MusicConnects is where music, community, and place come together. We bring inspiring music and musicians into the heart of everyday life, reaching people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities across Galway City and County.
Threads, our theme for 2026, knits together composers whose music is connected by shared ideas, relationships, and places. Across the season, our Ensemble-in-Residence, ConTempo Quartet traces these connections – from friendship and love to homeland and musical echoes – weaving past and present into a rich tapestry of music across time and place. Check out our FREE events, featuring four key series:
• Lunchtime with ConTempo – our monthly lunchtime series, perfect for your lunch break. Enjoy vibrant, accessible chamber music in a relaxed setting.
• ConTempo Countywide – a series bringing live music to communities across Galway County, connecting people to the joy of chamber music wherever they are.
• Music Unveiled – our Guided Listening initiative at Galway’s city libraries, in collaboration with Galway City Council Arts Office’s Cultural Partnership Programme and University of Galway’s Department of Music. These informal and accessible sessions deconstruct some of the music to be performed each month.
• Lines of Listening (NEW!) – a Creative Responses series as part of Lochránn, our outreach initiative in partnership with Arts in Action, University of Galway. Artist Maeve Curtis and Author Mike McCormack guide these monthly, deep listening workshops where participants engage in process-oriented mark making either in paint or in words, responding to this season’s music programme. Materials provided.
This programme features composers whose personal relationships profoundly shaped their music. Tender, passionate, and lyrical, the featured works reveal how love can be a powerful creative force.
Sunday 1 February Lines of Listening
O’Donoghue Centre, University of Galway, 11am-1pm
Tuesday 3 February Lunchtime with ConTempo
St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, 1:10pm-1:50pm
Saturday 28 February ConTempo Countywide
Oughterard Courthouse, H91 CC96, 8pm
Across the ages, composers have drawn inspiration from the places they call home. This programme connects music to place, from landscapes to the elements shaping the land and its people.
Sunday 24 February Music Unveiled
Galway City Library, 11am | Featuring Dr Amanda Feery & Judith Ring
Tuesday 3 March Lunchtime with ConTempo
St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, 1:10pm-1:50pm | Featuring the World Premiere of ‘Raise a Tragic Chorus in a Gale’ by Judith Ring
Sunday 29 March ConTempo Countywide
Claregalway Castle, H91 E9T3, 4pm
This season we spotlight the intimacy of the string duo. Two concerts explore centuries of composers weaving voices together, revealing the unique stories two instruments can tell.
Sunday 29 March Lines of Listening
O’Donoghue Centre, University of Galway, 11am–1pm
Tuesday 7 April Lunchtime with ConTempo
St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, 1:10pm-1:50pm
Friday 24 April ConTempo Countywide
Súil Eile, Barna, H91 AXH1, 6pm
Sunday 26 April Lines of Listening
Siobhan McKenna Theatre, Arts Millenium Building, University of Galway 11am–1pm
Tuesday 5 May Lunchtime with ConTempo
St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, 1:10pm-1:50pm
Sunday 17 May ConTempo Countywide
Súil Eile, Barna, H91 AXH1, 6pm
This programme reflects on the influence of parents and early listening on a composer’s voice. The music explores how artistic wisdom is passed down and transformed, connecting the generations.
Tuesday 19 May Music Unveiled
Galway City Library, 11am | Featuring Ronan Guilfoyle & Guest Speaker
Monday 1 June ConTempo Countywide
Halla Ronáin, Inis Mór, 12:30pm | Featuring the World Premiere of ‘Legacy’ by Ronan Guilfoyle with special guest Matthew Berrill (clarinet).
Tuesday 2 June Lunchtime with ConTempo
St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, 1:10pm-1:50pm
Entry to all events is FREE. Donations welcome.
Come on this journey with us. Help us make many generations of musicians and music lovers in Galway and beyond.
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