Sligo's string quartet in residence, the Vogler Quartet, has a strong track record. So, in the programmes of the first ESB Vogler Spring Festival (at Drumcliffe Church from Friday), it comes as no surprise to find John Cage and Donnacha Dennehy (right) jostling with Brahms, Raymond Deane sandwiched between Beethoven and Chopin, and a piece by one of the Vogler's performer colleagues, Ib Hausmann, featuring in the closing concert. Dennehy's Counting will be premiered tomorrow week, and there's an open workshop with the composer before the performance. Also, in a burst of chamber music activity, the Borodin String Quartet launches its survey of the Shostakovich quartets at Bantry House on Monday. Two extra events in the Bantry schedule: an interview with the Borodin's cellist Valentin Berlinsky on Wednesday and a talk on the quartets on Thursday by Elizabeth Wilson, author of Shostakovich, A Life Remembered.
