Notes

Athena Tergis, who will perform with the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra in the USA

Notes

Unlocking the Archive / Session with the Pipers /Music Recording / Casadh Arís / Temple Bar Trad / Música Nueva de Mexico / Outof Time / New Books on Music in Ireland / Winteriser / Happy to Meet, Sorry toPart / Dublin Philharmonic in USA / New Chair at ITMA / Audrey Corbett Honoured/ Le Chéile / SEM Group for Irish Music / RTÉ lyric fm Commissions / 12 Points!/ Opera at the Cinema / Ergodos Seeks Volunteers / Write for JMI

Unlocking the Archive
Many JMI readers will be aware of the exciting news that JMI has unlocked its entire online archive, consisting of over 850 articles on Irish musical life. This major resource on music in Ireland is now free-to view through the new-look JMI website.

The archive stretches from the magazine’s founding in 2000 to the present day, and includes articles, debate, reviews, new publication listings as well as a wealth of imagery. The JMI website is fully searchable and can be browsed by either date or contributor.

Want to keep in touch with news and events in the music world? Subscribe for free to our weekly JMI Gig Guide and Bulletin email, and don’t forget to send your listings to listings(@)thejmi.com

Session with the Pipers
Na Píobairí Uilleann presents a number of Session with the Pipers events throughout January and February. The performances, which all take place at the Cobblestone, Smithfield, Dublin on the first Tuesday of every month,  feature pipers Tommy Keane (6 January), Eoin Kenny (3 February), David Power (3 March) as well as fiddle players, flute players and singers.

JMI recently stumbled across The Snug, an online forum hosted by Na Píobairí Uilleann, dedicated to all things pipering. The NPU website contains a number of other resources, including a directory of instrument makers and information on how to buy a set of uilleann pipes.  pipers.ie

Music Recording
The Contemporary Music Centre has published the findings of its research into ways to develop the recording of music in Ireland. The report, Music Recording: Captured and Released,  proposes the establishment of a new record label and digital download platform under the aegis of the CMC, but with distinct and independent artistic policies.

Such a label would specialise in contemporary music by Irish composers, with the potential to expand into other genres over time. It is expected that between four and six discs would be released per year. The report can be downloaded from the CMC website.  cmc.ie

Casadh Arís
A new collaborative work between the choreographer Fearghus Ó Conchúir and the composer Rachel Holstead will be performed in three Gaeltacht venues in January. Entitled Casadh Arís, the project incorporates dance, live and recorded music, as well as film footage by Chris Hurley. The work is the result of a two-year research period, in which the artists ‘worked towards a common language between sound and movement’.

Casadh Arís was created at the Ionad Cultúrtha, Baile Bhuirne, Co. Cork in December, and will be performed there (16 January), as well as Scoil San Nioclás, An Rinn (18 January) and Lab na Mainistreach, Dingle (20–21 January).  ionadculturtha.ie

Temple Bar Trad
The Temple Bar Trad festival runs from 28 January to 1 February this year. Featuring performances by Paddy, Seamus and Kevin Glackin; Paddy Keenan and Tommy O’Sullivan; Solas; Seán McKeon and Liam O’Connor; Ciarán Ó Maonaigh and Aidan O’Donnell; Michael McGoldrick and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh and Moya Brennan, the festival takes place across a number of Dublin venues.

Temple Bar Trad, now in its fourth year, will also feature a pub trail, family events and workshops.  templebartrad.com

Música Nueva de Mexico
The contemporary music ensemble Concorde is focusing on new music from Mexico in January and February. Concerts at the National Gallery (18 January) and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (15 February) include music by Georgina Derbez, Javier Alvarez, Gonzalo Macías, Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Alejandro Castanos, Gabriela Ortiz, José-Luis Hurtado, Jorge Torres-Sáenz and Ana Lara. Castanos will be present for the premiere of a newly-commissioned work, Angulas. Speaking to JMI, Jane O’Leary, Director and pianist of Concorde explained how the project came about:

‘After working with the young Mexican composer Alejandro Castanos in 2004, Concorde were encouraged to explore the range of music being created by the younger generation of Mexican composers, many of whom have studied outside the country. This selection features works entirely written since 2000.’  concorde.ie

Out of Time
Choreographer Colin Dunne’s solo dance show, Out of Time, will be performed at the Project Arts Centre, Dublin, on 3–7 February. The show, rooted in the Irish step dance tradition, features electronic music with live processing by Ian McDonnell as well pre-recorded music by Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill. Out of Time, with film work by Sean Westgate, sound design by Fionán de Barra and direction from Sinéad Rushe, was commissioned by Glór Arts Centre, Ennis, Co. Clare, last year and has since been featured at the Dublin International Dance Festival.  project.ie

New Books on Music in Ireland
Four notable books on music in Ireland have been published recently. Fintan Vallely’s Tuned Out deals with traditional music and identity in Northern Ireland. The book looks at a Catholic-Protestant divide in traditional music and music’s place in contemporary Northern Irish society. Vallely writes: ‘Once part of the self-entertainment of all religions, this body of dance music was for much of the twentieth century rejected by Protestants… This study wasn’t prompted by missionary zeal to heal divisions, but by a desire to set the factual record straight.’ tinyurl.com/tunedout

The Making of Irish Traditional Music by Helen O’Shea looks at the experiences of foreigners playing Irish traditional music, suggesting that ‘a view of Irish traditional music as expressive of an ethnically pure, territorially bound, masculinist, national culture is an inadequate basis for a multi-ethnic Irish society’. See Toner Quinn’s column on page 38, which discusses this book in some more detail.  corkuniversitypress.com

‘The Given Note’: Traditional Music and Modern Irish Poetry is a study of the relationship between traditional Irish music and Irish poetry and is published by Cambridge Scholar’s Publishing. Written by Seán Crosson it looks at the historical relationship between the two art-forms, with emphasis on the song tradition. Six poets are featured in particular, Thomas Kinsella, Ciaran Carson, Seamus Heaney, Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Cathal Ó Searcaigh. The foreword is written by the sean-nós singer, Lillis Ó Laoire.  c-s-p.org

Music and the Irish Literary Imagination by Harry White examines the influence of music in the development of the Irish literary imagination from 1800 to the present day, exploring the impact of music as an abiding preoccupation in the work of Moore, Yeats, Synge, Shaw, Joyce, Beckett, Friel, and Heaney. It is published by Oxford University Press. oup.com

Winteriser
Winteriser is a series of three concerts presented by pianist Paul G. Smyth and composer Simon O’Connor, and taking place at the Goethe-Institut, Dublin on the third Thursday of January, February and March (15 January, 19 February, 19 March; 6.30pm). Smyth will perform a new work for solo piano by O’Connor as well as an improvised set at each event. A catalogue and CD recording will accompany the final concert. O’Connor’s three new pieces are composed with elements of Schubert’s Die Winterreise, but O’Connor says his works ‘unlike that particular journey, are odes to the joy of the coldest season’. Warm mulled drinks will be provided before each concert.  paulgsmyth.com

Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part
Music Network’s year begins with a nationwide tour featuring Cormac Breathnach (whistles), Len Graham (voice) and Brian Fleming (bodhrán). The tour, entitled Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part will reach Bray, Thurles, Tralee, Ennis, Clifden, Castleblaney, Dublin, Drogheda and Tinahely on 14–23 January.  musicnetwork.ie

Dublin Philharmonic in USA
The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Derek Gleeson, will tour the United States from January to March. The orchestra will tour a programme of music by Irish composers Bill Whelan and Patrick Cassidy, as well as arrangements for traditional fiddle by Carl Hession. The tour will feature violinist Cora Venus Lunny, as well as fiddle player Frankie Gavin and the Italy-based fiddle player Athena Tergis (pictured above), among others.
dublinphilharmonic.com

New Chair at ITMA
Dermot McLaughlin has been elected as the new Chairman of the Irish Traditional Music Archive. A traditional fiddle player, he was Traditional Music Officer, Music Officer, Artform Director and Assistant Director of the Arts Council before taking up his current position of Chief Executive of Temple Bar Cultural Trust in 2003. He has been Chairman of the Dublin International Dance Festival and of the Theatre Shop/Irish Theatre Institute, a Board member of the Irish Traditional Music Archive and External Examiner in traditional music performance at the University of Limerick.

McLaughlin succeeds Cathal Goan, Director-General of RTÉ. Other Chairmen have been the late Tom Munnelly and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. New Board members elected for a three-year term are Gay McKeon, CEO of Na Píobairí Uilleann; traditional singer Eoiní Maidhcí Ó Súilleabháin; and Dr Ríonach uí Ógáin, Director, National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin. Other current Board members are Bríd Cranitch; Dr Matt Cranitch; Aileen Dillane; Dr Caoimhín Mac Aoidh; Niall O’Dowd; Liam O’Flynn; and Bill Whelan. itma.ie

Audrey Corbett Honoured
The choral director, Audrey Corbett, has been made an honorary Master of Music by NUI Galway. Corbett has worked with – and in many cases, founded – a number of choral groups in Galway, including the Corrib Singers, the Galway Boys’ Choir and the Galway Baroque Singers.

Corbett began as a pianist and organist, but created her first choir, St Stephen’s Singers, while a student at University College Dublin. In 2001, Corbett founded the chamber choir Sunus, which has won a number of awards, including the Irish Choir of the Festival award at the Cork Choral Festival in 2003.

Le Chéile
Young musicians are the subjects of Le Chéile, a group art exhibition taking place at Ionad Cultúrtha, Baile Bhuirne, Co. Cork. The exhibition features the work of Ealaíontóirí Mhúscraí, twelve local artists, including the musician Peadar Ó Ríada.  ionadculturtha.ie

SEM Group for Irish Music
A Special Interest Group for Irish Music has been established by the Society for Ethnomusicology. The group, which focuses on no particular genre, aims to provide a forum for Irish music scholars, a platform from which to plan events, and a network for the dissemination of information on Irish music and the Irish diaspora.  Email williams(@)evergreen.edu

RTÉ lyric fm Commissions
RTÉ lyric fm is inviting proposals for commissions in 2009. The radio station has an ongoing policy of commissioning music and commissions in 2008 have led to new work by Jürgen Simpson, Gavin Bryars, Enda Grennan, Barry Lynn and Ian Wilson, as well as numerous pieces by the RTÉ lyric fm Composer-in-Residence, Elaine Agnew.

Proposals for short, solo or chamber works and proposals for co-commissions with institutions, festivals and ensembles are particularly welcome.  Email donoghce(@)rte.ie

12 Points!
Improvised Music Company’s 12 Points! festival takes place at the Project Arts Centre, Dublin, on 11–14 February. Now in its third year, 12 Points! showcases European jazz, with twelve acts from twelve different countries. Full details will be revealed in January on the IMC website.
improvisedmusic.ie

Opera at the Cinema
Opera Ireland is hosting screenings of performances at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, from January until May. The screenings feature a number of new productions, including Puccini’s La Rondine and Bellini’s La Sonnambula, as well as older productions such as Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Cinemas at Dungarvan, Swords and Dundrum are showing the operas, with group discounts for parties of more than ten.  operaireland.com

Ergodos Seeks Volunteers
Ergodos, the company that previously produced the Printing House Festival of New Music among other events, is inaugurating a new festival of music, Ergodos Festival, which will take place in Dublin on 17–26 April. The theme of the inaugural ten-day festival is ‘Off Grid’, focusing on unconventional performance and tuning practices. Ergodos Festival will include performances, talks, workshops, installations and screenings, with full details being announced on the Ergodos website in January.

Ergodos is looking to build a small army of volunteers to help run the festival. Volunteers will assist in all areas of production, from marketing to ushering, according to availability and expertise. Ergodos is also looking for people to accomodate musicians during the festival. For more information contact info(@)ergodos.ie  ergodos.ie

Write for JMI
JMI is always seeking new work. Reviews, interviews, opinion, essays or letters to the editor, JMI is open to all musical genres. Email info(@)thejmi.com

Published on 1 January 2009

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