Paul
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Near FM presents episode 35 in our Hugh Lane Concert series with Susannah de Wrixon on vocals and Conor Linehan on piano, with a diverse programme of song and piano music including works by Shakespeare, Bucchino, Weill, Joyce, Gershwin, Sondheim and original compositions by Conor Linehan. The concert is interspersed with an in depth interview between the musicians and Cliodhna Ryan. We also hear audience reaction. Recorded in the beautiful surrounds of the Sculpture Hall in the Hugh lane Galley on Sunday May 18th 2025.
Credits – Concert and radio programme mixed by Paul Loughran, Interview and presentation by Cliodhna Ryan, Concert recorded by Gay Graham and Gabor Zajzon, audience reaction by Dorothee Meyer Holtkamp. Made with the support of Coimisiún Na Mean with the Television License fee.
Programme
Shall I Compare Thee – Shakespeare/ Linehan // Song With The Violins – John Bucchino // That Old Bilbao Moon – Weill/ Brecht // Sepia Life – Bucchino //Tell Me The Truth About Love – WH Auden // I’m A Stranger Here Myself – Weill // Simples – James Joyce/Linehan (premiere) // Three Preludes for Piano- Gershwin // The Ghosts of Old Houses – Linehan // Barbara Song – Weill // Oh Mistress Min – Shakespeare // Could I Leave You? – Sondheim // Honeysuckle Row – Linehan (premiere)
Susannah de Wrixon has been charming audiences for years with her exquisite voice, keen wit and distinctive choice of song. She currently lives in Dublin and for the last twenty five years has been working as an actor/singer on stage and screen. Theatre highlights include, “An Ideal Husband” and “Pygmalion “ in The Abbey Theatre Playing Maggie in “Dancing at Lughnasa” and Goneril in “King Lear” to name but a few. She won best Actress in 1991 for her role as Reverend Hale in “The Crucible”, in fact her stage career has been hugely varied playing men, monkeys, old women and young saints. She gained her comedy stripes touring Ireland and the UK in the late 90s with “The Nualas”. As a singer she has worked with the National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra and has performed in the acclaimed jazz venue “The Iridium” in New York. She has recorded three albums.
Conor Linehan is a pianist and composer from Dublin. He has enjoyed a long career writing music for theatre companies in Ireland and England, including Druid, The Abbey, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Landmark Productions and many others. His music has features in productions at Lincoln Center Festival, The Barbican Theatre, The Sydney Opera House and the West End. Conor’s piano piece ‘Roadshow’ was commissioned by Joanna MacGregor for her 2015 Irish tour after she heard his music in the Abbey Theatre production ‘The Risen People”. His piece ‘Intermezzo’ was the most selected Irish commissioned piece at the 2018 Dublin International Piano Competition and has subsequently received many performances by young pianists around the world. Conor is represented by the Contemporary Music Centre. As a pianist he has been soloist with the NSO Ireland (for whom he is also a regular orchestral pianist), The RTE Concert Orchestra and the Dublin Philharmonic. He has played with many chamber ensembles including The John Lynch Chamber Music Project, The Far Flung Trio, The Crash Ensemble and others. He has performed many solo concerts throughout Ireland and the world. Conor is on the piano faculty of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and is also a member of the WhistleBlast quartet who create music education projects throughout Ireland.
The Sundays at Noon concerts take place with support from the Arts Council of Ireland.
