First indoor concert to take place in Limerick as part of government-backed pilot scheme
THE Limerick-based Irish Chamber Orchestra is preparing to perform its first live concert at University Concert Hall since public health restrictions were imposed before Christmas.
The concert, at 2pm this afternoon, is the latest in a series of pilot events which are being supported by Minister Catherine Martin and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The permitted attendance for today's pilot event has been limited to a third of the venue's capacity meaning just 240 people will be in the audience for the hour-long performance.
The audience members will be required to wear masks throughout and they will be socially distant from each other.
University Concert Hall will have various Covid measures in place and those attending have been asked to arrive and leave at staggered times before and after the performance.
A number of independent observers will attend the pilot event to provide feedback to the department ahead of any further decision to ease public health restrictions further.
Commenting ahead of the performance of Molique & Piazzolla, Gerard Keenan, CEO of the Irish Chamber Orchestra said: “We are so delighted to welcome back our audience to University Concert Hall and to be able to share the sheer joy of some fabulous tango music with them. We hope that our patrons will want to come back and experience live music after all this time. We have maintained a strong output of streamed concerts throughout lockdown but there is nothing like the sound of live performance and more importantly, the reaction of the audience. We have really missed that.”
For more see uch.ie or irishchamberorchestra.com.