The Clare Memory Orchestra, founded by composer and guitarist Dave Flynn, is to perform in three concerts to an audience of over 2,000 in South Korea this October. It is the orchestra’s first performance in Asia.

The CMO has been invited to participate in the Sori International Music Festival, the largest festival of traditional music in Korea, in Jeonju on 7–11 October. Performances at the festival are broadcast throughout the region, and the CMO will also give two workshops.

The orchestra will be playing a combination of works composed by Flynn, including The Clare Concerto, Mná Brian Boru and Aontacht, alongside his arrangements of traditional tunes, which include pieces composed by Máirtín O’Connor and Liz Carroll. The soloist is violinist Aoife Ní Bhriain.

Flynn commented,

I think everyone in the CMO is really excited about this opportunity to perform in Asia for the first time. … Asia has a strong culture of traditional music orchestras which blend native instruments with western ones. This partly inspired me to do something similar in Ireland where there really isn’t such a culture. So I’m personally looking forward to witnessing the performance practices of Korean orchestras who will perform during the festival.

The orchestra will be conducted by Berlin-based Irish conductor Sinead Hayes who has previously conducted both the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. 

The CMO, which has featured Martin Hayes as soloist, was founded in 2012, is based in County Clare, and is unique in that the members play entirely from memory.

The performances in Korea are supported by Culture Ireland, but the orchestra is currently seeking to secure additional sponsorship from businesses looking for exposure in Asia.

Watch a video made by Myles O’Reilly of the Clare Memory Orchestra below. For more on the orchestra, and to contact them about sponsorship, visit www.clarememoryorchestra.com