The sound of things to come

1. On Friday, January 30th, the National Symphony Orchestra's principal conductor-elect, Alexander Anissimov, will continue to fill out the picture of his musical personality when he conducts Mahler's Third Symphony at the National Concert Hall.

2. Evgeny Kissin, probably the most talked about pianistic prodigy of the century, now in his mid20s, makes his Irish debut with a still undisclosed programme at the National Concert Hall on Saturday, February 28th.

3. February sees the return to Ireland of Hungarian violinist, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, who gave his name to the Takacs String Quartet, and who's now leader of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. With his Takacs Piano Trio, he'll be giving concerts in Galway, Waterford, Limerick, Castlepollard and Dublin, between Wednesday, February 11th and Sunday 15th.

4. The German pianist, Ortwin Sturmer, is an exponent of some of the most difficult contemporary music around. He returns to Ireland for a lunchtime concert in the Bank of Ireland Mostly Modern series on Thursday, April 9th.

5. There are rivals now in Cork and Sligo, but the Sonorities Festival in Belfast (provisionally running from Wednesday, May 14th, to Sunday, May 18th), is still the most concentrated offering of contemporary music to be found in Ireland.

6. The West Cork Chamber Music Festival has become one of the jewels in the crown of Irish musical life. The next festival runs from Sunday, June 28th to Sunday, July 5th, when among the visitors to Bantry House will be the legendary Borodin String Quartet.

7. The 1998 programme of the Wexford Festival Opera (Thursday, October 15th-Sunday, November 1st) has delved even deeper than usual into operatic history. The best-known name here is Riccardo Zandonai (1883-1944), represented by I Cavalieri di Ekeba. Wexford audiences will also see Sarlatan by Pavel Haas (1899-1944), who died in a gas chamber in Terezin, and Fosca, an Italian-language opera by the Brazilian, Carlos Gomes (1836-1896).

8. In his first year, the Belfast Festival's new programme director, Sean Doran, completely transformed the festival's musical profile. His 1998 offerings must be awaited with eager anticipation. The festival will run from Friday, November 13th to Sunday, November 29th.