Where it all began
Newry Chamber Music was founded in the late 1990’s by myself and my brother David whilst both still students at music college in England. We found ourselves presenting an annual Christmas Concert back home in Newry each year and we attribute this to being the beginning of NCM.
As our own individual careers progressed we began to invite friends to come and perform with us or to present their own concert as guests of NCM. A season started to emerge and we have gone from strength to strength becoming an essential part of cultural and artistic life in Northern Ireland.
Around about 2014 I started to make plans to develop a dedicated flexible chamber music ensemble for the area which would become one of the main focuses of Newry Chamber Music’s work. By flexible, I mean an ensemble ranging from 2-18 players. The beauty of this is that the audience can hear a wide variety of chamber music styles in any one concert and players have an opportunity to perform lesser known works for unusual combinations.
Soon after, the Fews Ensemble was born and we gave our inaugural concert to a packed Warrenpoint Town Hall in November 2016 on the eve of the US Presidential Election and with a programme entitled ‘America’. Since then we have presented scores of innovative concerts throughout the country.
We have commissioned leading Irish composers to write for the Ensemble and have presented sell out runs of several programmes including Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale with Irish actor Ciarán Hinds and dancer Emily Ayers and the Irish premiere of the original version of Mendelssohn’s iconic String Octet. We perform with joy and enthusiasm. At our concerts audiences will be guided through the pieces they will hear with musical examples to listen out for and anecdotes about the composers.
Nowadays Newry Chamber Music has a year round season of events taking place in concert halls, churches, and community venues throughout the region and indeed the island of Ireland. We provide exceptional quality, professional chamber music concerts and cross arts events as well as educational work and performances in care homes and hospitals. We are dedicated to our audience and the people of our area and feel strongly that the arts play a huge part in society, health and general well being.
We have a wonderful team of musicians from Ireland, the UK and Europe who join us several times a year to rehearse and perform here. They have all come to love the area and the opportunity that the Fews Ensemble provides to play wonderful chamber music with friends and for the most appreciative audiences around.
Joanne Quigley McParland
Artistic Director
