RTÉ Concert Orchestra August 2026

Swan Lake, RTÉ CO Summer Lunchtimes, Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, and the music of Stevie Wonder & Neil Diamond

This August, join the RTÉ CO for Swan Lake with the Ballet de Santiago,
RTÉ CO Summer Lunchtimes, Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony
and the music of Stevie Wonder & Neil Diamond

RTÉ Concert Orchestra Summer Lunchtime

Tuesday 4 August, 1.05pm – National Concert Hall, Dublin
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Anna Sułkowska-Migoń, conductor
Presented by Liz Nolan, RTÉ lyric fm
Join us for a summer lunchtime of Romantic dance music.
Dvořák’s passionate Salvonic Dance in E Minor opens a journey through the musical landscape of nineteenth-century Europe. Join us for Grieg’s exotic Arabian Dance and Smetana’s Dance of the Comedians, as well as the expressive Bacchanale from Saint-Saëns’ once-banned Samson et Dalila.
The orchestra perform Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers ahead of the RTÉ CO’s Swan Lake with the Ballet de Santiago later this month, and we conclude this RTÉ CO Summer Lunchtime with the glittering power of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919). Be haunted by chromatic chords and dazzled by brass chorale with us.
Waltz into the NCH for a colourful, illustrative and dynamic programme under the baton of Polish conductor Anna Sułkowska-Migoń.
Tickets here

Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life

Friday 7 August, 7.30pm – National Concert Hall, Dublin
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Ryan Quigley, director/trumpet
Natalie Duncan, Lucia Evans, Tony Momrelle, Hamish Stuart, vocalists
The RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Ryan Quigley and special guest singers perform Stevie Wonder’s Grammy Award-winning album, Songs in the Key of Life.
Winner of Album of the Year at the 19th Grammy Awards, Songs in the Key of Life is the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of Stevie Wonder’s career, and features Isn’t She Lovely, I Wish, Sir Duke and Another Star.
Stevie Wonder himself said to Q magazine two decades after the album’s release, “Of all the albums, Songs in the Key of Life I’m most happy about. Just the time, being alive then.” Enjoy the 1976 record-breaker with full orchestral sound.
Tickets here

Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony

Friday 14 August, 7.30pm – National Concert Hall, Dublin
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Swann Van Rechem, conductor
Witness the brilliance of the RTÉ CO under the baton of French conductor Swann Van Rechem in this enchanting journey through the natural world.
Written when Mendelssohn was only 17, we begin with A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture. Light and playful, the Overture vividly evokes Oberon and Titania dancing through the woods, and was hailed by George Grove (The Musical Times) as “the greatest marvel of early maturity that the world has ever seen in music”.
Chabrier’s idyllic Suite Pastorale then leads us through the French composer’s childhood in Auvergne. The four bucolic scenes of the Suite Pastorale are taken from 10 pièces pittoresques, composed for piano in 1881.
The evening concludes with Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony – the joyful Pastoral. Written in tandem with the beloved Fifth Symphony, the Pastoral marked a parallel and equally defining moment in symphonic composition. A programmatic work depicting Beethoven’s love of nature, the Sixth reflects back the glory of the natural world to the audience. It marks a journey through the Viennese countryside – see our August 11 Summer Lunchtime concert for more Viennese delights – and depicts, as Beethoven himself remarked, “more the expression of feeling than painting”.
Join us for a cornucopia of musical expression portraying the beauty of the natural world.
Tickets here

Swan Lake

17-23 August – Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Pedro Pablo Prudencio, conductor
Ballet de Santiago
Love defies darkness as Chile’s acclaimed Ballet de Santiagobrings the legendary Swan Lake to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, with music performed by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. In this breathtaking production, Tchaikovsky’s soaring score and the company’s spellbinding artistry weave a story of passion, betrayal, and eternal devotion. Under the artistic leadership of internationally celebrated César Morales, the company fuses the great traditions of classical ballet with a distinctly Latin American flair for this Irish premier.
Tickets here

Solitary Man

Thursday 27 August, National Concert Hall, Dublin
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Shannon Brown, conductor
Peter Byrne, vocalist
2026 marks a dazzling milestone — the 60th anniversary of Neil Diamond’s first hit single, Solitary Man. To honour this extraordinary legacy, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra joins forces once again with internationally acclaimed performer Peter Byrne for a spectacular musical tribute: Solitary Man – The Diamond Anniversary.
Audiences will be transported through the golden decades of Diamond’s illustrious career, from 1966 to 1992, with unforgettable performances of the timeless classics that defined an era. Relive the magic of Hot August Night with showstoppers like Crunchy Granola Suite, Cracklin’ Rosie, Sweet Caroline, and I Am… I Said. The evening also features iconic moments from The Jazz Singer and the poignant duet You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.
Renowned for his uncanny vocal likeness and stage presence, Peter Byrne has been hailed as the closest thing to Neil Diamond himself. His performances channel the passion, sensuality, and charisma of the original, earning personal praise from Diamond on several occasions.
Since Neil Diamond’s retirement from touring due to Parkinson’s disease, Peter Byrne has taken on a new role — as an ambassador for the Shake It Up Foundation (Michael J. Fox Foundation), raising awareness and over $70,000 to date in support of Parkinson’s research.
With over 30 years of sold-out shows across Australia and a string of triumphant, sold-out performances at Dublin’s National Concert Hall in 2020, 2022, and 2023, Peter Byrne returns by popular demand for two unforgettable nights in August 2026.
Don’t miss this extraordinary celebration of music, memory, and legacy.
“The day I see a better Diamond will be the day the man himself appears on stage.” — Adrian Revere, The Mercury
Tickets here