Spoil your senses with the sound of strings. The GFI opens at the National Concert Hall with Festival Director, guitarist Alec O'Leary and the world-renowned ConTempo String Quartet. This concert features some of the finest works for guitar and strings from tangos to fandanogos, all delivered with the integrity of a well-polished ensemble.

ConTempo String Quartet

"The String playing was both intimately engaged and subtly but distinctly extrovert. Lively and intricately balanced, the ConTempo worked the gallery acoustic to best advantage, and their sound ranged from a full bodied richness to a searing, almost period-instrument quality...lucky Galway" The Irish Times.

ConTempo String Quartet The "ABBA of the classical music" and winners of 14 International Prizes are Bogdan Sofei 1st violin, Ingrid Nicola 2nd violin Andreea Banciu viola & Adrian Mantu cello Formed in 1995 when students at the Music University in Bucharest, Romania, the ConTempo String Quartet have toured the world extensively and have won a record of 14 international prizes in London String Quartet (Audience Prize as well), Rome, Munich, Graz, Berlin, Prague, Hamburg etc). The quartet has become one of the most celebrated young string quartets performing today. In 1999 they took up a Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music where they taught chamber music classes and had the chance to meet and work with some of the most famous quartets in the world: Amadeus, Alban Berg, Hagen, Tokyo & Emerson.

Since 2003, they have been Quartet in Residence on the West Coast of Ireland embarking on a unique project. Highlights of ConTempo's residency in Galway include: Attracting internationally known musicians from all genres to Galway and performing collaborative concerts. An annual Summer School, Spring School and Autumn School for young musicians An education programme in County Galway schools An annual ConTempo Summer Festival, which has featured collaborative artists such as Emma Johnson, Martin Lovett, Bruno Giuranna, Hugh Tinney, John Feeley and Maírtín O'Connor. ConTempo Quartet has toured the world extensively, performing more than 1000 concerts in venues including: Carnegie Hall NY, Wigmore Hall, St. Martin in the Fields and St. John's Smith Square in London; The Philharmonic Hall in Berlin; Max Joseph Saal in Munich; Theatre Chatelet in Paris; The Opera House in Tel Aviv; Musee de Beaux Arts in Brussels; Geidai Hall in Tokyo; The Waterfront Hall in Belfast; Athenaeum Hall in Bucharest; and National Concert Hall in Dublin, The King's Lynn Festival (where they performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Elgar's Introduction and Allegro for soloist quartet and orchestra), Radio France Festival, Berliner Festwochen, Haydn Fest in Eisenstadt, Enescu Festival in Bucharest, Europa Musicale in Munchen etc.

ConTempo Quartet had the honour to be invited to perform in front of great personalities such as the late Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo in Italy, for Prince Charles in UK (in London and Highrove) , for Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa and EU Ministers and for the famous Hollywood actors Angelica Houston, Angela Lansbury and Martin Sheen. Filmmaker Bob Quinn produced a documentary about ConTempo's residency in Galway, "ConTempo Goes West", which premiered at the Galway Film Fest. The quartet has participated in numerous television and radio broadcasts in England (where they recorded quartets by Shostakovich, Debussy, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Bartok & Constantinescu for BBC), France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Romania and Ireland. ConTempo recorded the Adagio from Beethoven's Opus 131 for Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks' television drama "Band of Brothers" and for Sony. They composed, arranged and performed the music for the Danish silent film "The Abis" (1910). The quartet also took part in the documentary "Deutschland, Deutschland", an ORF & Sat3 production about Haydn's and Siegmund Nissel's lives.Other professional recordings include: Deutsche SchallPlatten, Mozart & Brahms Clarinet Quintets with Ryo Kondo, released in Japan Music for Boydel (quintet for baritone, flute & string trio, quartet n.1 and oboe quintet), Dublin, CMC UNIVERSAL, Music with clarinettist Emma Johnson (Mozart clarinet quintet and Ave Verum), SONY, "Band of Brothers" Soundtrack, Beethoven Last year they released a CD with the famous Irish traditional musician Mairtin O’Connor (a fusion between Romania & Irish Trad and Classical Music).

The members of the ConTempo Quartet have recently held international chamber music courses in Ireland (ConTempo Summer School in Galway, Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, Concorda in Kilkenny etc.), in the UK (Royal Academy of Music, Reading School of Music), in Japan (Geidai University of Music, Tokyo) and in Romania.

"The sense of something exceptional at work was unmissable in this performance. In the ConTempo's typical fashion, risks were taken, and unusual rewards achieved." The Irish Times.

"Polished and professional group…The Mozart was given a delightfully skittish reading, full of exuberance and with a fine sense of ensemble…real sensitivity…exceptional performance" The Strad (Wigmore Hall Debut).

www.contempoquartet.com

Alec O'Leary

"Easily one of Ireland's most talented and accomplished classical guitarists" Hotpress.

"Alec is a highly accomplished guitarist with a very natural touch on the instrument. He has a refined and developed musical sensibility." John Feeley.

Alec O' Leary (M.Mus., B.Mus., Dip. Inst. Teaching). Widely regarded as one of the foremost guitarists of his generation, Alec first learned guitar from his father and subsequently went on to study from an early age with Irish virtuoso John Feeley at the Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama. He has had personal tuition from some of the world's most distinguished musicians, including Manuel Barreuco, Scott Tennant, Sergio Assad, Roberto Aussel and Roland Dyens. He has also studied in Naples with Maestro Aniello Desiderio aided by the Arts Council Travel and Training Award. Alec is founder and director of one of Europe's most prestigious guitar festivals, the Guitar Festival of Ireland. Along with a busy performing schedule, festival commitments and teaching posts, Alec is equally dedicated to making guitars with his father, renowned Irish luthier Michael J. O'Leary. He plays regularly both as a soloist and in ensemble and has performed many times on both national radio and television, including the Pat Kenny Show, Ryan Tubridy, Nationwide, Ray Darcy Show, Vincent Brown, RTE Lyric FM, Newstalk 106, and many more. He plays both spruce and cedar guitars made for him by Michael J. O'Leary.

www.alecoleary.com