Kirkos is delighted to present Kirkoskammer ж The Piano, a solo recital by virtuoso pianist (and founding member of Kirkos) Máire Carroll, and the first installment of our new chamber music series Kirkoskammer. The concert is in the gorgeous Powerscourt Theatre (top floor of Powerscourt Centre) on Friday January 20th. The music will begin at 7.30pm, but we would love you to join us for a complimentary glass of wine at 7pm.

ж The Pianist ж

Máire Carroll is one of the outstanding Irish musicians of her generation. She is a winner of the €10,000 Royal Dublin Society (RDS) Music Bursary, she has performed in venues including Wigmore Hall and the Barbican, and concerto appearances include the  RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Orchestra of St. Cecilia, Hibernian Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine. Máire is a founding member of Kirkos and the Association of Irish Composers’ New Music Journal has described her as a champion and interpreter of new music.

ж  The Music ж

Kirkoskammer ж The Piano presents a programme of music with echoes of darkness, birdsong and moonlight, taking in mid-century France, slipping past Japan and New Zealand, and landing in today’s Ireland. In France, Messiaen, and birds, are represented by  ‘Le Courlis Cendré’ from Catalogue d’oiseaux. A continent and a generation apart but alike in spirit, Toru Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketch No. 1 (1982) returns us to Japan.

A little further into the night we will hear excerpts from Raymond Deane’s Noctuary (2011), meaning ‘night diary’, coupled with a sliver of John Field, the Irish composer renowned for creating the nocturne. New Zealand’s Annea Lockwood came to the attention of Kirkos as they researched the Fluxus movement. RCSC (2001), named for Ruth Crawford Seeger, is a stunning little piece which receives its Irish premiere in this recital, while Kirkos member Sebastian Adams’ Fireworks, recently composed for Máire, will also be performed.

Tying the programme together is a new commission for piano and electronics from the Irish composer Anna Murray, a stunning, partially graphic, score based on a Japanese Noh play and incorporating imagery of moonlight and birds in flight. At Mii-dera was commissioned with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland.

ж The Ensemble ж

Kirkos aims to create musical performances of the highest quality, and to push the boundaries of the concert experience through multi-sensory, interdisciplinary events where the creative concept is present in every element. Everything they do pursues a larger goal: to help audiences feel, understand and love contemporary music. Kirkoskammer is a chamber music series that distills this ethos, with no strings attached: considered programming, great performances, and the gorgeous setting of Dublin’s intimate Powerscourt Theatre, on the top floor of the Powerscourt Centre.

ж The Vital Information ж

The performance will commence at 7.30pm and last approximately one hour. A complimentary glass of wine will be available to all audience members from 7pm.

Tickets are €10 (concession €7) and available on the door or at: https://kirkospiano.eventbrite.ie

For more information, contact pr [at] kirkosensemble.com