Our Performers December 2023
Patrick Rafter
Artistic Director
Regarded as one of Ireland’s most outstanding musicians, international award-winning violinist and conductor Patrick Rafter has toured Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia as a soloist, director, conductor, and recitalist. Internationally, Patrick has been the grand prize winner of multiple competitions including the Valiant Violin Competition, Switzerland 2016, the London Performing Arts Competition 2017, and the Dublin Feis Ceoil Conducting Competition 2022.
During his career, Patrick has studied with and performed alongside some of the most outstanding performers in the world today, including Maxim Vengerov, Schlomo Mintz, Barry Douglas, and John O'Conor. He has also worked with some of the world's most prominent composers today, such as Arvo Part, and performed with some of the leading conductors including Semyon Bychkov, Marin Alsop, Sir Mark Elder, and Gianandrea Noseda.
As a violinist, Patrick has performed as a soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras and ensembles including Prague Philharmonia, Mannheim Soloists, National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, RTE Concert Orchestra, Kyiv Soloists, and Camerata Ireland. He has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls such as the National Concert Hall Ireland, Royal Albert Hall London, Berlin Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Seoul Arts Centre. As a choral conductor, Patrick has studied under distinguished names including Roland Börger, Zoltan Pad, Volker Hempfling, and Amy Bebbington. He has conducted some of Ireland’s leading choirs including Chamber Choir Ireland and the UCD Philharmonic Choir. In 2020, he became the artistic director of Carlow Voices, and in 2021, Patrick was awarded the conducting fellow at U.C.D. Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonic Choir.
RTE ConTempo String Quartet
One of Europe´s finest quartets, the RTE Contempo quartet has won multiple international musical competition prizes, including first places at the GrosserForderpreise, the Valentino Bucchi competition and the Tunnel Trust Competition in London-UK, the Wigmore Award and the Romanian Musical Critics Union Prize in Bucharest. At the London International String Quartet competition, they won 3rd prize but also the Audience Appreciation prize, the first time that that did not go to the 1st or 2nd prize winners. The four members of the group were awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Galway in 2016, for their performance and educational work.
Fiachra Garvey
Fiachra has also been a prizewinner at AXA Dublin International Piano Competition (Brennan Prize and McCullough Bursary), EU Piano Competition Prague (concerto finalist), 3rd Soirees-Concours Internationales de Piano a Collioure, France (Audience award) and Feis Ceoil Dublin (Morris Grant Bursary and Mabel Swainson award). The National Concert Hall Dublin awarded Fiachra the “Rising Star” prize in 2011 which led to a number of solo and concerto debuts.
Concerto appearances include the Janáček Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTE Concert Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra, RIAM Symphony Orchestra, Hibernian Orchestra and UCD Symphony Orchestra working with eminent conductors including John Wilson, Duncan Ward, Theodore Kuchar, Stephen Bell and Mihhail Gerts.
Rachel Factor
Rachel Factor was introduced to the harpsichord when she began her BA Piano Performance studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Rachel has performed extensively throughout Ireland as a soloist and chamber musician and has performed with many of Ireland’s leading ensembles. She also performs in many ensembles performing Baroque music and also with the Baroque/ Irish fusion group Sonamus. In London Rachel has performed on multiple occasions at the Handel House museum.
In 2010 and 2019 Rachel was the recipient of The Arts Council Music Network Capital Scheme award. Rachel plays a single manual ‘petit ravelmant’ Flemish harpsichord crafted by Andrew Wooderson after Ioannes Ruckers 1685. Rachel also plays a virginal harpsichord by Andrew Garlick after Queen Elizabeth Virginal housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum London.