Waterford new music week

MONDAY 8th MARCH -SATURDAY 13th March

Welcome to the 11th Waterford New Music Week Festival. Waterford New Music Week is a co-production between Waterford Institute of Technology and Garter Lane Arts Centre Waterford, and is the only contemporary music festival in the South East. Over the past eleven years the festival has grown and developed into one of the key platforms for contemporary music in Ireland. Since 1999 the festival has celebrated national and international contemporary composition and performance. The festival includes contemporary classical as well as jazz, traditional and world music. The week also features masterclasses, film, theatrical events and an education and outreach programme.

Venues for the Festival will be Garter Lane, Christ Church Cathedral and The Chapel, WIT.

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Composition for Film Workshops

The theme of the 2010 Festival is composition for film and features four compositions for film workshops by composer Maurice Seezer. Maurice Seezer has worked with filmmaker Jim Sheridan on many of his films. He wrote the songs for ‘In The Name of the Father and his music for ‘In America’ was nominated for The Ivor Novello Awards. He will give four workshops in composing for film.

Greg Felton Trio

Greg Felton is widely regarded as one of the best young pianist/ composers to emerge in Ireland in recent years. His unique piano style embodies his love for all musics of strength and beauty – ranging from jazz and folk traditions to free improvisation and South Indian classical music. Greg furthered his expertise in many areas through studying with great masters such as Dave Liebman in the USA, Dave Douglas in Banff, Canada and Dr. K.S. Subramaniam in Chennai, India. His is an intelligent and open musical mind at work.

Greg’s compositional skills are, at this stage, well recognised. ‘Kaleidoscope’ in Odessa Club in Dublin in March 2009 sees the premiere of his solo piano piece 'Piano Sonata No.1' performed by Izumi Kimura. He was also commissioned to write and perform a large-scale piece for the RTE Living Music Festival in 2007.  The Greg Felton Trio represented Ireland in the 2009 Macedonian Biennale held in Skopje in September 2009. Other performance highlights include performing in New Delhi in November 2009, a US tour in February 2009, representing Ireland in the EuroJazz Festival in Mexico City in March 2007 support slots to Charles Lloyd, Dave Douglas and Steve Coleman. The musicians that make up this group are regarded as outstanding instrumentalists and are highly in-demand at home and abroad.

Cormac O’Brien is rapidly becoming one of Ireland’s most sought after double-bassists. He has played with such musicians as Louis Stewart, Mike Nielsen and Bobby Watson, has performed extensively in Ireland, was awarded a BA in Jazz Performance and studied creative music in the Banff Centre in Summer 2007.

Drummer Sean Carpio has recently established himself as a leading figure in Irish jazz. He has studied jazz and creative music in Dublin and at the Banff Centre along with absorbing Carnatic rhythms in Bangalore. He has played with leading jazz musicians such as Vijay Iyer, Dave Douglas and Mark Turner.

This group delivers high calibre original jazz music that blends intensity and complexity with lyricism and fulfilment.

Hymn to Gaia

This concert sees the premiere of a major new work by Eric Sweeney sung by combined choirs from Dublin, Galway and Waterford with soloists, organ, narrator and ensemble.
The work sets a variety of religious texts; Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Native American, together with a range of poetry reflecting on our relationship with the environment. The Kyrie (Lord have mercy), for example, asks for pardon for the damage we have done to our world while the Gloria celebrates the wonders of creation. The programme also includes choral music by Seoirse Bodley, John Tavener and Michael McGlynn.

As part of New Music Week, this is a rare chance to see a screening of a film documentary on the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 – 2007) followed by a performance of Gesang der Jünglinge (Song of the Youth) which premiered in Cologne cathedral in 1956. Using a revolutionary spatialisation technique, layers of sound are moved around the cathedral from speaker to speaker. The music is based on the recorded voice of a choirboy singing part of the canticles.
“Stockhausen’s most original electronic creation and perhaps the most influential electronic piece ever composed” - Alex Ross

Fleischmann

Fleischmann was Professor of Music at UCC for 46 years. He articulated a broad cultural role for music and sounded the keynote of music education in Ireland in the 20th Century. Deborah Armstrong will play 'Suite for Piano' by Aloys Fleischmann.

Concerts

The festival programme includes concerts by the WIT Music School, Undergraduates and Postgraduates and a special performance of Fleischmann by Deborah Armstrong.

STUDENTS ARE FREE INTO ALL NEW MUSIC WEEK EVENTS