Bloomsday Festival 2026: James Joyce and The Great Irish Poets Songbook

presents wonderful evening of poetry and song James Joyce and The Great Irish Poets Songbook, with tenor Dean Power and composer and pianist James Hurley on Sunday, June 14th at 7.00pm They will perform settings of texts by some of Ireland’s best-known writers and poets, composed and arranged by pianist James Hurley, who will accompany Dean on piano.

Highlights of the programme will include a selection of chamber music originally written by James Joyce, as well as settings of "Easter 1916," "The Lake Isle of Inisfree" and "The Salley Gardens" by WB Yeats. You will hear also some intriguing settings of poems by Oscar Wilde and by Fanny Parnell, sister of Charles Stewart Parnell along with poets Susan L. Mitchell and Katharine Tynan. The programme will contain updated versions of previously composed songs as well as 2 world premieres.

Irish tenor Dean Power is a former member of the ensemble at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Dean’s recent operatic engagements have included singing Jaquino in a unique semi-staged performance of Fidelio under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel with The Dudamel Foundation. He also debuted at the Salzburger Festspiele, for Irish National Opera. On the concert platform, Dean has performed at the Royal Albert Hall with the L.S.O, at Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos in Lisbon, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Symphony orchestra and the National Concert Orchestra.

James Hurley is a classical pianist with a passion for improvisation. He studied piano performance at the Memorial University of Newfoundland (2008) and music at the New England Conservatory, Boston (2010). In 2011, James moved to Germany, where he and his wife opened Più Piano – a live performance venue and piano school, located in Neuburg an der Donau. In 2017 he released a solo piano CD entitled Nightscapes, and has since curated hours of live improvisations which continue to be released on streaming platforms.

is organised by in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

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Host or Publisher James Joyce Centre