National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, Acclaimed Conductor David Brophy & Uilleann Piper Mark Redmond

David Brophy, conductor
Mark Redmond, uilleann pipes

Shaun Davey The Brendan Voyage
Dvořák Symphony No. 9, ‘From the New World’

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland returns to the National Opera House on Thursday 26 March 2026 with two classic works celebrating the spirit of adventure and discovery: Shaun Davey’s epic The Brendan Voyage and Dvořák’s monumental ‘New World’ Symphony, one of the great symphonic showpieces. The acclaimed Irish conductor David Brophy, now chief conductor with WDR Funkhausorchester, Cologne, leads these thrilling musical journeys with the extraordinary uilleann piper Mark Redmond joining as soloist. The concert will be repeated in Leisureland, Galway on Saturday 28 March.

In the year which marks the 50th anniversary of historian Tim Severin’s re-creation of St. Brendan’s heroic Sixth-century crossing of the Atlantic in a primitive leather-skinned boat, don’t miss this opportunity to hear, for the very first time in the National Opera House with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, Shaun Davey’s thrilling The Brendan Voyage.

Speaking of the significance of this performance, composer Shaun Davey says: “I am particularly grateful to National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, for these concerts mark the 50th anniversary of the Brendan Voyage itself, and provide an opportunity to salute the memory of Tim Severin and his valiant crew who provided the inspiration for the music.”

Hailed as a ‘ground-breaking crossover work of great significance’ (Living Tradition), The Brendan Voyage was composed for legendary piper Liam O’Flynn. The soloist’s mantle now belongs to Gorey piper Mark Redmond, whose fresh interpretation has thrilled audiences both old and new. Having performed the work almost annually at the National Concert Hall (and abroad) since 2017, this occasion sees Redmond performing it for the first time in front of a ‘home crowd’ at the National Opera House. Indeed, he began his piping journey in the town at the turn of the Millenium when he was tutored by Ned Wall and John McMahon in the former Wexford Pipers’ Club. Like O’Flynn, Redmond has gained a reputation as a performer on the uilleann pipes in a ‘traditional’ sense but also as one who melds with a wide range of genres.

In Shaun Davey’s setting, the evocative voice of the uilleann pipes lights up the dramatic journey into the unknown as the medieval traveller encounters seabirds and whales en route from Ireland to the Faroe Islands, Iceland and through battles with Labrador gales and ice, before his triumphant arrival at what later explorers would christen Newfoundland.

Best known for its haunting ‘Largo’, the soundtrack to countless film soundtracks and television adverts, Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony boasts a parade of memorable melodies. A celebration of the folk music and Negro spirituals he discovered in America, its sirenic echoes of the traditions Dvořák left behind in his native Bohemia combine in one of the great symphonic showpieces: a nostalgic love letter to far-distant home sent From the New World.