Ones to watch in 2014
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In the glorious year of 2013 I was luck enough to meet lots of interesting people. While I don’t want to anyone to feel left out I do want to single out two of the music makers I met who I think are doing interesting things and who I look forward to seeing more from in 2014 i.e. these are my ones to watch in 2014. I’ve picked two young composers/performers who I met throughout 2013 and whose music I really gelled with. Make no bones about it this is a very subjective choice on my part – I really like the music, but I also think that both of these music makers are very productive and proactive. They’re much more competent and accomplished than I was at a similar stage and I’m interested to see where their talents will take them. Check them out below and give their music some of your time.
Darragh Kearns-Hayes
My first one to watch is Cork based composer and performer Darragh Kearns-Hayes. I met Darragh earlier in the year at a string quartet workshop hosted by the West Cork Chamber Music Festival. I was really struck by his music at the time and the way he was communicating with the ensemble. It was like a intangible puzzle that they were trying to figure out together and I could hear how interesting it was going to be. Since then he’s had a work performed by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and also performs with Cork based Fear Stalks the Land. He’s got many strings to his bow this fella. Keep up to date with all his goings on via Twitter and listen to his music as part of FSTL below.
Thomas McConville
My second one to watch is Dundalk composer Thomas McConville. Similar to my experience with Darragh I met Thomas in a classical music context, in this case a residency we both did at the Walled City Music Festival, and really enjoyed his music. I really gelled with his aesthetic and wanted to hear more. It was fortunate then that he was performing at the Contemporary Music Centre’s Culture Night event and I got to listen to a live electronic set he did. I was really blow away by how sonically different his composition and electronic performance is, and how much I like both of them. He’s inhabiting a very interesting sonic landscape and has a great handle on what he’s doing. Follow him on Soundcloud to stay up to date, check out his recent release Shop (Cyclic Music) below hear him talk about his music in the video below.