Directions: Modern Classics

16 Jun 2016 - 8:30pm
Lutheran Hall, St. Finian's Church, Adelaide Rd, Dublin

The Association of Irish Composers presents

Modern Classics

part of the Directions concert series

curated by composer Peter Moran

with Joseph Houston (piano) and Aisha Orazbayeva (violin)

8.30pm, 16 June 2016

Lutheran Hall, Adelaide Rd, Dublin 2

€12/€10 (student/conc)

http://aic-moderclassics.eventbrite.ie

“This programme focusses on two compositional approaches that have always fascinated me: the miniature and the virtuosic. From Schoenberg and Webern to more recent collections by Irish composers, the shortest work on the programme is just 40 seconds long. And with the notoriously demanding Ligeti Etudes and Jacob TV's modern classic The Body of Your Dreams, this programme ranges from the fleetingly beautiful to the viscerally raucous!” – Peter Moran

Directions explores the many facets of music composition in Ireland, and their broader context in the international scene. The series consists of six concerts, each curated by a different composer with a selection of Irish and international works. The result will be unique musical experiences, built from the experiences, interests and passions of the curators Linda Buckley, Grainne Mulvey, Ed Bennett, Peter Moran and Karen Power. Supported by Arts Council Ireland. 

Aisha Orazbayeva and Joseph Houston came together in 2015 to play music by Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff and John Cage in a series of concerts across the UK and Europe. They have since commissioned a new work by Wolff (with whom they worked at the Orpheus Institute, Ghent) that was premiered in London as part of the Kammer Klang series at Cafe Oto. Future projects include a residency at the Krannert Centre (USA), performing and workshopping old and new American experimental music.

Peter Moran was born in Dublin. He received his music degree from University College Dublin and his MA and PhD from the University of York in England. His compositions draw on his experience as a performer in many different areas of music such as gamelan, free improvisation, folk, blues and rock music. His music has featured in concerts and festivals across Europe, Asia and North America, and is released on Ergodos Records. Performers of his work include the microtonal ensemble Trio Scordatura, pianist Isabelle O'Connell, Crash Ensemble, Black Hair, Negativ Zed, the Fidelio Trio and the award-winning vocal trio Juice. He was the secretary of the Association of Irish Composers from 2012-2015.

He has held artistic residencies at the soundSCAPE Contemporary Music Festival in Italy and the Frédéric Chopin Conservatoire in Paris. Awards include first prize at the 2010 Carl von Ossietzky Composition Competition in Germany, and Ireland's Walter Beckett Cup for Original Song. In 2012, he established Dublin’s first Javanese gamelan orchestra in University College Dublin, where he now directs the department ensemble. In 2014, he acquired a complete set of gamelan instruments as a gift from the Sultan of Yogyakarta for Ireland's National Concert Hall, where he now directs four different ensembles, performing both traditional Javanese music and contemporary Irish compositions. His gamelan compositions have been performed in Ireland, the UK and Java. He also performs regularly in folk music sessions in Dublin.

Programme:

Part 1: Piano Solo

Schoenberg – Sechs Kleine Stücke, op.19

Crawford-Seeger – Piano Study in Mixed Accents

Ligeti – From Études

             No. 8: Fém 

            No. 11: En Suspens

Irish Piano Miniatures 

            Peter Moran – from The Dublin Miniatures

                                  Bull Island and Sandymount Strand

            Raymond Deane – from Noctuaries

                                  ...hitherandthithering... 

            John McLachlan – from Nine

                                  Scala

                                  Maya

Ronan Guilfoyle – Toccata and Feud 

Ter Veldhuis – Body of Your Dreams  

**Interval**

Part 2: Piano and violin

Webern –Four Pieces for violin and piano, op. 7

Judith Ring – Panoval 

Morton Feldman – For Aaron Copland

Christian Wolff – Wade in the Water

Photo Credit: Eloisa-Fleur Thom