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The Association of Irish Composers (AIC) is the representative body of composers in Ireland (including Northern Ireland). AIC represents the interests of composers in all areas of copyright, and seeks to enhance the professional status of its members through promotional activities.


ISCM

Ireland to be represented at Lithuania in World Music Days festival 2008. Gráinne Mulvey's orchestral piece Akanos will represent Ireland at this prestigous international festival on the 25th of October at Vilnius. The piece was sent by AIC as part of the National Submission last year.

Currently the call is out for next year's festival in Sweden, and details appear on www.listentotheworld.se Members can send materials for consideration for the next National Submission, deadline for that is one month before the deadline for individual submissions (see all details on www.listentotheworld.se ).

Irish Composers in London

The Fidelio Trio is to promote new pieces by Irish composers in a concert at the Warehouse, Theed St, in central London (a venue well known to contemporary concert goers). The date for this is Tuesday July 1st, 7.30pm. The programme is as follows:

Donnacha Dennehy Bulb *

Kevin Volans Piano Trio *

Gerald Barry Triorchic Blues (trio version) **

Linda Buckley Galura *

Benedict Schlepper Connolly Ektstase II **

Frank Corcoran Piano Trio *

Joe Zawinul arr. Frank Lyons Birdland **

** World premiere * London premiere


Other Recent News Items...

Last Wednesday the 19th of September, thanks to the promotional work of the Association of Irish Composers, the Fidelio Trio performed a stunning programme of Irish works in the iconic new Casa da Musica, Porto, Portugal. The programme consisted of piano trios from Kevin Volans, Deirdre Gribbin, Donnacha Dennehy, Ed Bennett, Salvatore Sciarrino and Fernando de Oliveira. The performance was received with a standing ovation, and the chamber music venue was full.

The hosts for this event were Miso Music Portugal, who run Musica Viva, which is an eleven-day festival of new music that this year was held in both Lisbon and Porto, the main cities of Portugal. This is without doubt one of the most significant and substantial festivals of contemporary music in the world, and it focuses particularly on new music which combines instruments with live electronics. Miso Music and AIC both represent their respective countries in the International Society for Contemporary Music (www.iscm.org)

The Fidelio Trio, Darragh Morgan (violin), Mary Dullea (piano), and Robin Michael (cello) are a trio whose members individually have the finest of track records of involvement in new music ensembles. You can find out more about them at www.fideliotrio.com

This event was made possible through the generous support of Culture Ireland (www.cultureireland.gov.ie ).

The Casa da Musica is a major new landmark in Porto and attracts many tourists and architecture enthusiasts as well as those interested in attending concerts. The architect is Rem Koolhas from the Netherlands. The building has won major international awards for its design and architecture.
Visit www.arcspace.com/architects/koolhaas/musica/musica.html
for more information on this extraordinary venue.

The musica viva festival continues, and more information about it is available at www.misomusic.com/ingl/circul/mviva/2007.html

Other recent news..

 

Music21 and AIC Composition Competitions

The winners of the recent Music21 composition competitions are as follows: Irish composer competition: Jonathan Nangle, with our headlights blew softly into the black, illuminating very little. International competition winner: Kazutomo Yamamoto with Chrono-traces I.

There was a very large interest in both competitions, which are now very established.

The prizes are funded by both IMRO and AIC, while the administration is done by AIC."

 

Last July Dublin-based Japanese pianist Izumi Kimura played a programme concentrating on Irish piano music in Ghent, Belguim. This was the return leg of a concert exchange involving Flemish pianist Daan Vandewalle, who came to Ireland last February for two concerts of Belgian and International new music. She played the following:

 

African Black Philip Hammond
Bog Boogie Philip Hammond
Prelude for J.G. Philip Hammond
The Oul' Winda Rag Fergus Johnston
From "A Diary of The Sea" Akira Miyoshi
Triorchic Blues Gerald Barry
Toccata & Feud Ronan Guilfoyle
Pre-Prelude for Morton Feldman Paul Hayes
American Berserk John Adams

 

Izumi will revisit this programme, though in a shortened version, this Oct 7th at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Parnell Square, Dublin (in the Sundays at noon Series).

ISCM News

The World Music Days 2008 held in co-operation with the ISCM will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania. Ireland's national submission to this festival consists of the following pieces. These pieces go forward to the International Jury organised by the host country, and so these pieces are not guaranteed any performance. We wish all the composers involved the best of luck.

 

Derek Ball The Mischievous Boy speaker and brass quintet
Linda Buckley do you remember the planets? viola and tape
Bernadette Comac House without eyebrows virtual performer
Peter Moran Western Canteen vn, vc, 2trbs, gamelan orch
Grainne Mulvey Akanos symphony orchestra
Karen Power just one girl playin' around amplified cello and tape

 

Meanwhile the festival in 2007 will be taking place in Hong Kong this Nov-Dec. Full details are on www.hkcg.org/2007worldmusic This festival will include a performance (on Nov 28th) by the Luxembourg Sinfonietta of Penumbra, by Scott McLaughlin, who is a member of the Association of Irish Composers.

 

 

 

A Concert of New Irish Music

Darragh Morgan, violin
Mary Dullea, piano

The Warehouse
13 Theed Street
South Bank
London. SE1 8ST
http://www.lfo.co.uk/warehouse.html

June 27th, 7.30pm
Tickets £8 / £5


Deirdre Gribbin Seeking the whirlwind's secrets **
Simon Mawhinney Hunshigo **
Benjamin Dwyer Movimientos I **
Siobhán Cleary Fall and Passion *
Rob Canning Out of Line *
Linda Buckley Volt *
Jennifer Walshe theme from ***
Ed Bennett Frantic ***
John Buckley A Few Notes for Jim **

* World Premiere ** UK premiere *** London Premiere
Supported by the Association of Irish Composers
With the assistance of the Arts Council of Ireland

for more information:
www.composers.ie
www.darraghmorgan.com or
020 88556290

 

 

 

CIRCUITS

Bringing new Portuguese music to the world

An unmissable evening of music/theatre/poetry/technology

Project Arts Centre, Tuesday 24th April, 7 & 9pm

7pm Salt Itinerary multimedia opera transcending musical and theatrical conventions

9pm Smith Quartet Portuguese music for string quartet and electronics


PRESS COMMENT

Salt Itinerary

"Linking a stage presence of rare intensity to an incredible virtuosity in the electronic treatment of images and sounds, Miguel Azguime absorbs us into the interior of a whirlwind of indefatigable imagination, into the labyrinth of the invention of each moment: great planes of sense, words, sounds, gestures, situations, postures."

Smith Quartet

"Surreally-clear and heightened sonic sensations...
cheers to The Smiths for daring to be different."

Tickets Salt Itinerary €10 / €8
Smith Quartet €10 / €8
Evening ticket €15 / €12


Salt Itinerary

Reflecting on art and madness, it revolves around language - words as meaning and words as sound. Both are used as an extension of the body and melted into the staging as a projection of the resonance of the words through sound and image.
Real-time audio and video processing / diffusion of the voice, poetry, gestures, music and drawing creates a harmony of senses and a counterpoint of meanings.
Melding sounds, lights, pictures and movements as if being drawn, painted or carved, Salt Itinerary is a powerful, engaging and challenging combination of music and drama by one performer that breaks new ground in electronic music and re-shapes the boundaries between music, theatre and opera.

Smith Quartet

Portuguese music for string quartet and electronics
Emmanuel Nunes - Chessed III
Pedro Rebelo - Shadow Quartet
Michael Alcorn - Leave No Trace
Miguel Azguime - Paraitre Parmi
Joao Pedro Oliveira - Labirinto/ Labirynth

 

Credits

For over a decade The Smith Quartet has been at the cutting edge of world contemporary music, establishing an international reputation for its dynamic and original performances. The four have toured extensively in Europe and the UK as well as North and South America, South-East Asia and Japan. They are regular broadcasters with the BBC and have recorded to disc works by some of the most exciting young composers writing today. Choosing both modern classics and the work of emerging artists, the Smith Quartet has dedicated itself to bringing this music to new and traditional audiences worldwide.

Smith Quartet

Ian Humphries - violin
Darragh Morgan - violin
Nick Pendlebury - viola
Deirdre Cooper - cello
With Miguel Azguime - sound projection and live electronics

Salt Itinerary
Miso Ensemble

Miguel Azguime: performance, composition, texts, concept, dramaturgy
Paula Azguime: sound projection, electronics, dramaturgy, video directing
Andre Bartetzki: live video programming and processing
Perseu Mandillo: video directing
Miso Studio: technics
support: Instituto das Artes/ Ministério da Cultura, DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogramm & TU-Studio Technische Universität Berlin, Fundação Centro Cultural de Belém

Organisers: The Association of Irish Composers, Miso Music - the Portuguese Music information Centre and Project Art Centre
In association with: the International Society for Contemporary Music
In co-operation with: The British Council, Instituto Camões, The Arts Council

 

The Association of Irish Composers is the Irish Section of the International Society for Contemporary Music. The ISCM members form a network of 51 countries on six continents. This event is part of a bilateral exchange that will see Irish composers' works feature in the prestigious Musica Viva Festival, which is the main festival of contemporary music in Lisbon, Portugal. A concert featuring the acclaimed Fidelio trio is planned for Sept 19th in Lisbon.

 

www.artscouncil.ie

www.instituto-camoes.pt

www.iscm.org
www.misomusic.com
www.britishcouncil.org
www.composers.ie
www.project.ie

 

<<<< DOWNLOAD FLYER (PDF) HERE >>>>

 

The Association of Irish Composers
Announces two composition competitions

 

1. Music21 International Competition 2007 - Full details here

2. Music21 Irish Competition 2007 - Full details here

 

 

 

July 2006

AIC brings Gillespie Trio to South Africa

The New Music Indaba, South Africa's prestigious contemporary music festival which takes place within the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, hosted two concerts from Ireland's Gillespie Trio on July 1st and 3rd. The Trio are Leonie Curtin, Brendan Lawless and Kate Ellis. In the first concert they played Mozart's string trio plus two trios which comment on it, by South African composers Mokale Koapeng and Jürgen Braüninger. The second concert was curated by John McLachlan, who was invited by festival director Michael Blake. This concert consisted of string trios from Raymond Deane, Kevin O'Connell, Elaine Agnew, John McLachlan and Ian Wilson. Travel to Grahamstown was generously enabled by the Arts Council's Travel Award Scheme.

Also in July Stuttgart hosted the ISCM World New Music Festival, organised by Musik Der Jahrhunderte. Ireland was represented by pieces from Jennifer Walshe and Andrew Hamilton: passenger and meanwhile back at the ranch from Walshe, and music for people who think by Hamilton. John McLachlan travelled also, representing Ireland at the General Assembly of the ISCM.

May 2006

As the National Section of the International Society for Contemporary Music, AIC has the privilege of selecting six scores for the national submission to the annual World Music Days Festival (sometimes called World New Music Days or World New Music Festival, as above). Next year's festival will be held in Hong Kong (October 2007). The Irish scores sent for consideration by their
international jury are:

Siobhán Cleary Alchemy orchestra
Frank Corcoran Trauerfelder percussion quartet
Raymond Deane Violin Concerto violin and orchestra
Rachel Holstead Roses for Icarus string quartet

Gerard Power

Croisé violin and piano
Deirdre McKay A Pale Yellow Sky solo harp

Good luck to those composers and any others who sent individual entries.

 

Gillespie Trio (and John McLachlan), l-r Leonie, Brendan, John and Kate
Delegates of ISCM General Assembly 2006



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