Tunes from Famine Times
Adrian Scahill
Mick O’Brien, Emer Mayock and Aoife Ní Bhriain have just released a second album of tunes from the James Goodman manuscripts, a collection that was made around the time of the Great Famine. Adrian Scahill reviews.
The Worlds Within a Single Work
Brendan Finan
Music for Galway's annual midwinter festival, which took place online at the weekend (22–24 January), focused on a single, relentlessly inventive work: the Goldberg Variations. Brendan Finan reviews.
Inspired by a Letter
Mark Fitzgerald
'Letters' is the new record release from Chamber Choir Ireland, consisting of recent works by Tarik O'Regan and David Fennessy. Mark Fitzgerald reviews.
Shots of Politics and Loss in New Irish Opera
Adrian Smith
Responding to the circumstances of the pandemic, Irish National Opera recently commissioned twenty new miniature operas from composers in Ireland that were filmed and premiered online as '20 Shots of Opera'. Adrian Smith reviews all twenty works.
2021: The Music Boom is Coming
Gareth Murphy
What a year 2020 was. When it began, the outlook for the music industry hadn't looked so good in decades. Then came Covid-19, the industrial equivalent of a comet hurtling in from deep space. As we emerge into 2021, it's time for some damage assessment. What exactly has been destroyed? Who has benefitted from lockdowns? What has changed for good? And, asks Gareth Murphy, now that vaccines are arriving, can the music business bounce back even stronger than before, and what do those in the industry need to focus on?
The Continuing Journey of Martin Hayes
Toner Quinn
Martin Hayes’ livestreamed concert from the National Concert Hall last week (8 December) gave an insight into the changing music of the fiddle-player, and revealed new collaborative directions. Toner Quinn reviews.
Risks in the Wild
Adrian Smith
Composer Ian Wilson's new album 'Wild is the Wind' has just been released on Diatribe Records. Adrian Smith reviews.
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