Michael Nyman


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As one of Britain's most innovative and celebrated composers, Michael Nyman's work encompasses operas and string quartets, film soundtracks and orchestral concertos.
Far more than merely a composer, he's also a performer, conductor, bandleader, pianist, author, musicologist and now a photographer and film-maker. Although he's far too modest
to allow the description 'Renaissance Man', his restless creativity and multi-faceted art has made him one of the most fascinating and influential cultural icons of our times.

At this stage of a long and notable career, he might forgivably have been content to rest on
his considerable laurels. Yet instead of looking back on a lifetime of achievement that ranges from his award-winning score for the film The Piano to the acclaimed opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, via a string of high-profile collaborations with everyone from
Sir Harrison Birtwistle to Damon Albarn, he's still looking forward - pushing the boundaries
of his art with a diverse and prolific burst of creativity as energetic and challenging as any new and iconoclastic young kid on the block.

Nyman first made his mark on the musical world in the late 1960s, when he invented the term 'minimalism' and, still in his mid-twenties, earned one of his earliest commissions, to write the libretto for Birtwistle's 1969 opera Down By The Greenwood Side.

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For more than 30 years, he had also enjoyed a highly successful career as a film composer, the role in which - sometimes to his slightly rueful regret - he is probably best known by the general public.

His most notable scores number a dozen Peter Greenaway films, including such classics as
The Draughtsman's Contract and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover; Neil Jordan's
The End Of The Affair; several Michael Winterbottom features including Wonderland,
A Cock And Bull Story, and The Trip; the Hollywood blockbuster Gattaca - and, of course,
his unforgettable music for Jane Campion's 1993 film, The Piano, the soundtrack album of which has sold more than three million copies. He also co-wrote the score for the 1999 film Ravenous with his friend and sometime protégé, Damon Albarn. More recently, his music was used in the 2009 BAFTA award winning and Oscar nominated film, Man on Wire. Also,
his score for the film Erasing David earned praise and won an award for Best Original Soundtrack at London’s East End Film Festival in 2009.

 

 

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Christ Church Cathedral & Waterford Institute of Technology present 'Celebrating Sweeney'


A celebration of the work of composer, educator and
Aosdána member Dr. Eric Sweeney

Thursday 7th April, 8 pm
Tickets €10, €5 concession

An evening of music will celebrate Eric Sweeney’s contribution to music.  Eric is organist and choirmaster in Christ Church Cathedral, and he recently retired from WIT having led the
BA music for over twenty years.  Eric is a composer and member of Aosdána, the affiliation
of creative artists in Ireland.  Eric came to Waterford in the early 80s to take up his post when
music was being first established at third level in Waterford.  Since that time hundreds of
students have come under his stewardship  going on to become composers, performers and
teachers spreading music throughout the region and further afield.  The concert will include
Hymn to Gaia by Eric Sweeney, performed by the cathedral choir and WIT Chamber Choir
with quartet, organ and soloists, together with works written and performed by students
past and present.

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collegestreetFestival Overview
21st-25th March 2011

Waterford New Music Week is now in its eleventh year and is the only contemporary music festival in the South East of Ireland.  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.

The festival is open to all members of the Waterford community with all students of all levels admitted free to most events. It provides Waterford music students with a rare opportunity to perform, in concert, with established and world renowned professionals. This is a unique festival as it brings music students and music professional together to jointly perform in concert which does not happen in any other festival. It is also the only opportunity for the Waterford community to view original contemporary music on such an intensive scale. The festival workshops are open to all and provide an ideal Community and Outreach programme for all the Waterford community.

The highlight of the 2011 festival will be a concert by world renowned composer Michael Nyman who will bring the full Michael Nyman Band to Waterford directly prior to concerts in Berlin and Mexico City.