Handel's Band Off Duty

A shamelessly entertaining evening of great tunes from 18th century Ireland and beyond.

Marja Gaynor, director

David Power, uilleann pipes

Pablo Fitzgerald, arch lute

What if Handel’s Band took a night off?

For this performance, the Irish Baroque Orchestra moves away from the traditional recital format. Instead, we are creating an immersive, high-energy session that imagines the music Handel and his contemporaries would have heard in the informal settings of the 1740s - where Baroque virtuosity met the living Irish traditional music of the day. This programme imagines the musical influences in Dublin during Handel's stay and draws together works by Handel alongside traditional Irish music.

Handel’s Band Off-Duty is about stripping away the formal veneer of the modern concert hall to reveal the vibrant, social music that animated 18th-century Ireland.

This concert is presented with support from Culture Ireland. The Irish Baroque Orchestra receives principal funding from Arts Council Ireland.