In partnership with Music Network we are delighted to bring Mairéad Hickey and Agnès Clément to the Courthouse.
Mairéad Hickey
Celebrated Irish violinist Mairéad Hickey is acclaimed for her captivating expression, soaring tone and fearless virtuosity. Her natural ability to communicate sincerely, with beauty and integrity, entrances audiences world wide. As a soloist Mairéad has performed with the RTÉ Irish National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Irish National Concert Orchestra, Württembergisches Kammerorchester, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz, Kremerata Baltica and Camerata Ireland and many others in some of the major halls around the world. .Her Carnegie Hall debut was described as‘...magical, penetrating to the heart and soul of the music.’ (NewY ork Epoch Times) A passionate chamber musician, Mairéad has performed with Sir András Schiff, Barry Douglas, Tabea Zimmermann, Fazil Say, Marc Coppey, Mate Bekavac, Irena Grafenauer, Alexander Lonquich, Andreas Reiner, Paul Neubauer, Andrés Díaz, Pieter Wispelway, Michel Lethiec, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Boris Berezovsky and the Vanbrugh Quartet among many others. Mairéad has been invited to perform at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Westport Festival of Chamber Music, the Clandeboye Music Festival, Mantova Chamber Music Festival, Grachten festival Amsterdam, Rolandseck Festival and Chamber Music Connects the World Kronberg 2016 where she performed with Steven Isserlis and Christian Tetzlaff.Her love of chamber music led her to co-found the Ortús Chamber Music Festivalin 2016 in her native Cork, of which she is Artistic Director. Mairéad was Irish NCH Young Musician of the Year 2010–2012. As well as winning prizes at renowned Irish competitions, she won third prize as well as a Special Prize for the best interpretation of a virtuoso work at the 2016 International Louis Spohr Competition and first prize in the Jeunesses Musicales Violin Competition, Romania 2012. In 2017 she was awarded a Special Prize in the Berliner International Music Competition and the Manhattan International Music Competition. Born in 1996, Mairéad began playing the violin at the age of three with Jyrki Pietila. From 2003 to 2014she studied with Adrian Petcu at the CIT Cork School of Music, Ireland and spent a year in France studying at the Conservatoire de Nantes with Constantin Serban. She is now studying with Mihaela Martin at Kronberg Academy, sponsored by the Hilmar Kopper Stipendium. Mairéad has taken masterclasses and worked intensely with artists such as András Schiff, Rita Wagner, Ferenc Rados, Gidon Kremer, Dora Schwarzberg, Elena Bashkirova, Hugh Maguire, Vadim Repin, MarianaSirbu, Ana Chumachenco, Vadim Gluzman, Steven Isserlis, Yossi Zivoni, Mauricio Fuks, Gabor Takács-Nagy, Christoph Eschenbach, Marc Danel and Ivry Gitlis among others.Highlights of her upcoming season include a performance in Wigmore Hall, London with Sir András Schiff and in Frankfurt with the HR-Sinfonie Orchester and Christoph Eschenbach.Mairéad also plays traditional Irish music and has won eight world Irish fiddle titles. She has an instructional app ‘Irish Fiddler’ which is available on iTunes. Mairéad currently plays a Giovanni Tononi violin, kindly loaned to her through the Beares International Violin Society
Agnès Clément, harpist
“Played with a combination of ice-cool precision and full-blooded passion” – Bachtrack
"Astonishing virtuosity" - Der Tagesspiegel
“Virtuoso at the summit of her art” - Agence France-Presse
Awarded 1st Prize at the ARD Music Competition in Munich in 2016, Agnès Clément is considered one of the most gifted harpists of her generation. She has also received 1st Prize at the USA International Harp Competition and awards at the International Competition Valentino Bucci (Rome) and the International Harp Competition Lily Laskine (Paris).
Since her solo debuts at the Berliner Philharmonie, Salle Gaveau (Paris) and Lyon & Healy Concert Hall (Chicago), Agnès Clément is regularly invited to perform on the international stage as a soloist with orchestras such as Symphoniorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Orchestra), Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Colombia, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Auvergne Orchestra, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Georgischen Kammerorchester, Hunan Philharmonic Orchestra (China) and le Deutsches Sinfonieorchester.
Much in demand as a chamber music musician, Agnès performs with such renowned musicians as Tabea Zimmermann, Adam Walker, Arod and Doric String Quartets, Patrick Gallois, Sébastien Jacot, Sophie Dartigalongue, the Carousel Ensemble and her sister Hélène Clément.
Agnès has recorded two critically acclaimed solo harp albums "Dance" for Lyon & Healy Record label and "The Nightingale in love" for Genuin Classics. "The Nightingale in love" was nominated for a prestigious Opus Klassik Award in 2020.
In 2019, Flemish composer Wim Hendreickx dedicated his new Harp Concertino to Agnès which she premiered in Brussels with La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alain Altinoglu. Passionate about increasing contemporary repertoire for the harp, she has also premièred new music by Olivier Massot, Toshio Hosokawa, Michael Maganuco and Krzysztof Meyer.
Principal harpist of La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra since 2013, Agnès also teaches at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
