Irish Composers Collective

Something tasty from the Irish Composers Collective: Soprano Elizabeth Hilliard and David Bremner give a concert for Voice and Piano at the NCH next Wed 22 June of previously unperformed works by member composers, including Glen Austin, David Bremner, Peter Moran, Richard Gill, Massimo Davi ('Fairytale for female voice and resonant piano') and Ryan Molloy. Coming up, an AudioVisual Concert on 26 July features collaborations between five composers and five visual/video artists, and in August the ICC present their first Laptop Ensemble. www.irishcomposerscollective.com www.nch.ie

And over at the Contemporary Music Centre at 6pm you can catch the launch of Ed Bennett's new CD My Broken Machines, featuring a live performance by Paul Roe. www.cmc.ie

Short & Sweet

Over the past while I’ve come to realise that despite my best intentions, life has a habit of intervening in my blogging schedule, so for the next few months I’m going to keep things short and sweet – basic info and a link. But remember, if it’s on the blog it’s worth checking out.So here goes:

Sundays@ Noon at the Hugh Lane Gallery is a definite must for any city dweller. Free music in a fab gallery, what more could you want? On Sun 19 you can hear pianist Finghin Collins, currently associate artist with the NSO, playing Beethoven and Debussy, and on Sun 26 contemporary music group Concorde team up with acclaimed violist Garth Knox for The Viola: A Wild Beast Unleashed, 5 new compositions by Irish composers inspired by the afore-mentioned Knox. www.hughlane.ie

And in the same venue for a small fee, on Sat 18 @3pm you can here the National Chamber Choir under the baton of the brilliant Paul Hillier singing music by Brahms and his early music influences including the likes of Gabrieli and Palestrina. www.nationalchamberchoir.com

A new cross-arts project Movement of Sound is at the Backloft on June 19, a collaboration between Karen Power (composer / live electronics), Mary Nunan (dancer and choreographer), Deirdre O’Leary (clarinet/ bass clarinet) and Kate Ellis (cello), featuring Irish premiers by international composers; Saariaho, Tiensuu and Hyla. And speaking of the Backloft, there’s a free concert on Fri 10 @7pm featuring RawClassico aka soprano Frances Marshall and classical guitarist John Feeley, a combination of Italian arias and Celtic repertoire, all arranged by Feeley.

www.thebackloft.blogspot.com

Some good stuff coming up at Art Polonia’s Centre for Creative Practice, where you can indulge in everything from jazz, flamenco, electro-acoustic, experimental music performance, folk music, storytelling, documentaries and a German movie night. Check out their website @ www.artpolonia.org

Popular French-based pianist Ivan Ilic is back again at the NCH’s John Field Room for a lunchtime recital on Fri 24 June, including his own arrangements of French songs by Debussy, Fauré, and Ernest Chausson, as well as two rarely-heard works from 1930 by Ravel and Godowsky. www.nch.ie

Next show into the Gate Theatre is Brian Friel’s thought-provoking exploration of personal identity Molly Sweeney, which had its premiere there some 15 years ago. Previewing from Thur 23 and opening on Tue 28 June, this new production is directed by Patrick Mason and features Dawn Bradfield, Michael Byrne and Peter Hanly. www.gatetheatre.ie

At Project til Sat 18 June, Loose Canon return to their Shakespearian roots with their take on A Midsummer Night's Dream? (note that question mark). As they so eloquently put it, “Is it about fairies and pixies and the course of true love not running smoothly? Or is it about getting f*cked off your face – so f*cked off your face that you end up f*cking a donkey?” Sounds like some party. www.projectartscentre.ie

New Music & Jazz

Two shows on Wed 27 April: Some esoteric jazz from Tarab, headed up by Irish-based Italian musician Francesco Turrisi, who launch their debut CD at Whelan’s. With Turrisi on accordion, harmonium and various Arabic and Sicilian frame drums, his jazz/classical background is elaborated by saxophonist Nick Roth and cellist Kate Ellis, while an Irish counterbalance is provided by traditional flautist Emer Mayock and percussionist Robbie Harris. www.improvisedmusic.ie

Meanwhile the Contemporary Music Centre team up with the Irish Composers’ Collective for a Night of New Music in the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room. Kicking off at 6pm with the CMC’s new music::new Ireland salon series (admission free, booking recommended) Movement of Sound is a collaboration between composer/performer Karen Power, who works primarily in the acoustic and electro-acoustic field, with well-known dancer and choreographer Mary Nunan. After a break for wine and tapas, the ICC present the Quiet Music Ensemble, featuring John Godfrey, Séan Mac Erlaine and Isla de Ziah, performing the works of Alyson Barber, Solfa Carlile, Patrick Connolly, Susan Geaney, Aristides Llaneza and Adam McCartney. Pre-concert talk at 8.15pm. www.nch.ie, www.cmc.ie, www.irishcomposerscollective.ie

New Horizons

Free contemporary music concerts at the NCH? That’s the NSO’s annual Horizons series of lunchtime concerts, which start on Tue 11 Jan with the world premiere of Kevin O’Connell’s large scale Symphony. On Tue 18 there’s another chance to hear David Fennessy’s Bodies along with James MacMillan’s ...as others see us… The focus is on Piers Hellawell on Tue 22 Feb, including Agricolas, his 2008 concerto for clarinet and orchestra performed by Robert Plane. Philip Hammond’s 60th birthday is celebrated on 10 May with a programme that spans the past 30 years. And there’s another world premiere on 17 May, with Jerome de Bromhead’s first Violin Concerto. You can hear the Composers in Conversation, presented by the Contemporary Music Centre, before each concert. www.rte.ie/nationalsymphonyorchestra www.cmc.ie

Must Have Music

Hey ho, what a way to start the week. Brian Eno’s ambient masterpiece Apollo gets a live performance at the NCH on Tue 9 as one of the key events of Science Week. Performed by pioneering classical ensemble Icebreaker with pedal steel guitarist PJ Cole in a special arrangement by composer Jun Lee, this show returns the music to its original concept as a non-narrative counterpart to some amazing Nasa footage from the Apollo space missions, which will be projected during the performance. www.nch.ie

The Contemporary Music Centre’s salon series continues with new music::new Ireland, two informal concerts at the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room which sees the ConTempo String Quartet take a second look at works written for them in recent years. The first salon on Wed 10 (6pm) features music by Rhona Clarke and Grainne Mulvey, with both composers in attendance. On Wed 17 they’re joined by guitarist John Feeley for movements from Eric Sweeney’s Concert for Guitar, as well as works by Jennifer Walshe and Jane O’Leary. Admission free, booking advisable. www.nch.ie www.cmc.ie

Something quite different at the Samuel Beckett Theatre on Sat 13. Hadith al Rouh (Conversations of the Soul) is a theatrical concert created by Evangelia Rigaki, newly appointed lecturer in composition at TCD. A variation on the Sufi song by the famous Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum, described as the Maria Callas of Arab Music, Rigaki has recomposed the piece for soprano, ud player and a 12 part male voice choir. www.tcd.ie

If it’s Sunday it must be the Hugh Lane Gallery for some great free music @ Noon. Cellist Mirian Roycroft and pianist Reamonn Keary get together on Sun 14 for works by Schumann, Barber and Chopin; on Sun 21 the Callino Quartet play string quartets by Haydn and on Sun 28 Polish pianist Slawomir Wilk plays Chopin as part of the Chopin 200 celebrations. www.hughlane.ie

The Irish Baroque Orchestra are at Christ Church Cathedral on Thur 18 with The Three Fiddlers, a celebration of the violin with works by Pachelbel (Canon & Gigue) Bach (Triple Violin Concerto in D), Vivaldi (Concerto for 3 Violins in F) et al. www.irishbaroqueorchestra.com

Resurgam choir have something quite fascinating on offer in Magnificat: Songs of Freedom and Justice, at St Nicholas of Myra Church on Thur 18. At the core of the programme is Giles Swayne’s 1982 setting of the biblical text, written after the composer spent two months in Senegal and the Gambia, which uses a Jola work-song as an opening call and returning motif, juxtaposing and highlighting the radical import of the traditional words. Other settings of the Magnificat, including those by Irish composers Caitríona Ní Dhubhghaill and Benedict Schlepper-Connolly as well as Tavener and Arvo Part, are layered with a selection of South African freedom songs. www.resurgam.ie

John Ruddock’s excellent MLA is back in action at Imma on Sun 21 with an afternoon concert featuring dymanic Czech violinist Ivan Zenaty. He’s joined by pianist Stanislav Boguna for works by Prokofiev, Beethoven, Clara Schumann and Grieg. Tickets €20 at the door.

Wondering what to do on a chilly Monday night? Head for Whelan’s on Mon 22 where the Improvised Music Company present Chris Potter’s Underground, live and kicking from New York. ‘One of the best saxophonists on the planet’ said The Guardian of Potter, who is joined onstage by drummer Nate Smith, Adam Rogers on guitar and Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes. www.improvisedmusic.ie

There’s some tasty stuff from the RTE Concert Orchestra at the NCH on Wed 24, when they’re joined by ace fiddler Martin Hayes for the world premiere of Dave Flynn’s Aontacht (Unity): A Concerto for Traditional Irish Musician and Orchestra. If that sounds a bit Riverdancey, Flynn has explained his use of the orchestra as some kind of giant accompanying instrument, a mythical combination of Leo Rowsome’s uilleann pipes, Dennis Cahill’s guitar, Steve Reich’s ensemble and Arvo Part’s strings, while the fiddle draws not only on Hayes’ extraordinary musicianship but the inspiration of fiddlers like Tommy Potts Paddy Canny, Paddy Fahey and Ed Reavy. Hayes is joined by Denis Cahill and violinist Brona Cahill, Flynn’s Music for the Departed, there’s orchestral music from Arvo Part, and by way of a nice bit of contrast, a set from Hayes and Cahill. www.rte.ie www.nch.ie

A new work for the National Chamber Choir created by upcoming young British composer Tarik O’Regan gets its world premiere at St Ann's, Dawson St on Thur 25. Acallam na Senórach /Tales of the Elders is a concert-length chamber piece for 16 singers and guitar soloist (Stewart French), based on the most important medieval text of the Fenian Cycle, which follows the aging Oisín and Caílte as they travel across Ireland with the newly arrived St Patrick. O’Regan’s work has already received numerous awards including two Grammy nominations and his forthcoming opera Heart of Darkness, based on Conrad’s novel, opens in London next year. www.nationalchamberchoir.com

Harping on

The Irish Composers Collective are in the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room on Thur 21 Oct with a concert focusing on the harp. Renowned harpist Anne-Marie O'Farrell will present new works for both classical and lever harps by Johanne Heraty, Daniel Barkley, Marc Tweedie, Piaras Hoban and Hugh Boyle, while Ian McDonnell will premiere an electronic work with material derived directly from the harp itself. A pre-concert talk looks at Traditional Instruments in Contemporary Composition. www.nch.ie

NewSoundWorlds

There’s another chance to hear New York based pianist Isabelle O’ Connell at the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room on Tue 1 June as part of the NewSoundWorlds series. One of the ash cloud casualties that now seem so last month, she’ll be getting to grips with Book 1 of George Crumb’s masterful Makrokosmos, written in 1972 to explore the sonic possibilities of the piano. In what looks like a really interesting programme there's also pieces by Ken Steen, Terry Winter, Henry Cowell and James Mobberley. www.nch.ie

Feldman Festival

The music of American composer Morton Feldman takes centre stage at IMMA on Sun 30 May as part of the current exhibition Vertical Thoughts: Morton Feldman and the Visual Arts. In their first ever collaboration, Crash Ensemble and the National Chamber Choir perform Feldman’s Rothko Chapel, a tribute to his close friend the artist Mark Rothko. Feldman described the piece thus: ‘Rothko's imagery goes right to the edge of his canvas, and I wanted the same effect with the music… the sound is closer, more physically with you than in a concert hall.’ Crash also join forces with actors Barry McGovern and Owen Roe in a rare performance of Words and Music, Samuel Beckett’s 1961 radio play which was scored by Feldman in 1985. www.crashensemble.com

NewSoundWorlds

Two concerts coming up in the NewSoundWorlds Spring Series at the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room. On Tue 20 April (ash cloud permitting) New York based pianist Isabelle O’Connell plays a programme built around George Crumb’s masterful Makrokosmos. Violinist Darragh Morgan teams up with pianist John Tilbury on Tue 4 May for 80 minutes of Morton Feldman’s iconic For John Cage. www.nch.ie And if Feldman’s mesmeric music grabs your imagination, check out the current exhibition at Imma, Vertical Thoughts: Morton Feldman and the Visual Arts. www.modernart.ie. Meanwhile the Irish Composers Collective are at the NCH on Mon 26 April with new music by David Bremner, Amanda Feery, Richard Gill, Bill Mc Grath, Emma O’ Halloran and Dylan Rynhart, performed by clarinetist Paul Roe and guitarist Philip Lawson.

Sundays @ Noon

If it’s Sunday it must be the Hugh Lane Gallery… On Sun 11 April composer/pianist Jane O’Leary of Concorde gets together with NSO principal cellist Martin Johnson for a programme of new works by O’Leary, Grainne Mulvey and Dermot McDermott. These three new pieces, specially commissioned by Johnson and developed through a collaborative process, give a fascinating account of the many facets of the cello in different contexts. There’s also a belated chance to hear the world premiere of James Wilson’s Sonata Op 172 for cello and piano, written for Johnson shortly before the composer’s death. Pianist Fionnuala Moynihan continues her chronological exploration of Mozart’s Piano Sonatas on Sun 18, playing No 9 in D, No 10 in C and No 11 in A. There’s something of a virtuoso treat on Sunday 25 when accordionist Dermot Dunne teams up with violinist Katherine Hunka for an vibrant mix of celebrated classics and works with a strong Latin flavour, with music by Biber, De Falla, Stravinsky and Ronan Guilfoyle. All concerts start at 12 noon but get there early and remember, it’s all FREE. www.hughlane.ie

Ergodos Festival MMX

A mini festival of new music at Project this weekend (2&3 April) courtesy of contemporary music bods Ergodos has the concept of optimism (currently a much needed quality) at its core. “In spite of the hardships of our time, there is much to celebrate, much that is beautiful, much to give us hope, and much to be done,” say Ergodos Festival MMX directors Garrett Sholdice
and Benedict Schlepper-Connolly. The first concert, Another Generation, juxtaposes the music of JS Bach with John Cage, Simon O’Connor Jonathan Nangle et al, while the second, The Sun Also Rises, is a work for film and music by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly and David Tynan. www.ergodos.ie

New Music

Irish contemporary music from the Irish Composers Collective in the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room tonight (Mon 22). Violinist Cora Venus Lunny and cellist Kate Ellis play works by ICC composers including Glen Austin’s The Shaman’s Dance and Dave Flynn’s Between the Jigs and the Reels. www.nch.ie Meanwhile the Centre for Creative Practices is presenting a series with a difference: Components features new works by Irish composers that are being developed over the course of six Sunday concerts. The next concert on 28 March features Dan Bodwell on double bass. Cellist Kate Ellis takes up the strand on 11 April, David Bremner follows up on Fender Rhodes Piano on 18 April and the final concert on 25 April features Cathal Roche on saxophones. www.artpolonia.org

New Horizons

RTE's free Horizons series, focussing on contemporary Irish composers, is currently running at the NCH Tues lunchtimes. Featuring the RTE NSO, there are 2 concerts left in the series. On Feb 2 the featured composer is Elaine Agnew, with 3 of her works on the programme including Make a Wish, an RTE lyric fm commission, and you can also hear pieces by Elena Kats-Chernin and Stephen Gardner. Pianist Finghin Collins is the soloist and David Brophy conducts. Brian Irvine takes over as both composer and conductor on Feb 9, with a performance of his Montana Strange featuring Paul Dunmall on saxophone; a late addition to the programme is Bill Campbell's Weather Report. Irvine gives a pre-concert talk @12.30pm. www.rte.ie/performinggroups

Dr Hauschka

Have just been listening to Hauschka, aka German pianist/composer Volker Bertelmann, who weaves a hypnotic web of pianistic intrigue with echoes of Steve Reich, Debussy, Philip Glass, impressionistic melodies and minimalistic counterpoints – Mojo magazine namechecks both Erik Satie and Kraftwerk when describing his music. Prepared piano is Hauschka’s preferred instrument, damping the strings with felt or rubber, sharpening the hammers with tinfoil, softening the edges with low-key electronics, and other such playful interventions. Catch him at the Sugar Club tomorrow night (Thur 19 Nov) in a Note Productions gig, or if you’re heading south, at the Triskel in Cork on Fri 20. www.note.ie, www.myspace.com/hauschka

New Music

Contemporary music is apparently alive and well and living in Dublin – at least for the month of November anyway. There’s already been something of an outpouring in the new music arena, with concerts from NewSoundWorlds and the Contemporary Music Centre, and lots more to come. First the freebies: the final concert in the CMC’s Salon series is at the Goethe Institut on Sat 19 Nov @6pm, when the Cashell Trio play Raymond Deane’s Marche Oubliee and Benjamin Dwyer’s Quasi una fantasia. www.cmc.ie Contemp mus veterans Concorde are at the Hugh Lane on Sun 22 Nov @12 noon playing works by Judith Ring, Massimo Davi, Feis Ceoil prizewinner Hugh Boyle, Finnish composer Erkki Jokinen (featuring Dermot Dunne on accordion), and Sungji Hong – the Korean composer will attend for the Irish premiere of Shades of Raindrops. Meanwhile the Fidelio Trio’s Schumann Plus series also features Ben Dwyer’s Piano Trio on Sun 29. www.hughlane.ie And finally, it’s not contemporary but it is free - All you ever wanted to know about Wagner but were afraid to ask, a daytime session at the Merrion Hotel on Sat 21 Nov as part of Opera Ireland’s 2009 Season, a musical analysis of the Ring Cycle by composer/pianist Derek Watson, plus an exhibition of rare Wagner Memorabilia. Booking via info@wagnersociety.ie

Meanwhile the Irish Composers Collective’s Ensemble ICC are at the NCH on Mon 16 Nov with no less than 7 world premieres. Cellist Kate Ellis, percussionist Maeve O’Hara and singers Liz Hilliard and Marian Hughes perform works by emerging Irish composers. www.irishcomposerscollective.org Siobhan Cleary’s NewSoundWorlds continues a fascinating exploration of all things contemporary with The Medical Composers at the NCH on Tue 17 Nov, music from composers who’ve also had careers in the field of medicine. Clarinetist Carol McGonnell and flautist Erin Lesser play works by Cleare, Furrer, Gaussain, Hurel and Nono on Tue 24 and on Tue 1 Dec there’s a solo show from the very creative Jennifer Walshe, with works for voice, violin, psaltery, cd and dictaphones. www.nch.ie And the RTE National Sympony Orchestra give the world premiere of Cleary’s Cokaygne at the NCH on Fri 27 in the company of works by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. www.rte.ie

A couple of interesting gigs from Note Productions include Hauschka – billed as a cross between Erik Satie and Kraftwerk - on prepared piano at the Sugar Club on Thur 19 Nov, and (like him or loathe him) Iarla O Lionaird at St Audeons on Sun 29, playing with Steve Cooney and Graham Henderson. www.note.ie ArtPolonia’s Lutosphere brings experimental music to Liberty Hall on Wed 30 Nov, with a mix of jazz piano, classical cello and experimental electronics inspired by the works of Lutosławski. www.artpolonia.org Coming up, Dec 5 sees the launch of new all-female vocal quartet Ergodos Voices at the NCH performing five new works by Irish composers including Linda Buckley, Judith Ring, Garrett Sholdice, Seán Clancy and Benedict Schlepper-Connolly. www.ergodos.ie

New Music

New music from the Irish Composers Collective at the NCH on Tue 22 Sept. David Bremner on piano and electronics and Maeve O’Hara on percussion play music by Michael Gallen, Natasa Paterson, Laura Kilty, Ian McDonnell, Louise Harte, Amanda Feery, Shane McKenna and the world premiere of D E McCarthy’s Electronics Sonata. www.irishcomposerscollective.org And on Wed 23 Ergodos present the well-known duo of Maya Homburger on baroque violin and Barry Guy on double bass at St Audoen’s Church, playing music by Bach, Biber, Guy, Simon O’Connor, Garret Sholdice and Benedict Schlepper-Connolly. www.ergodos.ie

Music 21

New music promoters Music 21 have an interesting series of concerts coming up at the NCH. This evening (Mon 31 Aug) @8pm pianist Mary Dullea plays music by George Crumb, Szymanski, Conlon Nancarrow et al, and the Irish premiere of Dai Fujikura’s mormoro for Piano, Video and Electronics, with visuals by Julia Bardsley. On Tue 1 Sept the Callino Quartet are joined by pianist Hugh Tinney for piano quintets by Schnittke and Thomas Adès, along with works by Sofia Gubaidulina and Benjamin Britten. The series continues with three Fri lunchtime concerts: on Fri 4 flautist Susan Doyle and pianist Izumi Kimura play works by Japanese composers Kazuo Fukushima, Toru Takemitsu, Akira Miyoshi, Somei Satoh and the world premiere of Benjamin Dwyer’s Four Japanese Prints. On Fri 11 London-based Irish composer Deirdre Gribbin is profiled in a concert given by the Fidelio Trio, and the Callino Quartet are back on Fri 18 for Benjamin Dwyer’s Guitar Quintet, featuring the composer on guitar. www.music21.ie

Concorde @ National Gallery

There’s more new music from contemporary ensemble Concorde on Sun 7 June. Two specially commissioned works from composers Stephen Gardner and Judith Ring get their world premieres – Gardner’s klezmeria is a lively, klezmer-inspired duo for clarinet and violin, while Ring’s sextet Within an Egg of Space incorporates a layer of tape music. Also being performed is Angulos, another sextet recently commissioned from Mexican composer Alejandro Castanos; an earlier Ring piece Whispering the Turmoil Down for bass clarinet and tape; and Swedish composer Torbjorn Lundquist’s Duell, for accordion and percussion. It’s all happening at the National Gallery @3pm, and it’s all FREE. www.concorde.ie

Crash @ the Beckett

Double Portrait is the latest concert from internationally acclaimed contemporary music collective Crash Ensemble, showcasing the music of composers David Lang and Louis Andriessen at the Samuel Beckett Theatre on Fri 5 June. Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for The Little Match Girl Passion, David Lang is co-founder of New York’s legendary Bang on a Can. Crash will perform his Forced March (a Crash commission) and Cheating Lying Stealing, alongside the work of hugely influential Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, including the exuberant free-form Workers’ Union, scored for ‘any loud-sounding group of instruments’. Expect lots of high-octane sounds in this incisive double bill. www.crashensemble.com

Ergodos Festival: Off Grid

New music heads Off Grid in the upcoming Ergodos Festival, a celebration of the kind of music that falls between the conventional cracks, bending genres and defying definition with creative aplomb. Many of the concerts take place at the NCH, but fiddle player Caoimhin O Raghallaigh kicks off proceedings at the Unitarian Church on Fri 17 Apr, with Salil Sachdev on hand percussion. Gamelan Sekar Petak on Sat 18 features Javanese gamelan, metallophones, gongs and drums playing works by composers from Ireland, England and the US, while Prism on Sun 19 brings together traditional and new gamelan, shakuhachi (bamboo flutes) and hand percussion, with clarinet and voice.

Composer Judith Ring is guest curator for the electronic and improvised sounds of Portrait on Mon 20; electronic meets acoustic in Liminality on Tue 21, with hexaphonic guitar, piano and clarinet. It’s back to the Unitarian Church on Wed 22 for Morla’s electro jazz mix of alto sax, guitar and drums; multiples of electric guitars feature in Expressway to Yr Skull on Thur 23; Trio Scordatura play around with keyboard, viola and voice on Fri 24; and the Ergodos Orchestra get together on Sat 25 at St Bartholomews, Clyde Rd for James Tenney’s In a large, open space.

Tickets are €10, or €39 for the whole festival – that’s a lot of music for your money. There’s free Gamelan workshops at the NCH on Sat & Sun (1pm) as well as talks and installations. More info @ www.ergodos.ie