Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) in Dublin hosts MERITA Concert by ADAM Quartet
On 29 September 2024, the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) in Dublin hosted the fourth concert co-organised by Europa Nostra in the framework of MERITA, a platform that increases the visibility and circulation of young European string quartets, which is co-funded by the European Union. In a wonderful performance, the ADAM String Quartet from The Netherlands bridged the gap between poetry and music, creating an immersive experience that blended verbal and non-verbal forms of expression.
The Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) received both a European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award and a Grand Prix in the category of Citizens’ Engagement and Awareness Raising in 2023.
The concert in Dublin was organised in close collaboration with MoLI and its director Simon O’Connor. The programme included works by Pelham Humfrey, Barry Guy, and Joseph Haydn, encouraging reflection on the intricate meanings of language. In addition to performing classical pieces, the first violinist Margot Kolodziej contributed her own poem, When Leaves, which reflects the quartet’s thoughts on the programme.
The ADAM Quartet commented: “We chose the Barry Guy piece because it really builds on Samuel Beckett’s poem. In the scores, one can read the poem’s words, allowing us to see how they blend with the musical motifs. […] In a way, the experiences of words and music are very similar […] If you say a word out loud, you must convince the audience, which is what we have to do as musicians. This similarity makes the word much like music.”
Launched in September 2019, the Museum of Literature Ireland serves as a home for prized artefacts of the Irish State’s literary collections. By offering immersive multimedia presentations, maintaining an agile exhibition turnover, fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations, and hosting a vibrant calendar of public events, the Museum has succeeded in quickly cultivating a diverse and devoted audience. MoLI operates as a new, values-driven museum with a mission to dismantle elitist perceptions of literature and engage everyone.
In June 2024, Europa Nostra co-organised three enchanting concerts in iconic heritage sites, namely the Winzeberg Royal Vineyard in Potsdam (Germany), the Friluftsskolen Open-Air School in Copenhagen (Denmark) – both winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards – and the ARTE Music Academy in Nicosia (Cyprus). As one of the 16 members of the consortium coordinated by Le Dimore del Quartetto, Europa Nostra is organising a total of nine concerts until August 2025.
