Tullamore International Summer Organ Series

Thomas Charles Marshall is organist and Director of Music at St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street, Dublin. He received his musical education at the Royal Irish College of Music, the Schola Cantorum of St Finian’s College Mullingar, and Emmanuel College Cambridge, studying organ with Shane Brennan, Peter Hurford and David Adams. He completed his Masters in Music Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music under the direction of David Adams last year receiving first-class honours. Charles lived in Japan for 14 years and is also an accomplished exponent of the traditional Japanese lute known as the Satsuma Biwa.

Bogdan Sofei, violin, was born in Bucharest in 1975 and is leader of the Con Tempo String Quartet,the Ensemble-in-Residence in Galway since January 2003. He graduated from the University of Music in Bucharest where he studied with Ladislau Csendes and Stefan Gheorghiu. He continued his studies at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, the Royal Academy of Music in London, Accademia Chigiana in Siena, European Academy of Music in Aix-en Province, Britten-Pears School for Advanced Music Studies in Aldeburgh and Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid. In addition, Bogdan received his Master of Arts in Music with First Class Honours at Cork School of Music, in 2005.

Bogdan has won several international and national competitions in Italy and Romania in addition to the international prizes he has won as first violinist of Con Tempo Quartet: 1st Prize at Grosser Forderpreise Competition in Munich-Germany,1st Prize at Valentino Bucchi competition in Rome-Italy, 1st Prize at Tunnel Trust Competition in London-UK, 1st Prize at Mozart competition in Cluj-Romania, 2nd Prize at Johannes Brahms International Competition in Hamburg, Audience Prize and 3rd Prize at London String Quartet Competition in UK, 3rd Prize at Schubert und die Musik der Moderne Competition in Graz-Austria, 3rd Prize at Max Reger Competition in Weimar-Germany, The Wigmore Award and The Romanian Musical Critics Union Prize in Bucharest. He has toured the world extensively, performing at many major international festivals in Europe, Canada, and the United States.

Adele O’Dwyer, ‘cello, has had a long and varied career as performing artist, chamber musician, composer and educator, and brings to this trio collective a wealth of experience from many diverse angles and musical perspectives. From her early training with the Chicago Civic Orchestra - Chicago Symphony Training Orchestra, mentorships with international soloists such as Zara Nelsova, Janos Starker and Lynn Harrell and chamber music coaching with the Juilliard String Quartet - Adele has played extensively as an orchestral musician on both sides of the Atlantic holding both leadership and section positions in the Savannah Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony of Ireland, Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Opera Theatre Company as well as and a number of festival chamber orchestras both in Ireland and in the US. Possessing a love for a wide diversity of musics, Adele has performed and recorded with such well-known artists as Michael Ó Suilleabháin, De Dannan, Liam O’Flynn and Jimmy MacCarthy.

Adele has always had a deep interest in chamber music and she has performed with some of Ireland’s leading chamber musicians such as pianists Úna Hunt, Danusia Oslizlok and Jan Cap; violinists Ioana Petcu-Colan, Adrian Petcu and Ruxandra Colan, the Callino and Con Tempo String Quartets to name a few. Adele has an energetic and creative approach to programming both from the point of view of musical repertoire and personnel but also in terms of the collaborative projects which she devises to compliment formal concert events. Out-reach and community music projects have formed a central plank of the work Adele has done over the years in Co. Offaly where she resides.