A shamelessly entertaining evening of great tunes from 18th century Ireland and beyond.

What if Handel’s Band took a night off?

For this performance, the Irish Baroque Orchestra will move away from the traditional recital format. Instead, we are creating an immersive, high-energy session that imagines the music Handel and his contemporaries would have heard in the informal settings of the 1740s – where Baroque virtuosity met the living Irish traditional music of the day.

This programme imagines the musical influences in Dublin during Handel’s stay and draws together works by Handel alongside traditional Irish music.

Curated by Cork’s Marja Gaynor with uilleann piper David Power, nine specialist musicians, including soprano Aisling Kenny, will perform in Triskel for Culture Night 2026, creating a vibrant salon atmosphere. Handel’s Band Off-Duty is about stripping away the formal veneer of the modern concert hall to reveal the vibrant, social music that animated 18th-century Ireland.

Marja Gaynor, director
David Power, uilleann pipes
Aisling Kenny, soprano

About the Irish Baroque Orchestra

Founded in 1996, the Irish Baroque Orchestra (IBO) is Ireland’s flagship period-instrument orchestra and a leading advocate for historically informed performance. The orchestra’s vision is to curate and deliver a vibrant, year-round programme that reflects the diversity of Irish society, offering experiences that inspire reflection, creativity, and a deeper connection with Ireland’s evolving cultural identity.

The IBO’s mission is to bring centuries-old traditions of historical performance to audiences in Ireland and abroad, inspiring renewed interest in Irish and European cultural heritage and fostering meaningful connections through exceptional artistic and educational experiences.

As a national cultural institution, the IBO curates performances, tours, recordings, and outreach programmes that celebrate Ireland’s place within Europe’s shared artistic history. Its work highlights the enduring relevance of Baroque music while giving voice to contemporary Ireland’s artistic diversity. The organisation’s lived values – excellence, respect, transparency, inclusion, integrity, curiosity, and equality – guide every aspect of its practice. These values shape how the IBO collaborates with artists, serves audiences, engages communities, and supports the next generation of musicians.

Operating with a small professional team and a broad network of freelance musicians and volunteers, the IBO reaches millions of people each year through concerts, education initiatives, digital content and radio broadcast. The orchestra’s performances are regularly featured in Ireland’s major concert venues and festivals, with frequent appearances across Europe.

In recent years, the IBO has expanded its impact through innovative educational pathways such as its Performing Apprenticeships and Keyboard Technicianships – nurturing talent, fostering inclusion, and protecting rare technical skills essential to the preservation of Ireland’s musical heritage.

At its heart, the IBO believes that the arts are central to a thriving society, and that music, language, and culture are key to understanding who we are – and who we aspire to become.

About Marja Gaynor

Originally from Finland, Marja Gaynor is a Cork-based violinist and viola player. She is a member of Irish Baroque Orchestra and has also performed with Irish Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Marsyas, Dunedin Consort, London Handel Players and Helsinki Baroque Orchestra. Marja is known as a versatile musician at home in many different styles, a fluent improviser, as well as arranger and curator. Upcoming projects include chamber music tours with Solas Quartet and The Vanbrugh and performing and arranging as a trio with uilleann piper David Power and flamenco guitarist John Walsh. She teaches violin and chamber music in MTU Cork School of Music.

About David Power

David makes music on the Irish Uilleann Pipes – he travels the world as a solo musician, in duos with fiddlers Martin Hayes & Willie Kelly, harpist Triona Marshall and in collaborations with many other artists, including Edges of Light, Masters of Tradition, Pipers Union, the baroque ensemble Camerata Kilkenny, ConTempo Quartet and pipe-organist Malcolm Proud.

He has several solo uilleann piping recordings, the first two released by Claddagh Records. The third, self published, Apples in Winter, a duet of fiddle and pipes with Willie Kelly of New York, was released in 2016.  In 2018 Lyric FM published The Piper & the Fairy Queen with baroque ensemble Camerata Kilkenny.

He has performed on some of the most beautiful stages in the world including the Sydney Opera house with Masters of Tradition and the legendary Broadway Studio 54 in A Touch of the Poet alongside Gabriel Byrne.