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Marble City Music Festival

Buy your tickets below for our May 8th and 15th concerts in Kilkenny City.

Welcome to the Marble City Music Festival 2026

Experience exceptional concerts in the heart of Kilkenny City. This May, Kilkenny City comes alive with two magnificent concerts featuring world-class orchestras and soloists. The RTE Concert Orchestra will perform at the magnificent setting of St. Canice's Cathedral, and the Luminosa Orchestra will join us for a breathtaking performance at St. Canice's RC Church.

Join Marble City Music Festival and a stellar ensemble of world-class artists. This festival showcases Ireland’s finest musicians in performances that will delight audiences of all ages.

Tickets from just 17.50 Euro

🔥 No Booking Fees on any tickets 🔥

✨Experience Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Elgar’s Serenade for Strings in a thrilling celebration of string orchestra masterpieces ✨

On Friday, 8th May, internationally active violinist and conductor Patrick Rafter performs and directs The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi in partnership with the Galway-based Luminosa String Orchestra at St Canice's RC Church. The programme brings one of the masterpieces of classical music, Vivaldi’s 4 season alongside romantic masterpieces, including Saint-Saëns’ virtuosic Introduction et Tarantelle, Lekeu’s introspective Adagio for Strings, and Elgar’s Serenade for Strings.

🌟 An Evening of Iconic Masterpieces for Violin and Orchestra🌟

On Friday 15 May at St. Canice’s Cathedral, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra appears under Rafter’s baton in The Great Romantics, a sweeping programme encompassing music from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Elgar’s Salut d’Amour and Sospiri, Amy Beach’s Romance, and Rossini’s overture to The Barber of Seville. This performance forms part of an ongoing artistic collaboration between Rafter and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, following earlier appearances together this season and preceding a forthcoming recording project planned for release later this year. The developing partnership signals a deepening engagement between the festival’s artistic leadership and one of Ireland’s principal national ensembles.