Camerata Ireland, Barry Douglas, piano & directionCamerata Ireland is a chamber orchestra formed in 1999 by Barry Douglas, one of the world’s foremost pianists since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano competition in Moscow.
The orchestra’s inaugural concerts were given at the Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast and the State Apartments in Dublin, bringing together fine Irish musicians from both the North and the South, players holding top positions in some of the major British and European orchestras with exceptional young Irish musicians, to celebrate, in Barry Douglas’s own words, 'the wealth of Irish musical talent'.
The world-wide reputation of Barry Douglas has been an immense stimulus for interest in Camerata Ireland which has made three extensive tours of the USA and has also performed in South America, Italy, Germany, Poland, China and in France.
The orchestra and Barry Douglas will be giving the fourth concert in their Mozart Piano Concerto cycle at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris in June 2010. Their yearly international series also takes them to the Cadogan Hall in London, the National Concert Hall, Dublin, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the National Auditorium in Madrid.
Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland organise the Clandeboye Festival outside Belfast every August. Clandeboye has become the major summer musical event in Northern Ireland. The festival is centred around workshops and masterclasses for young musicians, many of whom go on to perform with Camerata Ireland, and are led by Barry Douglas and other international artists. It is followed in September by its sister festival The Castletown Concerts in Celbridge, Co Kildare, which has begun a colloboration with music students from nearby Maynooth University as part of its ethos of supporting young musicians.
Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland have recorded a Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle for Satirino Records. The complete box set was released in early 2008.
Camerata Ireland is one of only two organisations to have been honoured with the joint Patronage of Mary McAleese, President of Ireland and Her Majesty The Queen. Camerata Ireland is deeply grateful for the support of its Global Sponsor Randox laboratories, and is also supported by Culture Ireland, the Northern Ireland Arts Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.
For further, detailed information about Camerata Ireland and its work, please visit their website, www.camerata-ireland.com
Barry Douglas
"..the Prokofiev’s second piano concerto was sheer dazzle. Barry Douglas’s frenetic but assured performance was almost dizzying to watch."
www.musicweb-international.com by John-Pierre Joyce (BBC Symphony Orchestra, April 2009)
Barry Douglas continues to enjoy a major international solo career which has developed since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, Moscow. In 1999, he formed Camerata Ireland an all Irish chamber orchestra, with players from both Northern and Southern Ireland to celebrate "the wealth of Irish musical talent" where he remains Artistic Director. He also continues as Artistic Director of the Clandeboye Festival, Ireland and the International Piano Festival, Manchester.
Last season as soloist, Barry returned to Seattle Symphony, Halle, Radio Sinfonie Orchestra, Berlin, Melbourne Symphony, Singapore Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2009/10 he will give concerts with St. Petersburg Symphony in St. Petersburg and on tour in the UK as well as returning to the BBC Symphony Orchestra over here. Outside of the UK he will perform with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Prague; Atlanta Symphony; Brussels Philharmonic; China Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony amongst others. He will give recitals in the UK, Ireland, France and Germany.
Orchestral highlights of recent seasons include concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, BBC Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In recital he regularly tours France, Ireland, UK, US and Russia with recent visits to Manchester, Dublin, St. Petersburg, Moscow.
As Camerata approach their tenth anniversary, Barry’s reputation as a play/conductor continues to grow and last season he made successful debuts with Academy of St.Martin-in-the-Fields, Lithuania Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony and the Bangkok Symphony amongst others. In 2008/09, he returned to Bangkok and Lithuania as well as making his debut with I Pommerigi di Milano, Novosibirsk Chamber Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he will return in 2009/10. Also next season he will make his debut with the Chamber Orchestra of the Romanian National Radio Orchestra at the Enescu Festival, the Vancouver Symphony and the Moscow Philharmonic as conductor.
Each season, Camerata Ireland promote their International Series with concerts in Dublin, London and Paris as well as regularly touring the US. They are the resident ensemble at the Clandeboye Festival and at Castletown Concerts, Ireland.
In 2007, Barry presented his first television series for RTE Ireland “Symphony Sessions” – a programme showing behind the scenes of orchestral life. Barry conducted and played with the RTE National Orchestra and returned in 2008 for another series in this role. He is currently recording a programme for BBC Northern Ireland due to be aired later this year charting the development of young Irish musicians.
Last season, Sony/BMG released his recording of Rachmaninov 1 and 3 with the Russian National Orchestra and Svetlanov. He has recorded extensively throughout his career and in the last three years has recorded all the Beethoven Concert with Camerata Ireland. His recording of the Reger Concerto coupled with the Strauss Burleske with Marek Janowski and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France for BMG was awarded the Diapson d’Or.
Barry Douglas received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2002 New Year’s Honours List for services to music.
Date Last Edited: 4th August 2010
Barry Douglas appears by arrangement with IMG Artists and is represented in France by OZ Artists Management
Press reviews"Barry Douglas conducts with a communicative urgency that jolts the most concert-weary warhorses back to life" Joe Banno, Washington Post
"With the A Major Piano Concerto KV 414, Douglas shows himself as a brilliant Mozart interpreter. He was accompanied by Camerata Ireland with a dazzling style which easily invoked the spirit of the Salzburg idol" Ulrich Moller-Amsberg, Suddeutsche Zeitung
"Tchaikovsky's Serenade is meant to plunge listeners into a rich, encompassing aural world. That is precisely what happened in this sumptuous performance, showing off the orchestra's appealing, full-bodied string sound." Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post
"Douglas is the dreamer.... [he] sounds if he‘s slept with the score and woken up loving it. There’s a simple, expressive logic about his playing (as well as the occasional expressive desynchronisation of the hands)."
Rob Cowan, Gramophone
"Whether your are ready to update your Beethoven piano concertos or just starting out, this new recording is a must."
Laurence Vittes, Audiophile
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Programmes 2012 - 2013Camerata Ireland - Barry Douglas, piano & direction
with Ailish Tynan or Celine Byrne, soprano
Field - Aria & Nocturne for piano and orchestra - arr. Barry Douglas
Mozart - Porgi Amor (Countess, Figaro)
Mozart - Piano Concerto N° 23 in A major K 488
p a u s e
Irish Songs - Carrickfergus, Last Rose of Summer, arr. Barry Douglas
Druid Dances - arr. Edward Bunting (1792) / Barry Douglas
Mozart - Symphony N° 40 in G minor
A programme of classical and celtic music that brings together Mozart masterpieces and traditional Irish tunes with some of Ireland's greatest musicians.
Camerata Ireland - Barry Douglas, piano & direction
Mendelssohn - String Symphony N°10
Mozart - Piano Concerto N° 27 in B flat K595
p a u s e
Rossini - String Sonata N°1 in G
Haydn - Symphony N° 85 'La Reine de France'
A classical programme that includes early works by Rossini and Mendelssohn with Mozart's last piano concerto and Haydn's 1785 Parisian symphony most loved by Marie-Antoinette. A perfect programme to relish the art of the great pianist and the sublime strings of his Camerata Ireland.
Several periods are still available during the 2012-2013 and during the summer of 2012 and 2013.
