Guest Artist Profiles - 09/10 Season

“…Why is it that the 25-year old Northern Irish pianist Michael McHale can play with the fluency and inspiration of, for instance, Lang Lang, yet we have not heard of him?
Michael McHale remains the discovery of the evening…”

Christiane Peitz, Der Tagesspiegel, August 2008

 “…Bravura playing in the music of Franz Liszt drew extended ovations at pianist Michael McHale's recital at the Phillips Collection… He handled with gusto and skill the powerfully climbing themes and the thunderous climaxes…”

Daniel Ginsberg, Washington Post, May 2007

“…an elegant sensibility, and bright, even-fingered articulation that was instantly engaging…”

Hilary Finch, The Times, March 2006

Belfast-born pianist Michael McHale came to widespead attention in February 2009 as winner of the 2009 Terence Judd/Hallé Award and has established himself as one of the leading Irish pianists of his generation.

After early piano studies with John O’Conor and Reamonn Keary at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Michael read Music at Cambridge University, graduating with a double first-class honours degree. He completed his formal studies with Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with distinction in 2006.

Michael was featured as a 'rising star' in International Piano magazine as a result of his performance of two Mozart concertos with the Hallé Orchestra at the Piano 2006 festival in Manchester. He won the Brennan and Field Prizes at the 2006 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition prior to his biggest competitive success at the Terence Judd/Hallé Award finals in 2009, as a result of which he will have a recording opportunity with EMI Classics or the Hallé label in addition to a number of high profile concert engagements.

Michael has performed throughout the UK and Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Hungary and USA, including broadcast performances for BBC TV, Radio 3, RTE, PBS television and Deutschlandradio Kultur. Highlights include Beethoven Concertos 3, 4 and 5 with the Ulster Orchestra, critically acclaimed début recitals in Washington DC and the National Concert Hall, Dublin, concertos in Berlin Konzerthaus and Vígadó Concert Hall, Budapest and four performances of Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos with Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland.

Also an active chamber musician, Michael has recently collaborated with distinguished artists such as Richard Watkins, Sir James Galway, Barry Douglas, Patricia Rozario and Michael Collins. September 2008 saw the release of an album of piano trios with Ensemble Avalon on the RTE lyric fm label. The disc was chosen as 'selection of the month' in The Strad, described by critic Julian Haylock as 'one of the highlights of my listening year', while Classical Music magazine's Phillip Sommerich wrote that 'the Beethoven [Ghost Trio] is in the front rank of modern versions on disc'.

An interest in the music of living composers has seen Michael give premières of solo piano works by Irish composers Breffni O'Byrne and Philip Hammond as well as a collaboration with the celebrated Estonian composer Arvo Pärt last year. Michael recently recorded a CD for Louth Contemporary Music Society featuring solo works by John Cage and Arvo Pärt and chamber works by Silvestrov, Knaifel and Gorecki, which garnered praise from BBC Music magazine ('a sensitive reading by Michael McHale') and the Sunday Business Post ('[he] has an intuitive feel for music, and can cross musical boundaries effortlessly').

 Earlier this year he made studio recordings for RTE of the four new solo works by Irish composers written for the AXA Dublin International Piano Competition and he has recently commissioned a new solo piano work from Belfast composer Ian Wilson.

Future engagements include concerto performances with the Hallé (under Rory Macdonald) and Ulster (with Carlos Kalmar) orchestras, chamber music concerts around the UK and Ireland including King's Place, London and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and a solo recital début in the Wigmore Hall.

Michael is grateful to Camerata Ireland / Accenture, the Musicians' Benevolent Fund, EMI Music Sound Foundation and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for supporting his performing career. For further information visit www.michaelmchale.com

Being described as “One of the best young sopranos of her generation” Marcella Walsh studies under the tutelage of Dr Veronica Dunne (Dublin).  She graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a Bachelor of Music Degree with honours specialising in Classical vocal performance.  She was presented with the highly prestigious award of ‘Queen’s University Student of the Year 2008’.  Marcella received the ‘Excellence in Eighteenth Century Musical Performance Award’ for playing the role of Erato, the God of Music in Handel’s only operatic prologue Terpsicore. 
                        
Extensive concert, festival and recital experience include concerts in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Mutual of America, New York.  Marcella has won numerous first place awards for Oratorio, Opera, Lieder and Song and has taken part in masterclasses with Della Jones, Ailish Tynan, Roger Vignoles, Jeanette Ager, Norma Burrowes, Paul Farrington, Suzanne Murphy, Mikael Elias, Lynda Lee and Amelia Felle.

In June 2009 Marcella completed a Postgraduate Vocal Diploma in Performance at The Royal Irish Academy of Music Dublin receiving a First.  In June 2009 under the baton of Nicoletta Conti, Marcella made her professional operatic debut singing the role of Serafina in Donizetti’s Il Campanello with Opera Fringe.  Marcella then toured Northern Italy in July 2009 with Comune Di Montalto Ligure singing Norina in Don Pasquale under Maestro Angelo Guaragna.  Marcella was invited to give a recital in August 2009 for the Rosemary Street Recital Series in Belfast. 

Upcoming engagements include performances in Dublin Castle (Oct 09), celebrations for Queen’s University Charter Day (Belfast Nov 09), a performance of Exsultate Jubilate by Mozart with the Studio Symphony Orchestra (Lisburn Nov 09) and the role of Despina in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte with RIAM (January 2010).  This year Marcella will continue her studies at The Royal Irish Academy of Music, graduating with a Master in Vocal Performance in 2011.

 

'a deep connection to the music...as though the music was taking him over, this intensity was palpable...an incredibly accomplished performer' (The Tampa Oracle, Florida)

'superb intensity and passion' (The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio)

Cathal Breslin is one of the most exciting pianists of his generation. Born in Derry, N. Ireland, a growing international career has taken him to critically acclaimed performances in Concert Halls throughout Europe, U.S.A. and Asia. Recent concerto performances have been with orchestras such as the Turin Philharmonic in Italy, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Ulster Orchestra, Camerata Ireland and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, and with such prestigious conductors as Vladimir Altschuler, Barry Douglas, Christian Gansch, Giovanni Battista Rigon, Niklas Willen, and Gearoid Grant.

Recent solo recitals have been in Florida, Ohio, California, Michigan and Texas; Hong Kong, Japan; throughout Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and Portugal. Solo recitals in the 2008/9 Season include a Carnegie Hall Weill Debut Recital in New York City, El Ateneo in Madrid, Palacio Foz in Lisbon, Zala Bulgaria in Sofia, for the Chopin Society in Warsaw, and throughout Ireland, U.K., Italy and the U.S.  Next season Cathal will be giving tours of Ireland, China, Japan and Korea.

In 2007 Cathal was awarded the Bronze Medal at the prestigious Viotti International Piano Competition in Vercelli/ Milan, where past prizewinners have included Daniel Barenboim and Claudio Abbado. With this prize, he became only the second Northern Irish pianist in history to have won a World Federation International Music Competition Prize.
Other Competition successes in the last few years include top prizes in the Carlet International Piano Competition in Valencia, the Grand Konzerteum International Piano Competition in Athens, and the Iowa International Piano Competition in the U.S. He has also been awarded two special prizes in the AXA Dublin International Piano Competition.

He has broadcast regularly for BBC Radio, RTE Ireland, RTVE Spain, and has performed on Japanese, Spanish and Irish Television. He was the only Irish pianist selected for recordings in the Mozart Project 2006 for the European Broadcasting Union, and his Mozart recordings were broadcast on National Radio Stations in over 30 countries throughout the world.

Cathal began his Conservatory studies at the Royal College of Music in London with John Barstow, graduating in 2001 with a BMus (Hons) Degree with Distinction. Continuing his studies as the Associated Board Scholar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Kathryn Stott, Benjamin Frith and Alexander Melnikov, he was awarded a Masters of Music with Distinction, Postgraduate Diploma and Professional Performance Diploma. Cathal then lived in Madrid for two years studying with Joaquin Soriano at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Musica de Madrid, sponsored by the BBC Young Artist Scheme.

In 2008 he received a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan, where he was also a Teaching Assistant studying with Arthur Greene. To sponsor his time in the U.S. he was the only 2005 Irish Fulbright Scholar in the Arts, in addition to the only Bank of Ireland Millennium Scholar in the Arts.  Since 2008 Cathal has been based in Dublin, Ireland, where he lives with his wife and duo partner, American flutist Sabrina Hu. As an active Chamber musician, he is currently performing with renowned cellist Raphael Wallfisch and American flutist Richard Sherman.

He is also Artistic Director of the Walled City Music Festival in Derry, Northern Ireland.

A student of the SELB music service from an early age, Michael began playing the viola aged nine under Brigid Walton rising to section principal of the South Ulster Youth Orchestra.  After later studying with Philip Walton for three years, at age 18  Michael won the Martin White Award for 'an exceptional student intending to study at Music College, and performed the Telemann Viola Concerto with the South Ulster String Orchestra.  Michael was a finalist in the Catherine Judge Memorial Award, performing in the final recital in the Great Hall at Queen's University Belfast.  Michael is a varied performer; participating in genres ranging from solo recital and concerto performances to chamber music and larger scale orchestral works.

Michael has been involved in chamber music both in the UK, Ireland and the USA.  Michael was part of the winning string quartet group in the televised chamber music competition, ‘Classic Jam’ broadcast by RTÉ in 2008.  Michael was also a scholarship participant at the Apple Hill Centre for Chamber Music, Vermont, USA benefitting from coachings and masterclasses from the Apple Hill String Quartet.  In 2009 Michael also took part in the Pro Corda International Academy of Chamber Music in Suffolk, England.

Michael has performed with orchestras throughout Ireland playing in venues from the National Concert Hall in Dublin to the Kasino Kursaal in Interlaken, Switzerland.  As well as principal viola of the South Ulster Youth Orchestra Michael has been a member of the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ireland for many years; performing under conductors such as Gearoid Grant, Atso Almila, and Matthias Bamert.  Recently he accompanied the orchestra on their tour to Switzerland as part of the International Youth Orchestra Festival in Interlaken, performing in the open-air festival orchestra concert in the town square in Bern.

Michael is currently an undergraduate student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London and is a pupil of professor Mark Knight.  This prestigious conservatoire has been home to many notable alumni including Gold Medal winners Tasmin Little (violin) and Maxim Rysanov (viola) as well as other successful performers such as Sir James Galway.  After completing undergraduate studies Michael would like to broaden his performing to the USA or Europe.

Outside of the musical arena Michael is interested in Literature, in particular the poetry of Seamus Heaney and W.B. Yeats.