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music · Thursday 23 July 2026 · 8:00pm 
Double Bill: Emma Rawicz Quartet & Lucia Cadotsch
At Hawk's Well Theatre · Temple Street, Sligo, Co. Sligo
At Hawk's Well Theatre · Temple Street, Sligo, Co. Sligo
Two of the most compelling voices in contemporary European jazz share a stage at Hawk’s Well Theatre on a Thursday night in July. Emma Rawicz, the British saxophonist described by Jamie Cullum as “an astonishing talent,” leads her quartet alongside Swiss vocalist Lucia Cadotsch - winner of the German Jazz Award for Vocalist of the Year and the 2023 Swiss Music Prize. This is a double bill that would sell out in London or Berlin; in Sligo, it’s free. The concert is part of the Sligo Jazz Project’s International Summer School week, when the town draws serious musicians and students from across Europe, and the evening concerts are the public face of that week - open to anyone who walks in.
Emma Rawicz is a saxophonist and composer who released her debut album, Incantation, at 19 and followed it with Chroma on ACT Records - a label that has long been the home of serious European jazz. She plays with a quartet built for original work rather than standards: tight, contemporary, and willing to take risks. Rawicz has played Ronnie Scott’s, toured 15 countries, and performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra, but her live quartet sets are where the writing really opens up.
Lucia Cadotsch is a different kind of presence - a vocalist with a minimalist, unhurried approach to melody, known for her Speak Low trio and her AKI quartet. She deconstructs rather than decorates. Where most jazz singers work the emotion to the surface, Cadotsch holds it just underneath, letting the arrangement do more of the talking. Two very different artists, then, which is part of what makes the pairing interesting.
Sligo is well connected by road from Dublin via the N4/M4 (roughly 2 hours 20 minutes) and from Galway via the N17 (about 1 hour 30 minutes). Bus Eireann runs express services from Dublin’s Busaras. Sligo town also has a train station on the Dublin Connolly line, with several daily services. Hawk’s Well Theatre is on Temple Street in the town centre - a short walk from the train station and most of the town’s hotels. Street parking is available nearby in the evenings.
The Sligo Jazz week turns the town into a different place - there is often live music at informal sessions in pubs and venues throughout the week, and the summer school atmosphere carries into the evenings. Yeats country, the Atlantic coast, and the mountains are all within easy reach for the day before or after. There is more to see in Sligo and across Co. Sligo.
Heading to Hawk's Well Theatre in Sligo? Sligo has plenty more to see. Read the Sligo area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.