As part of our 6th IDO event in Kilkenny, we performed the same programme a second time one week later. This was our first time to do an “encore” performance. Given all the work that goes into  an IDO weekend , it seemed worthwhile to make use of all the rehearsing and practising by putting on a second concert.

For this concert, we returned to the Ad Astra Hall in UCD. We had last performed here in 2022 and it was great to return to a venue that we were familiar with. This was such a fun programme to play and everyone in the orchestra had their favourite piece, but Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean seemed particularly popular. We had the same orchestra, with a few substitutions depending on player availability, and we had the pleasure again of being conducted by Patrick Rafter.

For this charity concert, all proceeds were donated to Creative Life, under the auspices of the St James Hospital Foundation . St James's Hospital Foundation is the philanthropic arm of St James's Hospital, dedicated to enhancing patient care, supporting medical research, and advancing healthcare innovation. Creative Life promotes and highlights the creativity of older people, enabling them to express themselves through art, sculpture, poetry, literature, music and drama. It also supports the arts within the hospital environment. As a Doctors Orchestra, we feel our objectives and vision overlap greatly with those of  Creative Life and we were delighted to support them for this concert.

The St James Hospital Foundation team helped hugely with promoting our concert and we were delighted with the audience turnout on the day.  We were also delighted with their reaction! We had a very supportive crowd who gave us a standing ovation at the end of the concert. Once again we had great feedback both from the orchestra and the audience and raised almost €3,500 for Creative Life.

Photo credit: Andrew Watson