PaulNear FM presents episode 38 in The Hugh Lane Concert series with Dragonfly, Danusha Waskiewicz on viola and Naomi Berrill on cello, who create a richly layered soundscape, where each performer plays and sings simultaneously. Instruments and voices merge into a single gesture, where the physicality of sound becomes storytelling. The result is a polyphonic texture suspended between eras and cultures. Classical, baroque, and folk repertoires are reimagined through a visionary language. The concert, recorded in the Abbey Presbyterian church, is interspersed with a wide ranging interview between Naomi Berrill and host Cliodhna Ryan. Naomi discusses her formative years in Headford, Co. Galway coming from a family steeped in music, they also discuss her life in Italy and how moving countries impacts on your musical outlook and language.
Dragonfly is a journey through a “sonic atlas” where music is freed from conventions. Each performance is an immersive and captivating experience, notable for its delicacy, precision, and originality. Music that moves as lightly as a dragonfly.
Danusha Waskiewicz is one of the most acclaimed violists on the international scene. A student of Tabea Zimmermann, she has performed under Claudio Abbado with the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester, the Berliner Philharmoniker, and as Principal Viola of the Orchestra Mozart. With Abbado, she recorded Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante (with Giuliano Carmignola) for Deutsche Grammophon. Among her many recordings are the Brandenburg Concertos for EuroArts, Bartók’s Viola Concerto, and chamber music projects with Isabelle Faust for Harmonia Mundi. Chamber music is her creative core: she is a regular member of the Quartetto Prometeo, engaged in both the reinterpretation of classical works and the promotion of contemporary music. She collaborates closely with pianist Andrea Rebaudengo in the Waskiewicz–Rebaudengo duo, with a repertoire that ranges from classical to singer-songwriter music (Songs for Viola and Piano, Decca). With the ardeTrio, she explores the world of tango alongside Marcus Däunert and Omar Massa. Since 2021, with Dragonfly, she has opened a new artistic chapter where the viola merges with voice and cello in an intense performative experience. She regularly teaches masterclasses and advanced courses and is a faculty member of the Avos Project in Rome and the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.
Originally from Ireland, now based in Florence, Italy, Naomi Berrill is one of the most eclectic voices in today’s music scene. After her classical training, she developed a unique language using the cello as an accompanying instrument to her voice, while exploring new harmonic possibilities of the cello . Her work extends to theatre, contemporary dance, and design and she has collaborated with artists such as Arvo Pärt, Giovanni Sollima and Mario Brunello. She is founder of the High Notes Festival in the Apuan Alps, now in its 14th edition. In 2024, she was commissioned by the Cellissimo festival by Music for Galway to compose a work for string ensemble, choir, ukulele ensemble and solo cello. She has performed at major international festivals including: Venice Biennale, Cello Biennale Amsterdam, Beethovenfest Bonn, Triennale Milano, Festival dei Due Mondi Spoleto, Oriente Occidente, Uffizi Galleries (Uffizi Live), Time in Jazz, Casa del Jazz, Spike Cello Festival (Dublin), Vicenza Jazz, Elba Isola Musicale d’Europa, as well as on tour in the U.S. (Irish Arts Center, New York) and Brazil (Italian Culture Week, São Paulo). Her performance at the Ice Music Festival, playing an ice cello on the Presena Glacier at 2,600 meters altitude, remains iconic.
Photo credit: Paul Loughran
Credits – Radio series produced and mixed by Paul Loughran, Interview and presentation by Cliodhna Ryan. Voxpops by Jaye Palmer, edited by Paul Loughran. Production team of Gay Graham, Gabor Zajzon and Jaye Palmer. Made with the support of Coimisiún Na Mean with the Television License fee.
Thanks to Mary Barnecutt and the Sunday at Noon concert series. Thanks to all in the Abbey Presbyterian Church, Parnell Square.
The Sundays at Noon concerts take place in their temporary home of the Abbey Presbyterian Church most Sundays in the year and are free to attend but booking is required, with support from Dublin City Council and the Arts Council of Ireland. For more information visit https://hughlane.ie/whats_on/sundays-at-noon/
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