Irish Baroque Orchestra Reveals 30th Anniversary Autumn/Winter Season
Programme includes Bach's Mass in B Minor, Christmas Oratorio and a collaboration with Crash Ensemble.
The Irish Baroque Orchestra (IBO) has announced its Autumn/Winter 2026 season, continuing its celebration of 30 years of bringing the music of the Baroque era vividly to life for audiences across Ireland and beyond.
Led by Artistic Director Peter Whelan, the season features an exciting and varied programme spanning engaging performances, major choral works, contemporary collaboration and some of the repertoire's greatest masterpieces. From an energetic exploration of the musical life of 18th-century Dublin to Bach's monumental Mass in B Minor and Christmas Oratorio, the season showcases the breadth and vitality of Ireland's flagship period-instrument orchestra.
The season opens with Handel's Band Off Duty, an immersive, high-energy session curated by Cork violinist and viola player Marja Gaynor. Touring to venues in Cork, Kerry and Dublin, the performances imagine the music Handel and his contemporaries might have heard in the informal settings of 1740s Dublin, blending Baroque repertoire with the living Irish traditional music of the day. The programme features nine specialist musicians alongside acclaimed uilleann piper David Power and soprano Aisling Kenny.
On 11 October, the orchestra joins Crash Ensemble and conductor Geoffrey Paterson for Songs of Wars I Have Seen, Heiner Goebbels' acclaimed music theatre work inspired by the wartime writings of Gertrude Stein. Presented by the National Concert Hall, the production combines spoken word and live music to create an intimate, fragmented portrait of everyday life during wartime.
The autumn programme continues with the orchestra and choir performing Bach's Mass in B Minor, an extraordinary piece of work completed a year before Bach's death. The concerts form part of the orchestra's Bach Cycle (2024–2026) and features an outstanding cast of soloists.
The season also includes a series of free Cushion Concerts for children aged six months to five years and their families in libraries across Dublin and Cork. Led by IBO musicians, these fun, interactive performances invite young audiences to discover music through singing, clapping, dancing and conducting in a relaxed and welcoming environment.
December brings Bach's Christmas Oratorio, first performed for Christmas in 1734, comprising six cantatas, each intended for performance on a feast day in the Christmas period, before the season concludes with Handel's Messiah. First performed in Dublin in 1742, Messiah remains one of the orchestra's signature works and a celebration of the city's rich musical heritage.
Speaking on the upcoming season, Peter Whelan, Artistic Director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, says “This Autumn, our programme spans the full range of what we do: a mischievous peek at how Handel's musicians might have spent their nights off, alongside the profound, radiant grandeur of Bach's greatest choral music. Come find out for yourself.”
Autumn/Winter 2026 Season
Handel's Band Off Duty
17 September – Siamsa Tíre, Tralee
18 September – Triskel Arts Centre, Cork
19 September – St Catherine's Church, Kinsale Co. Cork
20 September – Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin
Songs of Wars I Have Seen (with Crash Ensemble)
11 October – National Concert Hall, Dublin
Bach: Mass in B Minor
30 October – Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
31 October – St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny
Bach: Christmas Oratorio
11 December – St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
12 December – St Peter's Church of Ireland, Drogheda Co. Louth
Handel: Messiah
16 December – National Opera House, Wexford
17 December – St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
18 December – Wigmore Hall, London
About the Irish Baroque Orchestra:
The Olivier Award-winning Irish Baroque Orchestra is celebrated as Ireland's flagship period instrument orchestra and delivers world-class historically-informed performances across Ireland and abroad. Under the artistic direction of Peter Whelan, scholarship and musical excellence converge in a unique way through the IBO's work, creating an original offering like no other organisation on the Irish classical music scene.
As an ambassador for the stories of Ireland's musical past, the IBO uses its unique perspective to develop the growing store of knowledge surrounding the very early days of Baroque and Classical music in Ireland. The IBO's research, recordings and performances offer audiences across Ireland a new opportunity to reevaluate and reclaim their cultural heritage, while also engaging the Irish diaspora through the increasing global reach of this work.
Photo Credit: Pawel Bebenca Photography
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