NEW ROSS will be graced by the presence of one of the world’s most legendary orchestras later this month.

As part of this year’s New Ross Piano Festival the RTE Concert Orchestra will perform alongside the three main headline pianists in the Parish Church on Sunday, September 30, at 3.30 p.m.

Under its Principal Conductor, David Brophy, the orchestra has transformed boundaries and prides itself on giving accessibility to all. Offering listeners a vast and varied programme of music the group has wowed everyone from Pope Benedict XVI (with ‘Messiah’) to teenagers dancing in the mud (Electric Picnic).

The orchestra has also performed to millions of people across the world at seven Eurovision Song Contests with a particular highlight being the seven-minute performance that gave birth to Riverdance in 1994.

The diversity of the orchestra is obvious when one considers the range of performers its members have shared stages with: Lang Lang and Pavarotti, jazz legends like Lalo Schifrin and Cleo Laine, rock musicians like Jon Lord of Deep Purple, operatic pop groups like Il Divo and international stars like Billy Ocean.

The RTÉ CO has also collaborated with top Irish acts like Colm Wilkinson, Altan, Sharon Shannon, Duke Special, Declan O’Rourke, The Coronas, Bell X1, Horslips, Sinead O’Connor and Imelda May.

It has worked on numerous films including ‘Albert Nobbs’, by Brian Byrne, which won an IFTA and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Song. It also won a recent nomination for Best Original Song in the World Soundtrack Awards.

One of the biggest engagements this year for the orchestra will see its members perform Howard Shore’s score to the second film in the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As incredible as it seems this magnificent orchestra will perform for the people of New Ross during what is gearing up to be the most incredible Piano Festival in the town to date.