
RTÉ to livestream Dublin International Piano Competition finals
The competition's climactic final on 16th May will be livestreamed via RTÉ Culture and broadcast on RTÉ lyric fm, with earlier rounds also accessible on the DIPC YouTube channel.
Hailed as one of the most respected platforms for emerging classical talent, this year's DIPC has drawn participants from 12 countries.
The quarter-final rounds will take place from 9th to 11th May, followed by semi-finals on 13th and 14th May, both hosted at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The grand final at the National Concert Hall will see three finalists perform full piano concertos with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Jonas Alber.
Open to the public, the competition offers a rare opportunity for Irish audiences to hear the next generation of piano virtuosos.
Finghin Collins, Artistic Director and jury chair, welcomed the competitors with enthusiasm. "It's a great pleasure to welcome this outstanding group of young pianists to Dublin," he said. "These talented artists represent the very best of the next generation. I would encourage everyone with a love of great music to join us for what will be some hugely enjoyable performances."
This year's competition stands out for its inclusion of contemporary works by four Irish composers: David Coonan, Roger Doyle, Ailís Ní Ríain, and Judith Ring. Commissioned by RTÉ lyric fm, these pieces must be performed by all contestants, offering a spotlight on Ireland's vibrant contemporary music scene. The semi-finalists will also perform chamber music with the acclaimed ConTempo Quartet.
The DIPC's international jury includes renowned pianists Michel Béroff (France), Piers Lane (Australia/UK), Noriko Ogawa (Japan), Dénes Várjon (Hungary), and Ireland's Hugh Tinney, alongside Katie McGuinness, Chief Artistic Officer at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Winners will share in a prize fund worth €35,000, with the top prize of €20,000 sponsored by KPMG. The first prize also includes a Carnegie Hall recital debut and a series of international engagements. Second and third prizes of €10,000 and €5,000 and several special category awards will also be presented.
Watch the 13th Dublin International Piano Competition (DIPC) final on 16th May from 7pm via RTÉ Culture and listen via RTÉ lyric fm, with earlier rounds also accessible on the DIPC YouTube channel.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Times
24 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Dear Erin: Why do Irish people love to get annoyed about ‘Oirish' films?
The most popular defence when you have failed to recognise, say, a broad pastiche of Donald Trump on social media is that the reality is now so extreme no parody is possible. Almost exactly 20 years ago, one Nathan Poe made such an argument about people who deny evolution. 'Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humour, it is utterly impossible to parody a creationist in such a way that someone won't mistake for the genuine article,' he wrote. This is known as Poe's Law. Anyway, all this is by way of explaining how I – along with others who should know better – briefly fell for a recent jape that didn't quite include a 'winking smiley'. A few weeks ago, ads began appearing on buses for an upcoming feature called Dear Erin. 'She was the Irish goodbye he never forgot,' the tagline read. Peter Coonan , in cloth cap and collarless shirt, writes a letter at a table that also holds a pint of stout and a glass of whiskey. One hand is bloodied. Shamrock spills from a breast pocket. Somehow a rainbow makes it into the collage. A moment's digging unearthed a trailer for the ghastly thing. 'My greatest love? A simple Irish boy from a simple Irish town,' a female American voice trills over glissando strings. Maybe he has now forgotten her? Of course not. Coonan, sitting in his booze-stacked snug, begins a letter with 'Dear Erin' before continuing: 'I've played that night over more times than the Finnegans fought the O'Malleys.' After a bit more shameless blarney, a shadow falls over our hero and we hear, in that same American accent, an uncertain 'Paddy?' READ MORE You might reasonably conclude that only a fierce eejit – no cuter than a donkey's behind – would fall for such a load of aul' cow's muck. But context is all. What was the advertisement doing on the side of a bus? What would Peter Coonan, a Love/Hate alumnus of some distinction, be doing in something that didn't quite exist? This wasn't a post on XformerlyTwitter. There was real money behind it. Moreover, this is surely a case where Poe's Law applies. The deluge of Micksploitation never stops: Far and Away, PS I Love You, Leap Year, Laws of Attraction, Wild Mountain Thyme. No stereotype is too insulting for visiting Americans to exploit. So, for an hour or two, I, and a few other film boffins on the social, could be forgiven (give us a break) for falling into the trap. The parody was a fair one. The clues were right there. What trailer for an apparently imminent title – 'coming this summer' – fails to include a precise release date? Squint and you will see that Paddy's letter is addressed to 'ERIN, AMERICA' – too broad for even the dimmest begorrah aesthetic. I cannot claim to be the first to spot that 'Hugh Forbes', the film's alleged director, shares his name with the character played by Maureen O'Hara's brother in The Quiet Man. We soon all decided that it was a stealth advertisement for something or other. Would Erin soups do such a thing? Not on this occasion. It transpired that the campaign was financed by Epic The Irish Emigration Museum . A longer video, released later, has Coonan break character and snort: 'I'm sorry but who f**king writes this s**t? How are we letting people away with this?' The museum's website , going in big, offers essays on 'the impact of Hollywood stereotypes of Ireland' and 'how to de-stereotype … 'Oirish' films'. This follows (another clue) a campaign from the same organisation that, with predictably hideous results, asked AI to create images of a typical Irishman. Fair enough. The strategy worked. At least one column in at least one national newspaper has now mentioned the prank. The worthwhile question is less why Americans (sometimes still the British) keep doing this – lazy sentimentality? – than why the nation remains so eager to get annoyed about it. It is a little over a year since we all went ballistic over a harmless Netflix title called Irish Wish . Yes, as I then wrote in this place , the Lindsay Lohan vehicle was silly. But was there any need to publish all those 12,000-word treatises on its supposed crimes against the national psyche? [ Planning to hate-watch Lindsay Lohan's Irish Wish? Micksploitation addicts should prepare for disappointment Opens in new window ] There is no easier way of attracting Irish attention than releasing something that shamelessly ploughs the Micksploitation groove. The Epic campaign is correct to bemoan the more egregious tropes. But let us not pretend we wouldn't miss these things if they went away. Baloney such as Wild Mountain Thyme and Irish Wish make us feel noticed. They make us feel righteous. They allow our hearts to beat a little faster. If Americans didn't do this to us we would have to do it to ourselves. As we have just done.


RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Little Shop of Horrors opens for business in Dublin
With Little Shop of Horrors set to open at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin this weekend, Evelyn O'Rourke headed there to meet the creative team behind the theatre's first in-house production. In 1986 a movie called Little Shop of Horrors burst on to cinema screens, telling the story of a hapless florist called Seymour who stumbles upon a mysterious plant that grows into a monster. The American horror comedy musical film, directed by Frank Oz, was a big hit with cinema audiences at the time, subsequently transferring to stage version which has been a popular show for both amateur and professional productions over the years. This weekend sees a new stage production opening at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin and the excitement is building as the team there is producing its own in-house production for the first time. "The aim is to give Irish musical creative teams, both on and off stage, an opportunity to work on a home grown level production on a major scale," explained Stephen Faloon, General Manager of the theatre. The cast and creative team behind Little Shop of Horrors. Photo by Brian McEvoy Claire Tighe, director and choreographer for the show in Dublin, describes this production as a "statement of intent by investing in a fully Irish cast and creative team" and explained how it started with an open casting call where over 2,000 hopefuls auditioned. "The idea is to demonstrate the breadth of musical theatre talent, not just only on stage but also in supportive, and the off stage, creative side of things." She went on to explain how "most talented people, the people who want to work within the industry, have to go abroad to work elsewhere, because that is where the action is, so to bring it to Ireland is special." Musical director David Hayes also teaches at the School of Music in Cork and he said that young students are very interested in developing music related careers here. "There are a number of under graduate third level courses in Ireland, and now with the Leaving Cert rolling out the new theatre, drama, and film studies course too this year, it shows the on-going interest," he said. David O'Reilly as Seymour Krelborn. Photo by Cían O'Riain He is enthusiastic about this production, noting that "this is an important moment for musical theatre, it takes a step forward, that we don't have to go to the UK all the time anymore, or it isn't our default, that you have to go, to the UK, we can do it here." He added, "there's an opportunity, there is space, there's facility, there are resources and now there's a will which was the missing bit I guess." David O'Reilly, who is playing Seymour Krelborn in the show, said that he and his friends have always had to focus on the UK as a base for work explaining that "certainly when I went over in 2007, if you wanted to work in musicals, you had to go over and live in London and train in London and kind of carve out a career there, so think its going to really change the landscape of musical theatre in Ireland and I'm very proud to be part of it." Little Shop of Horrors is set to open in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on 25 July. Photo by Brian McEvoy Faloon said they have been building towards this production for many years, explaining that they are usually host touring West End productions and that "for 16 years I have watched, Irish talent come on and off stage as part of a tour of a brilliant West End or Broadway show, even like Kinky Boots last week, that we had two Irish stars in it, but they can't get work in Ireland." He added "they have to go to London and beyond in order to get work, and this is the chance to bring them back home." We need your consent to load this rte-player content We use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences Little Shop of Horrors opens at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on 25 July and runs until 9 August 2025.


The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
‘So sweet' – Westlife star Kian Egan shares touching birthday tribute to wife Jodi as fans gush over ‘beautiful' snaps
KIAN Egan has left fans gushing after he shared a touching birthday tribute to his wife. The singer has been married to 2 Kian shared a touching tribute to his wife Credit: Instagram 2 Jodi celebrated her birthday yesterday Credit: Instagram Jodi celebrated her 42nd birthday yesterday and The star shared two beautiful snaps of his wife posing in their garden with their two dogs. She looked fabulous in a pair of brown leggings, a black jacket and matching brown boots. The mum-of-three completed her look with a hat, a pair of sunglasses and wore her hair down. READ MORE ON KIAN EGAN Kian captioned his post: " What an amazing day we had yesterday celebrating my amazing wife @jodialbert on her birthday. " We love you so much baby and hope you had the best day ever ." Jodi was quick to respond in the comments: "Thank you for the most perfect day... love you." Fans and friends flocked to the comment section to share their love for his post. MOST READ IN THE IRISH SUN One fan said: "Aw this is so sweet Kian. Hope Jodi had the most amazing birthday!" Dona wrote: "Beautiful photo of your love Jodi. Amazing and lovely couple." Kian Egan pays touching birthday tribute to late dad during gig Valentina gushed: "Thank you, Kian for sharing these moments!!! It's amazing!!! Have a wonderful day! Kisses from Italy to you and to your beautiful family." Jacob commented: "Beautiful pictures." Another added: "So sweet." Last month, Westlife made The iconic Irish band kicked off their first ever world tour, Where Dreams Come True Tour, at the Newcastle Arena on February 9, 2001. FEEHIL-ING SAD To mark the special milestone, the lads have launched their 25th anniversary celebrations. Taking to Instagram on their joint account, they wrote: "Who would have thought we would still be here 25 years later? "We have so many exciting plans to share with you very soon, which will include new music, an album, special shows, and many, many more surprises along the way." However, they "sadly" revealed that The band wrote: "We hope he can join us back on stage when he is ready and able. He sends his love and positivity to you all as always. "The four of us can't quite believe it's been 25 years. We could only have dreamt of the continued love and loyalty you have consistently with shown us around the world. "We are so lucky to have all of you with us and we can't wait to celebrate together."