CIT Cork School of Music
Ones to watch in 2014
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. Read more
West Cork Chamber Music Festival String Quartet Workshop
I’m just home from the convolutedly titled West Cork Chamber Music Festival String Quartet Workshop, a workshop of string quartets in progress with 5 other composers. Our venue for the day was the jaw droppingly beautiful Cork School of Music, full of cavernous hallways and generously proportioned rooms and most importantly very reasonably tasting coffee. We were also luck enough to have the company of the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet to play through our pieces, with the composer Deirdre Gribbin leading the workshop.
The workshop opened with Vanbrugh playing through examples from Beethoven, Britten and Janáček with Deirdre point out important features of the music and talking us through how these ideas could be applied when writing for the quartet. Pulling out phrases from different pieces and having them played using different string techniques, such as sul pont, as harmonics or pizzicato, showed the variety of sounds that can be achieved and how these sounds can be combined to create interesting textures. Read more