In partnership with The RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral
The gala festival concert features a Festival Toccata – that composed by Samuel Barber in 1960 with its virtuoso organ solo part, today played by Fergal Caulfield, a former Organ Festival Competition prizewinner and one of Ireland’s leading keyboard players. Gordon Jacob’s colourful and dramatic orchestration of Elgar’s Organ Sonata illuminates facets of the piece left obscure by the original and confirms its status as a major symphonic work. The Pipeworks Festival Chorus, formed especially for this event, joins the RTÉ Concert Orchestra under the baton of Artistic Director David Leigh in a rare performance in the lavish full orchestral version of Fauré’s well-loved Requiem.