ANTICIPATION is building for Irish Chamber Orchestra’s summer offering at University Concert Hall on Thursday May 9.
Tine Thing Helseth is one of the great trumpeters of this generation. Her love of her instrument began aged seven years. Winning many accolades, she was the first female classical musician to be nominated for the Norwegian Grammys. In 2007 she founded her own 10-woman brass ensemble tenThing which is still going today. She herself has released numerous solo CDS and has performed across the world.
Charismatic and unpretentious, Helseth engages with her audiences who are “the alpha and omega of what we do”, she says.
“Whatever barrier there is between us changes completely when I open my mouth and talk to them. It’s as if they’re thinking: ‘She can talk!’ You’re not just up there as something playing a trumpet, you’re suddenly human.”
For her first time performing with Katherine Hunka and Irish Chamber Orchestra she has picked some delicious music from across the world. ICO kick-start the programme with a whirlwind trip through Elgar’s Welsh holidays, an exhilarating and beautiful musical snapshot.
Tine performs Neruda’s Trumpet concerto, setting a new standard for this amazing work before journeying to her homeland with Grieg for some shimmering and romantic sounds. ICO is very much to the fore in Bacewicz’s vibrantly colourful Sinfionetta for Strings. Tine’s trumpet voice has been hailed by many as being the most beautiful in the world, richly emotive and poetic as she breathes new life into Piazzolla’s sassy crowd-pleasing tangos.
