The Contemporary Hour
presented by Evonne Ferguson, Director of the Contemporary Music Centre

Fionnuala Moynihan (piano)
New work for solo piano After by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly (2021)

Malachy Robinson (double bass)
New work for double bass Maps of Awakening by Deirdre Gribbin (2021)

Dermot Dunne (accordion)
New work for accordion Across the empty squares by Judith Ring (2021)

For this year’s festival, SICMF is delighted to have commissioned three new Irish works, from three Irish composers and for three Irish performers. Taking pride in the long-term policy of the Festival to support Irish composers, we are particularly grateful for the opportunity to champion Irish composers and musicians during the current difficulties caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Indeed, whilst working closely with the Contemporary Music Centre, the Festival has commissioned sixteen new works since it commenced in 2000.

Purchase Ticket €10

Please note the concert can be viewed for 48 hours from the time of the original show.
This concert can also be purchased for 48 hours from the original showing.

After - Fionnuala Moynihan (piano)

New work for solo piano After by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly (2021)

“I found myself going back to recordings of Mozart’s piano sonatas (and his handful of fantasias) over the course of the early months of the pandemic – something about their clearness cutting through an increasingly opaque present, maybe. After – which springs out of some very distant echoes of the Fantasia in C Minor, K.475 – was written months later, as a true after time began to move into view.”

Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, 2021

After was commissioned for Fionnuala Moynihan by ‘Sligo International Chamber Music Festival 2021’ with funds from Sligo County Council.

Maps of Awakening - Malachy Robinson (double bass)

New work for double bass Maps of Awakening by Deirdre Gribbin (2021)

“Humans have long recognised the importance and value of maps to their lives. The history of mapping can be traced back to more than 5,000 years ago. The earliest Babylonian maps were done on as sketches on clay tablets, the Egyptians documented and recorded property boundaries in detail and in China maps were written on silk. Ptolemy a geographer, mathematician and astronomer who lived in Roman Egypt created ‘Geographia’ in AD 150. This contained thousands of references to various parts of the world including ‘New Grange’ in Ireland. Maps not only provide a connection to a place but also serve as tools of discovery. During Lockdown of 2020-21 maps were my source for adventure and exploration beyond the confines of life and work in a small and often stifling geographical space. An awareness of my ‘emotional map’ during Covid was heightened. It was carefully monitored, becoming a personal barometer which marked and outlined inner mental positives and challenges. For me, Maps of Awakening is a realisation about the necessity and importance of being grounded in the familiar in order to navigate the new.” Deirdre Gribbin, 2021

Maps of Awakening was commissioned for Malachy Robinson by ‘Sligo International Chamber Music Festival 2021’ with funds from Sligo County Council.

Across the empty squares - Dermot Dunne (accordion)

A reflection on the dystopian eeriness of lockdown by Judith Ring (2021)

Drumcliffe was commissioned for Dermot Dunne by ‘Sligo International Chamber Music Festival 2021’ with funds from Sligo County Council.