Irish Baroque group, Tonos, comprises Róisín O’ Grady (Soprano) and  Eamon Sweeney (Baroque Guitar).  They specialise in the little-known repertoire for voice and guitar from seventeenth-century Europe.  Tonos has recently given recitals in the Irish National Concert Hall, the National Gallery of Ireland (broadcast in concert by Lyric FM), Queen’s University, Belfast, and the Royal Society of Arts, London.

The Spanish word ‘tonos’ translates as ‘tone.’ With regard to seventeenth-century Spanish music it might suggest a scale suggested by each guitar chord. However, the term originates from Ancient Greece where it described a musical concept pertaining to the placement of scale patterns at different pitches. In the modern Greek language ‘tonós’ indicates the stressed syllable of a word. We also like that the resonance of the word resembles ‘sean-nós’, meaning ‘old-style’ in the Irish language.

Soprano Róisín O’ Grady completed her B.A. Hons. Degree in Music and Italian at University College, Cork in 2000 and in 2001 completed her B.Mus. Hons. Degree.  In 2004, she completed the one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Concert Singing at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow, under the vocal guidance of soprano Margaret Marshall O.B.E.  She took part in master classes with sopranos Lynn Dawson and Emma Kirkby and mezzo-soprano Ann Murray. She recieved a First Class Hons. M.A. in Performance at the Cork School of Music in 2008.  She was selected to perform in The Johann Sebastian Bach International Music Competition in Leipzig, July 2008.  She was a member of and a soloist with The National Chamber Choir of Ireland for over two years.  The choir perform both in Ireland and throughout Europe.  They recently performed in music festivals in The Lebanon and Holland.  They sing frequently with The National Symphony Orchestra, The RTÉ Concert Orchestra and The BBC Ulster Orchestra both in Dublin and Belfast.

Róisín has extensive concert experience including; Vivaldi’s “Gloria”, “Beatus Vir” and “Magnificat”, Handel’s “Samson”, “Dixit Dominus” and “Messiah”, Charpentier’s “Mess de Minuit”, Schubert’s “Mass in G”, Schumann’s “Reqiuem”, Haydn’s 2Little Organ Mass” and “Nelson Mass”, Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater”, Vaughan Williams’ “Mass in G-Minor”, Allegri’s  “Miserere”, Bach’s “Jauchzet Gott”, Mozart’s “Exultate Jubilate”, Durufle’s “Requiem” and Saint Säens’ “ Oratorio”.  She has performed with choral societies and orchestras throughout Ireland and Scotland including The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Alba, Orchestra of St. Cecilia, St. Andrew’s Chorus, Wexford Festival Singers, Trinity Choral Society, Goethe Institute Choir, St. George’s Singers and East Cork Choral Society.  She is a member of the early music duo Tonos who performed in The John Field Room, NCH and The National Gallery, Dublin.  She performed at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival in 2008.  She has worked with harpsichordist Malcolm Proud and pianist Frances Kelleher giving recitals throughout the country.  Forthcoming concerts include Handel’s “Ode to St. Cecilia” and “Solomon” and John Rutter’s “Requiem”.

In 2006 Eamon Sweeney was awarded the first musicology PhD to be accredited by DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. His doctoral thesis, The Guitar and its role as an accompanying instrument in seventeenth - and early eighteenth-century France, investigated the five-course guitar’s role as a continuo instrument in the court of Louis XIV, a hitherto unexplored area of French baroque music and early guitar performance practice. Eamon has lectured and given seminars on Baroque guitar performance at Dublin, Dundee and Bath International Guitar Festivals as well as for DIT and UCD.

In 1999 Eamon received his B.Mus. (1st Class) in Guitar Performance from Trinity College, Dublin and DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and has since performed on stage, radio and television, both as a solo artist and with various ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra, National Concert Orchestra and Opera Theatre Company.

Eamon was recently appointed acting director of the Bray VEC Music Centre and is on the staff of the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama.

Sample Programmes

Music of the Wild Geese

Traditional Irish - Caisleán Uí Neill
Ruairí Dall Ó Cathain - Tabhair dom do lámh  
John Dowland (1563-1626) - If my complaints /Can She excuse my wrongs /Flow my teares
Stefano Landi (1587-1639) - Passacalli della vita
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) - Se l’aura spira
Santiago De Murcia (died after 1732) - Jacaràs
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) - Amor trop indiscret
Henry Purcell (1659-1695) - If Music be the food of love/ Fairest Isle
Traditional Irish (18th Century) - Siúil a rún
Juan Arañes (died after 1649) - Chacona: A la vida bona



     

Reviews

"O'Grady has a beautiful voice, full of emotion... Sweeney was the perfect complement. "

Classical Guitar Magazine

More Info

For further information on availability or artist fees or to discuss a booking please contact the Performance Programme Manager by emailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or telephone: 01 6719429.