An afternoon of Schubert at the Carlingford Heritage Centre in Louth

Carlingford will be the location for an afternoon concert of some of the most beautiful and remarkable works by the great Austrian composer Franz Schubert, on Sunday 7 December at 2pm in the Carlingford Heritage Centre, Carlingford, Co. Louth.

The Fews Ensemble, mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty, and tenor Aaron O’Hare will perform Lieder and instrumental chamber music by Schubert. 

The first half of the concert draws from Schubert's pioneering Lieder, which Dvorák considered “created a new epoch” in the form, after which“all other songwriters have followed in his footsteps”.

Sharon Carty and Aaron O’Hare will perform a programme of nine songs, including the tender and achingly beautiful An die Musik - a hymn to art composed in 1817 when Schubert was only 20 - and the playful Heidenröslein from 1815, displaying his unsurpassed gift for melody. 

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The afternoon culminates in The Fews Ensemble performing the celebrated Trout Quintet. Composed in 1819, when Schubert was just 22, it was commissioned by his friend Sylvester Paumgartner, who requested both the slightly unconventional instrumentation - reflecting what Austrian composer Ernest Krenek called Schubert’s “appetite for experimentation” - and the inclusion of Schubert’s earlier song, ‘Die Forelle’, as a set of variations within the piece. 

Published in 1829, after Schubert’s death, the piece has become a pillar of the chamber music repertoire, overflowing with wit, sparkle, and lyrical beauty.

The Fews Ensemble was founded in 2016 by violinist and Artistic Director of Newry Chamber Music, Joanne Quigley McParland.

It has become known for its innovative programmes, flexible ensembles, and cross-arts events, including working with actor Ciarán Hinds and singer-songwriter Duke Special. It is the current Ensemble in Residence for Newry Mourne and Down and will take up an additional Residency at Carlingford Heritage Centre in 2026.

Sharon Carty is an alumna of the RIAM, Dublin, University of Music, Performing Arts, Vienna, and the Oper Frankfurt Opera Studio. This year, she was appointed Artistic Director of Sligo Baroque Music Festival.

She enjoys a busy concert schedule, with 2025 seeing her as Orlofsky in Irish National Opera’s Die Fledermaus; as Kate in Owen Wingrave at the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Italy; and performing with pianist Barry Douglas at the Clandeboye Festival.

Aaron O’Hare studied at the University of Ulster (BMus Hons) and the Royal Northern College of Music (MMus) under Matthew Best.

Since then, he has performed with leading opera companies across Ireland and Britain, including as Spoletta in Tosca (Northern Ireland Opera), the Fourth Jew in Salome (Irish National Opera), Monsieur Triquet in Eugene Onegin (NI Opera), Alfred in Die Fledermaus (INO), and Adam in Jonathan Dove’s The Walk From The Garden (Opera Collective Ireland).

Tickets are €20/€10 (under 18) and are available via newrychambermusic.org.