St Patrick’s Day Concert          26.03.2016  19:00   Mustpeade Maja White Hall

St Patrick’s Day Concert focuses on Irish and world chamber music. The event also commemorates a 100 years passing from the Easter Rising – the events that led to the independence of Ireland. The performers are Sarah Brady (soprano, Ireland), Christopher Quaid (violin, Ireland), Jun Zhao (piano, China), Marianne Laumets (piano, Estonia). There will be a reception at the end of the concert with light snacks and drinks.

The programme includes Irish songs and violin pieces, Western chamber music, and a Chinese song cycle.

Soprano Sarah Brady is a final year BA student of vocal studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. Sarah has been awarded for her talents on many occasions, she has won seven senior competitions over the last two years in Ireland’s prestigious classical music competition The Feis Ceoil. She was also the recipient of the Irené Sandford Bursary for Singers in 2015. In January 2016, Sarah sung the role of Pamina in the RIAM’s production of “Die Zauberflöte”. Her other operatic roles include Sicle in Cavalli’s “L’Ormindo” (2015) and the Novice in Puccini’s “Suor Angelica” (2015). She also premiered the roles of Melpomene & Urania in Cousser’s re-discovered opera “The Universal Applause of Mount Parnassus” with Ensemble Marsyas in Dublin Castle in 2015. Sarah’s notable engagements include performing excerpts from Handel’s “Floridante” at the Sligo Baroque Festival; performing as a soloist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra for Carols in Kilkenny Castle; singing in Handel’s “Messiah”, “Dixit Dominus”; and several other performances in the John Field Room, the National Concert Hall. At the beginning of March 2016, Sarah took part of performances titled Drums & Guns, devised by Iain Burnside and Conor Hanratty, in Dublin, London, and New York. In April, she will be singing as part of the year 1916 commemorations at Wigmore Hall.

Pianist Jun Zhao is both an active performer and music event organiser. He is the manager of Asian relations at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and at the same time a senior PhD student of accompaniment (prof Helin Kapten). Jun Zhao is the executive director of Dragon Culture Exchange MTÜ – a non profit organisation for arranging cultural events between Europe and Asia – having already organised numerous concerts in Estonia, Ireland, Denmark, Poland, and China. Jun Zhao has a Piano Performance BA degree and a Global Business Management BA degree from China, he has also obtained two MA degrees (piano and accompaniment) from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He has worked as a piano teacher at the Guangxi University in China and at the Li Jian College. Jun Zhao is the founder of the Guilin Piano Festival in China, a member of EPTA Ireland, a member of the China Sichuan Musicians Union Board, the coordinator for “Sichuan China Culture Exchange Program”, and the artistic director of the China-Europe Music Center in Shanghai. In 2015-2016, he took part of an exchange program at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin with prof Dearbhla Collins. Engagements in 2016 include cofounding and participating in the jury of the International Youth Piano Music Competition (China), and acting as one of the artistic directors of the Chinese New Year Gala Festival in Sichuan.

Christopher Quaid is one of the top young violinists in Ireland. He is presently an active performer with many solo and chamber music engagements. Christopher has been chosen to perform as a soloist with the RIAM Symphony Orchestra in the spring of 2016, and has previous experience playing in the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. He is the founder of the Quaid Quartet which has received much recognition for regularly participating in charity events. Christopher is due to graduate from the Royal Irish Academy of Music with a BA degree in spring 2016, as of September 2016 he has confirmed to commence MA degree studies at the Royal College of Music in London.

Marianne Laumets is an Estonian pianist, the administrative director of Dragon Culture Exchange MTÜ and the cofounder of several recent events. She is an active chamber musician and a piano MA student at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (docent Ada Kuuseoks). Marianne has given solo recitals in Estonia, the UK, Ireland, China, and participated in numerous masterclasses: Stephen Hough, Steven Osborne, Hilary Coates, Julius Drake, Aaron Shorr, Francesco Florenza, Fali Pavri, etc. She has been an exchange student at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester during 2013-2014, and in 2015-2016 at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Currently, she is also working as a teacher at Kose Music School.