Florence Price was the first African-American woman to achieve success as a composer of symphonic music. Her first symphony was premièred in 1933 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, an occasion of considerable social and cultural significance. Following her death in 1953 her music was largely forgotten until 2009 when a substantial collection of works and papers was discovered in her abandoned summer house in Illinois; in the years since, her music has quickly regained the recognition and popularity it deserves. As the title of this 1951 quartet suggests, it offers a selection of well-known tunes lavishly dressed up with great skill and aplomb.
Deirdre Gribbin’s Before the Moon Shattered and Shone Again explores cyclical time, inspired by Celtic mythology and the constant presence of the moon. It echoes nature’s cycles, symbolizing life’s waxing, waning, and renewal. The quartet is featured on Musici Ireland’s 2025 CD Earthrise
Schumann’s A major quartet is one of the greats. The delicately wistful sighing of the first movement, the inspired inventiveness of the theme and variations, the wonderful slow movement and the high-octane
finale all come together as a memorable and hugely rewarding whole. Earsense.org offers background and a fine collection of recordings. Ora Quartet Siún Milne, violin Molly O’Shea, violin Ali Comerford, viola Yseult Cooper-Stockdale, cello Programme Florence Price - Five Folksongs in Counterpoint [1951] Deirdre Gribbin - Before the Moon Shattered and Shone Again [2019] Schumann - String Quartet in A major Op.41 No.3 [1842] About the Ora Quartet The Ora Quartet, made up of some of Ireland’s most sought-after chamber musicians and collaborators, was founded in 2023. Members Siún Milne, Molly O’Shea, Ali Comerford and Yseult Cooper Stockdale formed the group after enjoying performing alongside each other fogr several years with a variety of ensembles, including the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Ficino Ensemble, and Kirkos Ensemble.
Since the quartet’s inaugural concert at Fuddlefest of August ‘23, the group has gone on to perform several NSQF National Tours and has been broadcast on Lyric FM. Ora particularly enjoy collaborative work, and curating programmes with a diverse range of artists and genres. Recent concerts include a series in the Everyman, Cork, working with extraordinary artists such as Mezzo-Soprano Niamh O’Sullivan, performing new arrangements by Cormac McCarthy for traditional singer Hammy Hamilton and String Quartet at the Ionad Cultúrtha, Baile Bhúirne, and recording an album of new works written especially for the group with singer-songwriter James Smith.
They look forward to the release of two albums of new works by Emma O’Halloran and Alex Dowling, recorded in Windmill Lane in 2025.
Siún Milne, violin Siún studied the violin with Ruxandra Colan-Petcu at CIT Cork School of Music before completing her BMus degree on scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Maurice Hasson and Mateja Marinkovic.
Siún is a member of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and has performed with a variety of ensembles throughout her career including the Irish Chamber Orchestra, The Vanbrugh and Callino String Quartet, Aurora Orchestra, Hebrides Ensemble and Scottish Ensemble. She recently performed Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Siun has participated in masterclasses with Gerhard Schulz at IMS Prussia Cove, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Sylvia Rosenberg and Rachel Podger. As a part of Ólafur Arnald’s string quartet, Siún performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Cross-Linx Festival, Volksbühne Berlin and has toured the UK with Arnald’s soundtrack for “Broadchurch”. She has performed with a diverse range of artists including Mícheál O’ Suilleabháin, Sam Amidon, Frankie Gavin, singer-songwriter Rumer on BBC’s Later with Jools Holland, Loah at the National Concert Hall and Efterklang.
Molly O’Shea, violin Molly O’Shea is a violinist, currently based in Dublin. She completed her BMus in the Cork School of Music in June of 2019 under the guidance of Ruxandra Petcu-Colan and Liz Charleson, graduating with First Class Honours. She had spent the previous 3 years studying under Marc Danel at l’Institut de la Musique et de Pedagogie in Namur, Belgium and graduated with Distinction from a Violin Performance Masters June of 2018.
During her studies, Molly has been a prizewinner in multiple competitions both locally and nationally. In October 2019 she received 2nd prize in the Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year competition and was also the recipient of the Florian Leonhard Fine Instrument Grant and the John Vallery Prize for the Highest Placed String Player. In 2021, Molly was chosen as one of 5 young musicians to take part in the University Concert Hall’s Rising Stars Concert in Limerick. She has been a member of the First Violin section of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland since March 2020 while also maintaining a varied freelance career.
Molly is an avid chamber musician. With the Inis quartet, Molly was invited to participate in the West Cork Chamber Music Festival masterclasses in summer 2023, taking masterclasses with the Armida Quartet, the Pacifica Quarter and the Ardeo Quartet. She was selected to participate in the Chamber Music Gathering 2019 in the National Concert Hall. In November 2018, Molly was selected to perform at the Philharmonie de Liege as part of a Young Chamber Musicians Programme. Ali Comerford, viola Ali Comerford is an Irish musician, born and raised in Kilkenny. She completed her Masters in Viola Performance at the Manhattan School of Music in New York after gaining a full scholarship to study with Patinka Kopec. During her time there, she won the Fuchs Chamber Music Prize, and the Hindemith Viola Competition, and also played as principal violist under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. After graduating in 2017, Ali performed as a freelance musician in New York and played as principal violist with The New York Chamber Music Players, The Handel Festival Orchestra and TENYC, with whom she premiered works at Carnegie Hall, all while holding a Fellowship at the International House NY. Ali then won a position with Lincoln Center Stage and spent time traveling the world as a chamber musician and soloist, most notably to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Alaska. In 2023 Ali was awarded the Resonate Residency for the National Opera House. She performs consistently with the National Symphony Orchestra and enjoys a varied freelance career. Ali also holds a Masters in Violin Performance from the Royal College of Music in London and a Bachelor of Music from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Yseult Cooper-Stockdale, cello Yseult Cooper Stockdale enjoys a particularly vibrant career, working extensively as a chamber musician and collaborator, orchestral cellist, and specialising in experimental and new music performance.
She has performed her own collaboratively-devised works internationally at festivals including New Music Dublin, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and London Contemporary Music Festival. Yseult has been a member of Kirkos Ensemble for over 10 years and has worked with groups including Ficino Ensemble, Crash, Musici Ireland, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Ostravská Banda and The Vanbrugh. As an orchestral player, she has sat Co-Principal with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and Principal with Irish National Opera, The Irish Studio Orchestra and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
