Galway Music Residency (GMR) in association with Contemporary Music Centre (CMC) is delighted to present an exclusive performance marking the 1921 Centenary on Saturday 27th November at 8pm in the O’Donoghue Theatre, NUI Galway. The event, which is part of NUI Galway’s Arts in Action series, will feature the World Premiere of Rough Beast, a new work by Irish composer Rhona Clarke for string quartet and soprano, performed by Galway’s ConTempo Quartet and Aisling Kenny. The composition, which was co-commissioned by GMR and Galway City Council takes inspiration from WB Yeats’ poem The Second Coming.

The evening will also include a fascinating perspective on how the turmoil of the times is reflected in the poem’s making and continued impact by Dr Adrian Paterson, as well as dramatic readings, an interview with the composer led by CMC’s Linda O’Shea Farren and an archive exhibition, with material sourced from the collections of NUI Galway Library Archives,relating to Yeats and modern artistic responses to violence.

This commission and World Premiere event is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative.

Tickets are free but booking is required via www.galwaymusicresidency.ie. In accordance with government guidelines, proof of Covid vaccination/immunity will be required to gain entry. Covid Safety precautions will be in place and face coverings must be worn at all times.