Why we need a new State-funded national orchestra

RTÉ’s role as ‘primary custodian’ of symphonic music must be challenged

Hungarian feel for New Ross Piano Festival

Culture Night concerts by Chamber Choir Ireland and Irish Chamber Orchestra offers 365 Variations on a Gesture

A strange forum for Irish composers whose noses are out of joint

Dave Flynn’s Burren venture is an alternative to the massive 1916 centenary survey – but the fine print is bewildering

Kilkenny Arts Festival announces its 2016 programme

Stephen Rea, Loudon Wainwright III and Christian Blackshaw are among the highlights

Jörg Widmann fights the Round Room – with some success

The Irish Chamber Orchestra’s second attempt at taming the Mansion House room’s intractable acoustic brought some progress

The sound reasons why orchestras have avoided the Round Room

The Irish Chamber Orchestra has moved to the Mansion House’s Round Room, and there are challenges to overcome

RTÉ’s Halloween menu is presented in the wrong order

The skill of the players is undermined by the concert’s unconventional structure

Haydn a highlight as orchestral season begins with pleasant surprises

Irish Chamber Orchestra’s Gábor Takács-Nagy brings a fresh and fun approach to the composer’s symphonies

Haydn: Piano Concertos Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano), Manchester Camerata / Gábor Takács-Nagy

When composers talk about music, it’s well worth listening

Presentations by composers help to normalise what can often seem like the arcane world of new music

One small step for man, one giant leap of a musical kind

How to soundtrack Felix Baumgartner’s extraordinary near-space skydive? Ed Bennett has an explosive idea

‘A singer, dancer, policeman, psychiatrist and clown’

Gábor Takács-Nagy knows what it takes to be a good conductor, and he’s more than happy to share it