The Orchestra of St Cecilia Collection
Published on 18th November 2016
The Dublin City Public Library and Archive has recently acquired the Orchestra of St Cecilia Collection, deposited by manager/artistic director Lindsay Armstrong after his retirement and the dissolution of the company at the end of 2014. The collection comprises Armstrong’s comprehensive administrative records. It documents the detailed practicalities of managing an orchestra and putting on independent concerts. The collection includes concert programmes, posters, flyers, correspondence, programme notes, recordings, soloists and conductor’ biographies and administrative documents. Access to the collection provides unparalleled insight into the processes involved in professional orchestra and event management from the turn of the twenty-first century through recession times in Dublin. Find out more and view some items from the Orchestra of St Cecilia Collection...
Dublin City Library & Archive formally accepted the donation with a reception on Tuesday 22 November 2016.
About the Orchestra of St Cecilia
The Orchestra of St Cecilia was a Dublin-based chamber orchestra operating from 1995 to 2014. The orchestra’s core activities have centred on complete cycles of Mozart’s piano concertos with Hugh Tinney (1996-8), Beethoven’s symphonies conducted by Barry Douglas (2002) The Orchestra achieved the remarkable feat of completing the cycle of Bach church cantatas, performed at St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street over 10 years (2001-10). Co-founder, manager and artistic director Lindsay Armstrong was former manager of the New Irish Chamber Orchestra (NICO), and former director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Photo above: Orchestra of St Cecilia performing at Newman University Church, 2013
Listen to the Orchestra of St Cecilia
Highlights from the Orchestra of St Cecilia performing Bach Church Cantatas. Hear more Bach Church Cantatas...
Highlights from Orchestra of St Cecilia performing Haydn's Symphonies (First Series) Hear more Haydn's Symphonies...
Videos of the final concert in the Bach Church Cantatas series, including pre-concert lecture by Dr Christoph Wolff and end of series speeches (2010)
Further Reading
- David Brophy, ‘Lindsay Armstrong’, The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, ed. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), p.30
- David Brophy, ‘Orchestra of Saint Cecilia’, The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, ed. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), p.792.
- Lindsay Armstrong, ‘Orchestra of St. Cecilia – An Elegy’, Sound Post: Newsletter of the MUI: Musicians’ Union of Ireland (Spring 2015), pp. 6-7
Orchestra of St Cecilia (website): www.orchestrastcecilia.ie
Dr Catherine Ferris is a Researcher at the Research Foundation for Music in Ireland. Her work focuses on the contextual history of everyday musical life in Ireland and the use of archival materials for research. As a librarian and music cataloguer, she has worked on collections in the National Library of Ireland, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, The Abbey Theatre and the Dublin Institute of Technology.