 18th-century and contemporary music in chamber ensembles and has appeared with Crash Ensemble, Camerata Kilkenny, Musici Ireland, Armoniosa and the Robinson Panoramic Quartet with whom she has premiered many works by Irish composers.

    She enjoys working with young people as a violin teacher and coach through Dublin Youth Orchestras and in schools workshops with Music Network. She is a regular contributor to the Classical Kids concert series and is currently among the musicians in residence at the National Opera House, working to get young children inspired by and involved in music.

    This interview was recorded in September 2021.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, sweet and bittersweet memories and experiences of classical musicians during the pandemic. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it’s an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit.

    My guest in episode eleven is Steve Kelly, percussionist with the RTE Concert Orchestra since 2010. He shares his bitter memory of the Guinness Jazz Festival being cancelled, the sweet experience of being able to support his wife as she devoted herself to her art practice and the bittersweet of returning to work.

    Stephen Kelly is the sub-principal percussionist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and he has lectured in percussion at the MTU Cork School of Music since 2004. He has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, City of London Sinfonia, Crash Ensemble and many more. Equally as at home driving a big band from behind the drum kit, tinging a triangle in an orchestra or educating future professional percussionists, Stephen manages to make a living playing music, which in his words “certainly beats working.”

    This interview was recorded in August 2021.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, sweet and bittersweet memories and experiences of classical musicians during the pandemic. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it’s an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit.

    My guest in episode ten is french horn player Hannah Miller. She shares the bitter experience of a chamber ensemble trial in Paris thwarted by endless lockdowns, and her sweet experience of restoring her great-grandmother’s chicken coop which had fallen into disrepair. Her family worked on the project together and it became the first of many building efforts they embarked on collectively. Her bittersweet memory is of her graduation from Julliard. This milestone didn’t happen in New York with her classmates but online, which meant she could celebrate this moment with her entire clan.

    Hannah Miller attained her Bachelor degree at Finland’s Sibelius Academy and graduated with a Master’s degree from New York’s Juilliard School in 2021, where she was awarded with the William Schuman Prize for outstanding achievement in Music and leadership.

    During her time in Finland, Hannah won the position of Associate Principal Horn with the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, and has since gone from strength to strength as an orchestral musician, performing with the Irish National Opera, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Irish Chamber Orchestra and joining the Verbier Festival Orchestra in 2019.

    As a member of the Irish contemporary music group Kirkos Ensemble, she has been featured in solo and chamber music concerts performing a wide range of new works. She has performed with Crash Ensemble, Le Concert Impromptu and Ulysses Ensemble.

    Hannah is the Festival Director and founder of ‘FuddleFest’, a music festival based at her home in Fuddletown, Wexford which first took place in August 2021. She spends any free time there minding her goats, chickens and ducks on the family farm.

    This conversation was recorded in September 2021.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, sweet and bittersweet memories and experiences of classical musicians during the pandemic. My fellow musicians share their reflections on what they learned and discovered about themselves during this extraordinary and challenging time, and how they want to live going forward. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it’s an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit.

    My guest in episode nine is double bassist Mark Jenkins, someone I usually see across the stage in rehearsals and concerts.

    Born and raised in South Wales, he went to music college there at the prestigious Welsh College of Music and Drama. London beckoned and so off he went to Guildhall School of Music and Drama for his postgraduate studies, after which he freelanced throughout the UK. His move to Ireland happened in 1995 when he was appointed as a tutti player in the then RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. Since 1999, he has been Associate Principal No.2 with the orchestra. Greystones in Co. Wicklow is where he calls home now, and from where on a clear day he can see his beloved Wales. He enjoys sea swimming...but only in the summer!

    Mark shares the bitter experience of being separated from Wales, the sweet memory of his first lockdown birthday and the bittersweet memory of the loss of his dear Aunty Jenny to Covid 19.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Hello and welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast where classical musicians share the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life when the concert halls shut their doors and the audiences vanished. In this episode I’m chatting to Katherine Hunka, leader of the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Her bitter memory is of a career high she was unable to fully celebrate. Her sweet memory is the love that blossomed for her during this time and being able to be totally present for her two boys. The bittersweet was the experience of performing at her favourite festival, with her favourite people, with audiences apart and masked in rows like students in an exam hall.

    Katherine is leader of the Irish Chamber Orchestra since 2002 and regularly directs from the leader’s chair. She has directed premieres with Irish composers Sam Perkin, Ian Wilson, Raymond Dean and John Kinsella, as well as performing concertos and chamber music with artists like Jörg Widmann, and Pekka Kuusisto.

    In 2020, she released her first solo CD recording with the ICO and received glowing reviews. In that year she also became Artistic Director of the Killaloe Music Festival.

    Her group “The Far Flung Trio” with accordionist Dermot Dunne and bassist Malachy Robinson spans repertoire from Bach to Klezmer.

    Katherine has guest led Manchester Camerata, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She has been guest soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra and the RTE Concert Orchestra.

    She is currently a lecturer at the MTU Cork School of Music and the Irish World Academy of Music.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Hello and welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast where classical musicians share the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life when the concert halls shut their doors and the audiences vanished. 

    In this episode I’m chatting to Christopher Nery, principal bass trombonist with the RTE Concert Orchestra since 2009. He shares bitter memories of the anxiety caused by uncertainty, burnout, cabin fever and misinformation. His sweet memories are of the simple things, like weekly pizza parties with his children, trips to the recycling and the joy of DIY projects in his home. His bittersweet is of the home-schooling experience.

    Chris has worked with ensembles across Europe including Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orquestra Nacional de Barcelona y Catalunya, Opera North, BBC Concert Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and Irish Chamber Orchestra. In the USA he has performed with River City Brass, Pittsburgh Symphony and Sarasota Orchestra amongst others.

    From 2003-2015 he was Professor of Low Brass at the Conservatoire Perpignan Méditerranée in Perpignan, France and currently teaches bass trombone and euphonium at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.

    He is a Buffet Groupe artist playing Courtois trombones and Besson euphoniums and has appeared as guest clinician/adjudicator at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon, the Cork Institute of Technology School of Music, and most recently at the University of Miami, Florida.

    This episode was recorded in September 2021.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Hello and welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast where classical musicians share the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life when the concert halls shut their doors and the audiences vanished. In this episode I’m chatting to Yseult Cooper Stockdale, a freelance cellist and member of Kirkos, one of Ireland’s leading experimental music ensembles. She is a regular guest with orchestras across the UK and Ireland. As a member of the Spero Quartet, she performs frequently in chamber music festivals and series around Ireland. Exciting plans for this year include a spring tour with her quartet and joining forces with the Vanbrugh String Quartet for concerts in the Autumn. Yseult is both a composer and a performer with Kirkos, and is currently the recipient of a co-commission award from the Arts Council of Ireland, as well as an Agility Award to continue her study of the baroque cello.

    In this episode she shares her sweet memory of the sensation of security and warmth she felt while cooking dinner for her flatmates during the first lockdown. Her bitter experience is the distance the pandemic brought to some friendships, while her bittersweet is of a house concert in her home. She found herself moved to tears with joy and sorrow by the music, the poetry, and the people she was sharing it with.

    This episode was recorded in September 2021.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Hello and welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast where classical musicians share the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life when the concert halls shut their doors and the audiences vanished.

    I’m Cliodhna Ryan, violinist with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and freelancer. In this episode, I’m chatting to Íde Ní Chonaill, a freelance bassoonist from Cork, who is based in London. She has a career as a performer and community music practitioner.

    As a performer she is predominantly a chamber orchestra and chamber musician, regularly travelling back to Ireland to perform with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her core work, Íde enjoys exploring new challenges, like donning a praying mantis costume for her first experience as an actor-musician in The Nightingale and the Rose, an experience she loved.

    Alongside her career as a performer, Íde works in a variety of settings, facilitating communication through music. She is involved in a wide range of community music projects for adults and children with profound and complex needs. Since 2013 she has worked on intensive music projects and has provided staff training in special schools for the charity Jessie’s Fund.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Hello and welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast where classical musicians share the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life when the concert halls shut their doors and the music stopped.

    I’m Cliodhna Ryan, violinist, member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra and freelancer. In this episode, I’m chatting to Cormac Ó hAodáin, principal horn with the RTE Concert Orchestra.

    He shares the bitter experience of his Mum being ill, becoming a carer overnight, and the burnout that followed. His sweet memory is of regular meetups on Zoom with a community of musicians and composers, facilitated by the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin. His bittersweet is while isolation was challenging, he felt equipped to handle it after a decade of living alone.

    Between 1993-1996, Cormac represented Ireland in the European Union Youth Orchestra, working with such eminent maestros as Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haitink, Mstislav Rostropovich and Vladimir Ashkenazy. In 1997 he joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and in 1999 became a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Cormac moved back to Ireland in 2009 to join the RTÉ Concert Orchestra as principal horn. Since his return to Ireland, he has established the Cassiopeia Wind Quintet and joined the teaching staff of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He is currently doing a Masters in Conducting at TU Dublin, under the mentorship of David Brophy.

    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Songwriters || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland

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  • Hello and welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast where classical musicians share the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life when the concert halls shut their doors and the music stopped.

    I’m Cliodhna Ryan, violinist, member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra and freelancer, and in this episode, I’m chatting to Caitríona Frost.

    Caitríona is a freelance percussionist whose career started at the age of 4 playing an egg shaker with the local concert band. She performs regularly with Ireland’s leading orchestras and has toured extensively with Celtic Woman and Declan O’Rourke. She is a founding member of Bangers & Crash percussion ensemble, which is led by Alex Petcu.

    Recently Caitríona has been composing works for percussion that are steeped in the Irish tradition, drawing on her early experiences of playing fiddle and tin whistle. 

    In 2020, she was awarded an Arts Council of Ireland Music Bursary, as well as a residency at Roadbooks, Co.Cork. She has just returned from a residency at Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, funded by Music Network.

    Caitríona’s bitter memory is of her work suddenly stopping, and her relationship ending. Her sweet memory is of a wonderful Christmas Day spent with family in West Cork. There were gifts exchanged, sea swims, and lots of love and laughter.  Much of her experience at this time felt bittersweet, as her extraordinary artistic and personal journey came about through the pain of her relationship break up, devastating loss of work, and the sudden impact the pandemic had on her entire way of living.

    This conversation was recorded in September 2021.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering- Patrick Stefan Groenland

  • Hello and welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast where classical musicians share the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life when the concert halls shut their doors and the audiences vanished.

    I’m Cliodhna Ryan and I'm a violinist. In this episode of the podcast, I’m talking with Scottish born violinist Liz McLaren, sub-principal Second Violin with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland since 2000.

    She has enjoyed a varied musical life in Ireland, including performing with the Orchestra of St Cecilia as Principal Second Violin, playing all of Bach's Cantatas, and almost all of Haydn's 107 symphonies. 

    She has also recorded for cabaret artist Camille O'Sullivan, the Irish Film Orchestra and artist Jaki Irvine, at IMMA. 

    Brought up in a house ringing with the sound of bagpipes, accordions and fiddles, McLaren continues to play Scottish traditional music with her mum.

    This interview was recorded in August 2021.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Song || Bittersweet Symphony

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Sean Mac Erlaine

  • Hello and welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast where classical musicians share the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life when the concert halls shut their doors, the audiences vanished, and the music stopped.

    I’m Cliodhna Ryan and I'm a violinist. In this first episode of the podcast I’m talking with cellist Aoife Burke. Selected by The Arts Council as a recipient of a Next Generation Artist Bursary 2020, Aoife is a member of the Opalio Piano Trio and the Banbha String Quartet, supported by the National String Quartet Foundation. She currently holds a residency at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork City, where she curates the 6 Summertime Concerts Series and the Spotlight Chamber Music Series, which she founded in 2017.

    This interview was recorded in August 2021.

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    CREDITS

    Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith

    Song || Bittersweet Symphony

    Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards

    Violin || Cliodhna Ryan

    Production || Cliodhna Ryan

    Mastering || Sean MacErlaine

  • Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet experience of life for classical musicians during a global pandemic. 

    Violinist, producer and host Cliodhna Ryan chats to fellow musicians from every section of the orchestra about what happened to them when their world went quiet, and what they have chosen to never forget. 

    Bittersweet Symphony is launching on Tuesday 7th December and will be available on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month.