Chief Executive Officer’s Foreword

from NCH Annual Report 2021

Auditors’ Report

Continuing to support our young and emerging musicians, we delivered a wide range of online masterclasses, workshops and other events, including the second online version of the annual NCH International Master Course in August; the Bernadette Greevy Bursary for Singers; the Female Conductor Programme; and Creative Lab, a new programme supporting young composers from underrepresented communities. Our community ensembles continued both online and in person, including the NCH orchestra for older and returning musicians; the NCH community choir, the Gamelan Orchestra, and Percussion Lab.

I wish to acknowledge the support of Minister Catherine Martin TD and her dedicated team in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (‘D/TAGSAM’) to whom we owe our deepest gratitude. Whilst the variable cost base of the NCH was lower due to less live events, we are grateful for the Supplementary Grant. This support enabled the NCH to continue bringing the joy of live music to people through online performances and then a return to in-person events while also maintaining an equilibrium in its finances for 2021 and report a break-even position at the year end.

The Board is particularly satisfied to have completed the NCH Statement of Strategy (2022 – 2026). This will chart the course of the NCH for the next 5 years and plans are now in place under the leadership of our CEO and his SMT to ensure a successful outcome for our Audiences, Patrons & Friends. Its sets out:

Our Vision: To be an inspiring and world-renowned music destination, accessible to all, enriching the cultural landscape of Ireland

Our Purpose: To be a living space for music, for lifelong enjoyment, connection and participation in music, for everyone

Two cornerstones underpin this Strategy:

1. The redevelopment of the Hall. This is the NCH’s highest priority, and we are working closely with the OPW, Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Government to progress this project.

2. The transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) from RTE to the NCH. I am delighted to confirm that this transfer was formalised on 24 January 2022. We welcome this transfer and see it has integral to our NCH strategy and to the contribution and development of symphonic music in Ireland.

3. Our NCH values will guide us all in ensuring that we live up to what is expected in governance of and as custodians of such an iconic Cultural Institution. In particular we will steadfastly uphold and will be exemplars of greater diversity and inclusion across all our activities. We will hold ourselves and each other accountable to embed and embrace all that this requires.

I as Chairperson and with my colleague directors wish to acknowledge the continuous support from OPW as we design and plan the future of the NCH. We also acknowledge the engagement with RTÉ and their efforts to effect a smooth transition of the NSO. To our sponsors who stayed loyal particularly this year when our in-person performances ceased and moved on-line we greatly appreciate your continuous support.

I wish to acknowledge, with my personal appreciation, the continuous support from my colleague directors and their unwavering commitment throughout 2021 – thank you.

My special thanks to our patron President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina who are ardent supporters of the Arts. And finally, I would like to conclude by saying that none of this would have been possible had it not been for the support and dedicated commitment of Minister Catherine Martin TD and her excellent team at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Maura McGrath

Chairperson

Dated: 28 June 2022

Stephen Rea performs at Portraits of Sean Ó Ríada.

It couldn’t have been a more unusual time, in February 2021, to commence my role as CEO of the National Concert Hall. A bleak period when we were all confined to our homes, our hall was dark and there seemed no end in sight or plan to emerge on the other side of the pandemic. Although initially working remotely , the support of our Board, Department and the NCH team enabled me to, very quickly, feel connected to the organisation and be able to contribute and lead at a time of great uncertainty and upheaval. I was very fortunate to be able to build on the advancements my predecessor, Simon Taylor, and the Senior Management Team had made, during the previous year, in adapting to the new paradigm, equipping the team and hall with the vital digital technology and skills to enable the NCH to continue to fulfil its statutory remit, support artists and continue to retain a connection with our audiences through streamed broadcasts.

From the spring of last year, the NCH was able to produce an impressive and appropriate programme of weekly live-streamed performances. These were all produced in close collaboration with our community of partner ensembles, the RTE National Symphony Orchestra and other leading Irish musicians.

The suite of live-streamed concerts was made possible through the Innovation Partnership with Davy who were committed to supporting talented musicians and the magic of world-class performances on stage and online. This partnership was recognised, later in the year, by the Business to Arts Awards for Best Large Sponsorship award.

The highlights of theses live-streamed concerts included:

Spring / Summer Variations was a series of six, intended to provide musical solace and inspiration, offering audiences the best in classical music with a variety of works from Irish Chamber Orchestra, Celine Byrne, Vanbrugh Quartet, Camerata Ireland and Irish Chamber Orchestra

Notes from a Quiet Land. A remarkable performance, co-curated by Gary Sheehan and Sinead Gleeson, which featured music and words from some of Ireland’s leading female artists, responding to the past year’s enforced cultural silence.

Breaking the Silence was a powerful and timely creative response to the legacy of Ireland’s mother and baby home institutions featuring survivors, writers & artists. This was extremely well received and was watched by over 3,300 viewers.

Extraterrestrial was a collaboration with District and spearheaded by acclaimed poet Felispeaks. The concert set out to illustrate Ireland’s rich cultural tapestry, by threading together themes of identity, race and community through the lens of the island’s leading artists.

The RTE National Symphony Orchestra resumed their season of Friday night concerts from the hall in March with live streamed broadcasts via the RTE website and on Lyric FM.

The 2021 editions of New Music Dublin and Tradition Now were both moved online with great success, demonstrating exceptional levels of adaptability and agility.

Concerts by distinguished individual Irish artists included Sharon Shannon and Christie Moore.

In late May, The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media asked the NCH to produce an in-person pilot event, to test the viability of outdoor performance in the age of Covid. This would be Ireland’s first concert with an audience since the pandemic closed venues across the country in March 2020. With just two weeks’ notice, the NCH team pulled together to produce a remarkable concert in Iveagh Gardens for 500 people, headlined by James Vincent McMorrow with special guest Sorcha Richardson. The event was a tremendous success, achieving incredibly positive audience feedback and media coverage. It was an exciting and welcome glimpse of the post-pandemic world. But also proved what the NCH team is capable of when challenged to deliver something exceptional.

On September 9th the NCH was able to re-open on the day of our 40th anniversary, after an interval of 18 months, with a performance by Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Libra Ensemble, featuring pianist, Finghin Collins.

This commenced a steady return of audiences and concerts under strict Covid safety protocols which included limited audience capacities, scanning of vaccination certificates, closed bars and social distancing.

The occasion of the 40th anniversary of the NCH was also a significant moment to launch ‘Refractions’, a series comprising of over 30 concerts, staged from September to December offering audiences a variety of events online and in-venue, appealing to all musical tastes. These concerts spanned the latest edition of Tradition Now, Sunday afternoon Chamber series, performances from the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Ireland and Irish Chamber Orchestra and Raise Our Voices with mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught.

The incremental and diligent pathway through the Covid environment continued through the autumn and winter. A two-part celebration of the life and legacy of Seán Ó Riada was a significant artistic highlight and featured wonderful contributions from the RTE NSO, Crash Ensemble, Peadar Ó Riada and actor Stephen Rea.

The NCH hosted a number of events to mark the centenary of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. This included Treaty Songs a new project commemorating the signing of the treaty featuring Lisa O’Neill, Gemma Dunleavy, John Spillane, Karan Casey, Maija Sofia, Duke Special, special guest Christy Moore. The Kevin Barry Room was used to stage The Treaty a play by Colin Murphy. This was highly significant as the rooms had been used as the meeting place of the second Dáil and where the treaty ratification debates were held.

On November 5th, the RTE NSO made an emotional and very welcome, permanent, return to the NCH stage with John Wilson conducting an evening of Britten, Dove and Elgar.

A celebration concert, in the presence of our Patron, Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina, officially marked 40 years of the NCH as Ireland’s National Cultural Institution for Music and the imminent transfer of the NSO and choirs. Under the baton of chief conductor, Jaime Martín, the programme consisted of Brian Byrne’s Fanfare, Anne-Marie O'Farrell’s Eitilt and Dvorˇák’s Symphony No. 9 From The New World. The concert was a powerful reminder of all that has been endured by the country, the emergence from a traumatic period for arts and culture in Ireland and the prospect of ushering in an exciting new era for music at the National Concert Hall.

Throughout this period the NCH’s Learning and Participation adapted incredibly well to providing a continuing range of online activity across a variety of areas and continued to focus their work primarily on those most affected by the pandemic. These include Tea Dance Tunes, the series of online dementia-friendly concerts, choir rehearsals for the Sing Out Choir, sessions for the Blow the Dust Orchestra, masterclasses for young musicians, and virtual visits for the Music in Children’s Hospitals programme with Kids’ Classics.

An in-person programme continued at the National Rehabilitation Hospital throughout the winter, such is the value that the hospital placed on these services.

Another three masterclasses were also held as part of the Spring Masterclass Series featuring renowned Irish musician-teachers, and up-and-coming Irish musical talent. This series featured Paul Roe (clarinet), Aura Stone (double bass), and Richard O’Donnell (percussion).

Our Learning and Participation team were instrumental in developing a vital new initiative called Creative Lab, in partnership with Accenture and Toy Show. This is a programme supporting young composers from underrepresented communities. Started in September 2021 to project culminated in performances of the participant’s work at New Music Dublin festival in April 2022.

In parallel to our artistic activity and maintaining our support for artists and connection with our audience, the NCH engaged in a number of strategically vital projects and initiatives. Significant amongst these was the completion and submission of the Preliminary Business Case for the redevelopment of the NCH site.

This established a detailed outline of potential options for the future of the NCH. In doing so, it set out various analyses including a detailed demand analysis, financial and economic appraisal and an assessment of affordability. Based on the resulting outputs, the NCH was able to make a recommendation in support for an option which would see the redevelopment and modernisation of all the areas within the scope of the project at Earlsfort Terrace. This goes beyond just the essential building works which are urgently required to bring the site up to the prevailing internationally expected standards for the performance of music, universal access and environmental sustainability. The recommended option is the only one which would succeed in reactivating the vast amounts of empty, unused and decaying spaces within the site and enabling the NCH to realise its vision: to be an inspiring and world-renowned music destination, accessible to all, enriching the cultural landscape of Ireland. The organisation awaits a decision from government on the investment required.

Soon after commencing my tenure, I led a comprehensive project to devise a new statement of strategy for the NCH. This involved a lengthy consultation process of listening to the wide community of supporters, partners and friends who all contribute to making the NCH what it is. This involved a number of surveys with our audience database, stakeholder focus groups, one-to-one interviews with the Irish public, existing audience members, expert stakeholders, young, emerging artists and the NCH Board and team. The resulting strategy, using ten key themes, sets out to form the bedrock of our annual business planning process and outlines our key priorities for the next five years, which will result in sustainably growing our audiences, reducing our impact on the environment and increasing access, diversity and inclusion in everything we do.

Fundamental to the development of the new strategy was the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Choir, Cor Linn and Cor na nOg choirs into the remit of the NCH. The strategy articulates how, as one, combined, organisation, we will support and invest in the development of the NSO and choirs and realise the potential as Ireland’s nationally and internationally respected Symphony Orchestra. We will deliver an ambitious programme of music to develop and increase opportunities for young people and those from diverse communities, giving all audiences greater access to the transformative and life-enhancing power of music.

A great deal of work went into progressing the transfer throughout the year and this culminated on January 24th 2022 with the completion of the formal transfer from the national broadcaster RTE to the NCH.

This past year, has yet again, demonstrated the incredible resilience, adaptability and determination of everyone across the NCH team, in the face of enormous challenges and constantly changing circumstances. I thank and pay tribute to all in my wonderful team.

I would like to thank our Chairperson, Maura McGrath and our Board for all their support and encouragement to me in the early days of my tenure. But I also thank and acknowledge their exceptional commitment and support during another very challenging year. Our collective thanks also to Minister Martin and her officials at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media for their unstinting support of the NCH throughout the year.