As part of her first ever visit to Ireland this week to take part in South Tipperary Arts Centre’s Finding a Voice Festival in Clonmel, eminent Canadian composer Alexina Louie, will present a series of talks about her music in Dublin and Cork. These free talks are open to the public and offer a rare opportunity to hear the composer speak about her music in advance of the concert Falling Through Time: The Music of Alexina Louie in Clonmel on Friday 8th March with South Tipperary Arts Centre’s Finding a Voice concert series.

Alexina Louie is one of Canada’s most highly regarded, and often performed composers. Her uniquely personal style, rooted in a blend of East and West, draws on a wide variety of influences: from her Chinese heritage to her theoretical, historical, and performance studies. Her music has been widely commissioned, and performed, by Canada's leading orchestras, new music ensembles, chamber groups and soloists. World-renowned conductors who have performed her music include Sir Andrew Davis, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, Pinchas Zukerman, and Kent Nagano.

Louie has twice won JUNO awards, Canada’s equivalent of the Grammy, for Best Classical Composition. In addition to the JUNOs, she is the recipient of many awards and honours including the National Arts Centre Composers Award and an honourary doctorate from the University of Calgary. In 2002, Louie was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour. She is also a recipient of the Order of Ontario, a Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, as well as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. In addition to her busy life as a composer, Alexina Louie is one of the most active advocates of contemporary music in Canada. She is a member of the Canadian League of Composers and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre. Centrediscs compact discs featuring the music of Alexina Louie are Impact (CMCCD 2786) and Love Songs for a Small Planet (CMCCD 4893).

The concert in Clonmel on Friday 8th March features Ellen Jansson (piano), Kelley Lonergan (soprano), Hugh Murray and Brendan Garde (violins), Martha Campbell (viola) and Yseult Cooper Stockdale (cello)