The Orchestra of St.Cecilia was formed in January 1995. Drawn from the finest of Dublin’s professional musicians it has a notable reputation for the excellent quality of its performances, and is a firmly established part of Ireland’s musical life, particularly through its 10 year – sixty concerts – Bach Cantata Project, in which all 200 of Bach’s church cantatas were performed. After the final concert, a six-disc box set was produced, consisting of some of the finest performances from each of the ten years.
The Orchestra has given many memorable concerts in the National Concert Hall. Most notably: a Baroque programme conducted by Nicholas Kraemer, the complete Mozart Piano Concertos with Hugh Tinney, the complete Beethoven Symphonies and Piano Concertos conducted and performed by Barry Douglas, a Mozart series conducted by Kenneth Montgomery and an outstanding Beethoven Symphony series conducted by Sir Neville Marriner.
The Orchestra has played in the Concertgebouw Hall as part of the Amsterdam
Summer Festival. Outside Dublin, it has performed throughout Ireland, including the Waterfront Hall Belfast and in the Cork International Choral Festival.
In 2013, under the direction of the distinguished Irish conductor Proinnsías Ó Duinn, the Orchestra completed the first half of its project to perform all 108 symphonies of Haydn, and has produced three CD’s of Highlights from each Series.