Terry Riley, Talvin Singh, George Brooks

California Kirana – The West Coast Legacy of Pran Nath

An Tain Theatre Dundalk

29 Oct 2010 @8pm.

Tickets available from www.centralticketbureau.com

Terry Riley has been away from Europe for many years, and this is his 75th Birthday. Louth Contemporary Music Society , is honoured to present the world famous Terry Riley as he performs Indian ragas with arrangements on the saxophone played by the ever progressive saxophonist George Brooks and Mercury Music awarded tabla player Talvin Singh. Solos from each artist as well.

This show is not only to celebrate Terry Riley’s birthday and welcome return to Europe, but also to see how Indian Classical music so easily flows into Jazz and minimalism, as well as seeing the young maestro and experimentalist of tabla, Talvin Singh, to perform in a traditional context.

Music, like all living beings, must evolve to keep pace with a changing environment. The ancient arts of India struggle for survival in a world moving at an every increasing speed.Technology and desire for wealth move us forward and leave little time for the reflection and introspection necessary to evolve the high art known as raga. Pran Nath’s music was rooted in the masters of the late 19h and early 20th centuries. As a young man he survived a harrowing journey during partition from Lahore to the new nation of India and later to the US where his most dedicated students absorbed his teachings and continue to reflect on them in deeply personal forms of artistic expression.

Pran Nath took the ancient traditions of fierce dedication to craft and guru and handed them to a new generation of American disciples. Terry Riley, Talvin Singh and George Brooks will perform traditional ragas arranged for piano, voice, saxophone and tablas, focusing on some of Pran Nath’s favorite ragas from the Kirana tradition such as Darbari, Bageshri, Malkauns, Yemen and Bhimpolasi.

In addition they will perform works from the Riley-Brooks duo repertoire including movements from “Salome Dances for Peace“ and “Ebony Horns“. Each artist will also perform a solo work.

California Kirana – The West Coast Legacy of Pran Nath is presented by Louth Contemporary Music Society (LCMS) in association with Create Louth. California Kirana – The West Coast Legacy of Pran Nath is funded by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and financially supported by Dundalk Town Council and Louth County Council.

Tickets for the performance priced €25 are available from www.centralticketbureau.com
Phone 0818 205 205( Ireland)
0870 850 2896 (UK)

California Composer Terry Riley launched what is now known as the Minimalist movement with his revolutionary classic IN C in 1964. This seminal work provided a new concept in musical form based on interlocking repetitive patterns. Its impact was to change the course of 20th Century music and its influence has been heard in the works of prominent composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams.

Talvin Singh Producer, composer and tabla player.

The Mercury Music Prize 1999 winner is known for creating an innovative fusion of classical Indian music and drum and bass. He is generally considered as a central figure in the electronica sub genre called Asian Underground. Also, his traditional tabla playing has gained him world recognition and respect. He has worked with the likes of Bjork, Blondie, Madonna, Siouxsie & the Banshees, David Sylvian, Sun Ra, DJ Spooky, Massive Attack, Future Sound of London, Ryuchi Sakamoto, The Master Musicians of Jajouka, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

George Brooks Saxophonist

George Brooks has performed with such notable musicians as Etta James, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Kronos Quartet, Anthony Braxton, Zakir Hussain, and Terry Riley. His original compositions combine elegant melodies with the rich harmonies of modern jazz and the driving rhythms of North India to form a unique and wholly satisfying musical experience.

www.terryriley.net

www.georgebrooks.com

www.talvinsingh.com

ww.louthcms.org

‘ Fields of Blue and White ‘ is Michael Holohan’s first full-length CD. The eminent Irish pianists John O’ Conor and Therese Fahy will focus on a wide range of the composer’s piano music. The recital and launch will include works which have been commissioned by The National Concert Hall and the AXA Dublin International Piano Competition. The pianists will also perform piano duets and a number of pieces by Chopin, commemorating the 200th  Anniversary of the Polish composer’s birth.This concert, which is being presented by Droichead Arts Centre is also funded by the Louth County Council and the Drogheda Borough Council. An event not to be missed!

Date:  1 June 2010

Time:   8pm

Venue: St Peter’s Church of Ireland, Drogheda

Tickets : 20 euro. (Ticket price includes a complimentary CD).

Biographies

Michael Holohan
Michael Holohan was born in Dublin in 1956 and has lived in Drogheda for the past twenty seven years, close to the Prehistoric and Early Irish Christian sites of the Boyne Valley which have been a constant source of inspiration to him as a composer. He studied music in Ireland and France. He has won numerous prizes for his compositions and his music has been performed and broadcast both in Ireland and abroad. In 1999 he was elected to Aosdana, Ireland’s state- sponsored academy of creative artists.

Therese Fahy
Therese Fahy is a Professor of Piano and Director of Chamber music at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. A former student of John O’ Conor she is now one of Ireland’s foremost pianists and enjoys an active performing career both in Europe and the USA. She has an affinity with French music and  has been critically acclaimed for her performances of the piano music of Debussy, Ravel and particularly the great 20th Century French composer, Olivier Messiaen.

John O’Conor
The Irish pianist John O ‘ Conor has earned a worldwide reputation as a masterful interpreter of the Classic and early- Romantic repetoires. In 1973 he was unanimously awarded First prize at the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and in 1975 he won First Prize at the Bosendorfer Competition. He premiered Michael Holohan’s ’ Listoke Preludes’  in Drogheda  in 2002 and also performed  his piano piece  ’Monaincha’  in Bejing. He has toured the world in recital and concerto appearances and makes regular visits to Europe, Japan, Korea and China. He has been decorated by both the French and Austrian Governments for his services to music.

Gubaidulina (pronounced ‘goo-bye-DOO-lee-nah) who is visiting Ireland for the first time, will attend a composer portrait concert at 8pm on 1 May 2010 in St Peter’s Church, Drogheda in which highly acclaimed performers including Ivan Monighetti, the Dublin Guitar Quartet, Malachy Robinson, the Heath Quartet, The Oriel Trio and Dermot Dunne will perform a range of her works.

The concert is the latest of several high profile art music events organised by the Louth Contemporary Music Society, to bring world renowned composers to Ireland, previously having successfully featured, Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Valentyn Silvestov.

Eamonn Quinn, Artistic Director with the LCMS, spoke about the forthcoming event.
“We are proud to be able to attract such major contemporary musical events to the area and host such high calibre composers who have chosen to have their music performed in Ireland.”

“It is very exciting to be able to bring the works of Gubaidulina here to Ireland. She has been called the greatest Russian composer at work today since Shostakovich.”

“We are a small society trying to make a big difference to Contemporary music in Ireland. We are becoming more recognised internationally and this has helped us to attract such important composers and performers to attend and participate in our music events,” he said.

“The ‘Fire and the Rose’ performance will be a significant cultural event for Ireland, as it is the first composer portrait of Gubaidulina with the composer present in Ireland.”

Born in 1931 in the Tartar region of the former Soviet Union, performance of her works was forbidden and she was subject to the severest of repression. Now, her music, which was unknown in the West before the Iron Curtain fell, is in great demand by artists all over the world.

Her unique music is marked by the use of unusual instrumental combinations and tunings and shows her interest in folk and ritual instruments from Russia, the Caucasus region and Asia.

Sometimes, fiery and sometimes as soft as a rose, her music includes elements of Christian spirituality, musical symbolism, unique structures derived from fragmentation and repetition of simple material. Early on in her career, she was supported by Dmitri Shostakovich who recognised the musical gift that she possesses.

In 2007, Gubaidulina was the first woman composer to be spotlighted by the BBC during its annual ‘composer weekend’ in London and she has been awarded many prestigious awards including the Prix de Monaco in 1987 and the Living Composer Prize of the Cannes Classical Awards in 2003.

The Fire and the Rose: the Music of Sofia Gubaidulina is presented by Louth Contemporary Music Society (LCMS) in association with Drogheda Arts Festival. The event is funded by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and financially supported by the Drogheda Arts Festival and Louth County Council.

A free viewing of the Barrie Gavin film ‘A Fire and a Rose’ about the life and work of Gubaidulina scripted by Gerard McBurney will take place at 5pm in Barlow House on the 1 May 2010

Tickets for the performance priced €15 are available from www.centralticketbureau.com and Highlanes Gallery, Laurence St, Drogheda Telephone: +353 (0)41 9807114. Tickets for the screening of the film the Fire and the Rose are available from the festival box office in Highlanes.
The Fire and the Rose is part of the Drogheda Arts Festival. The Drogheda Arts Festival will run at various venues in Drogheda from 1-4 May 2010.  For programme details and biographies of Gulaidulina and the performers see www.louthcms.org www.droghedaartsfestival.ie and www.createlouth.ie

1. Programme

Gubaidulina Reflection on a Theme B-A-C-H Heath Quartet

Bach   Cello Suite Ivan Monighetti

Gubaidulina  Garden of Joy and Sorrow The Oriel Trio

Gubaidulina  In Croce Dermot Dunne + Ivan Monighetti

Gubaidulina  Repentance Ivan Monighetti, Dublin Guitar Quartet + Malachy Robinson.

1. Further information
   Wikipedia
   Sikorski
   Schrimer

1. Biographies
   Full biographies and images available here
   www.louthcms.org/press
2. Reviews
   Critics have been unanimously glowing in their reviews of Gubaidulina’s most distinctive work In tempus praesens. in recent years, describing the concerto as “luminous and deeply expressive,” “fervent and gripping.” Mutter’s new recording of Gubaidulina’s concerto on Deutsche Grammophon has shot to the top of classical releases.

Cheryl North S.F. Symphony Review: Masur, Gubaidulina make out-of-this-world                music in Davies Hall

http://www.northworks.net/c_reviews_SFS%20Masur%202-09.htm
Review of Gubaidulina’s Canticle of the Sun

http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/e/emi57153a.php
5.   Videos

Clip of Anne-Sophie Mutter performing Gubaidulina

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-b5waTDQpM&feature=related

Kurt Masur talks about Gubaidulina’s Two Path’s. He will conduct the work for the

New York Philharmonic in April 2011.

Version of Repentance ( Pentimento) for 3 guitars and cello.

THE SCHUMANN STORY: Clara & Robert
A biography told in letters and music with

Ingrid Craigie
Imelda Drumm – Mezzo-soprano
Julian Hubbard – Baritone
David Bremner – Piano

For tickets (e18, students e5) ring  Kate  042 9380836 or email verelc@gmail.com.
You are welcome to stay for supper (e25) after the performances but please book early as numbers are limited.

For further information & directions to Anaverna see http://www.anaverna.com/concerts/

PS: Kate’s Charity Gift Shop where you can buy Indian quilts, pictures mosaics etc., which is normally opened on Thursdays, will also be open on these evenings.

Sunday March 28th at 7.00p.m.

As Lent comes to an end and the joy of Easter approaches, what better way to prepare for the greatest feast in the Christian Year than to join

“The Dundalk Gospel Choir”

“St. Nicholas Children’s Choir”

“Musicians and soloists”

under the direction of Pamela O’Connor Moneley

in an evangelic journey from the triumph of Palm Sunday through the loneliness of the crucifixion to the elation of Easter morning.

The high vault ceilings of St. Patrick’s Church will ensure that this most unique Gospel Music will be experienced in a suitable setting, making it a memorable night. It will truly be a Holy Week!

Donations welcomed at the door.

“Uri Caine is a king among princes, a consummate musician who sounds great whether playing Bach, accompanying Don Byron on Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, wrangling an ambitious avant-jazz ensemble around the music of Mahler . . . . . He is prolific, hugely proficient, and ambitious.”John Walters, Guardian

Louth Contemporary Music Society’s first concert for 2010 features a performance by the great American pianist Uri Caine. The performance takes place in St.Peter’s Church of Ireland Drogheda on 5 March 2010 at 8pm.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK6a5a3dmsA

Pianist and composer Uri Caine gleefully and artfully ignores the boundaries between musical genres, mixing up Mahler and Bach with original music, swinging bebop and hard-hitting drum-and-bass. He launches LCMS 2010 concerts by performing John Zorn’s Book of Angel’s Volume 6: Moloch.

Moloch is a remarkable set of piano solos. Some of these pieces are dark, others very beautiful. All are played superbly and imaginatively. Uri Caine is a Philadelphia-raised virtuoso, unconfined by genres. Likewise-unfettered is the music’s composer, John Zorn, from whose Book of Angels {Masada Book Two} these pieces come.

Uri Caine Plays John Zorn

In addition to performing solo and with his own ensemble, Caine has worked with groups, including those led by by Don Byron, Sam Rivers, Clark Terry, Arto Lindsay,John Zorn and Barry Altschul. He has also performed with the Woody Herman Band, the Enja Band, and Global Theory. Caine has appeared at many jazz festivals including the What is Jazz? Festival, the Texaco Jazz Festival (New York), the Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz Across the Borders (Berlin), and the Newport Jazz Festival. Appearances at classical music festivals include the Salzburg Festival, the Holland Festival, and the Israel Festival. Caine is the recipient of grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Uri Caine is presented by Louth Contemporary Music Society (LCMS) in association with Louth County Arts Office. Uri Caine is funded by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and financially supported by the the Louth Arts Office.

Tickets €15 are available from
www.centralticketbureau.com
Tel: 0818 205 205 (ROI)
0870 850 2896 (UK)

Uri Caine was born in Philadelphia and began studying piano with Bernard Peiffer. He played in bands led by Philly Joe Jones, Hank Mobley, Johnny Coles, Mickey Roker, Odean Pope, Jymmie Merritt, Bootsie Barnes and Grover Washington. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and studied music composition with George Rochberg and George Crumb.

Since moving to New York City Caine has recorded 20 cds as a leader. His most recent cd is Plastic Temptation (Winter and Winter 2009), featuring Bedrock. He has made cd’s featurning his jazz trio, his Bedrock Trio and his ensemble performing arrangements of Mahler, Wagner, Beethoven, Bach and Schumann.
Recently Caine has received commissions from the Vienna Volksoper, The Seattle Chamber Players, Relache, The Beaux Arts Trio, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, Concerto Koln and the American Composers Orchestra. Caine was the Director of the Venice Biennale for Music in September 2003. He has performed his version of the Diabelli Variations with orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the CBC Orchestra in Candada and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. From 2006-2009 he was composer in residence for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and premiered his Concerto for Two Pianos and Chamber Orchestra with Jeffrey Kahane in May 2006. In 2009 he was nominated for a Grammy Award for The Othello Syndrome.
During the past several years, Caine has worked in groups led by Don Byron, Dave Douglas, John Zorn, Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco, Clark Terry, Rashid Ali, Arto Lindsay, Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul, the Woody Herman Band, Annie Ross, the Enja Band, Global Theory and the Master Musicians of Jajouka. He has received grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts , the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Foundation. He has performed at many jazz festivals including The North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival. Monterey Jazz Festival, JVC Festival, San Sebastian Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, as well as classical festivals including The Salzburg Festival, Munich Opera, Holland Festival, Israel Festival, IRCAM, and Great Performers at Lincoln Center.

Contemporary music recordings don’t tend to feature in top ten lists, partly because lack of air-time on radio is matched by audience lack of familiarity. While some composers, such as John Tavener, Henryck Górecki and Arvo Pärt, have crossed that line into popular consciousness: others, such as the late John Cage, still inspire apprehensive glances.

This CD from the Louth Contemporary Music Society, however, reveals what a wealth of enjoyable music there is to be found even from composers such as Cage, with his softly spoken In A Landscape from 1948.

Nor do the others disappoint: even Valentin Silvestrov’s near- minimalist compositions are a thorough delight.
Download this: 25.X.1893… P.I. Tchaikovsky

• This article was first published in Scotland on Sunday on 24 January, 2010

Accompanying Gabriela will be by John Finucane, principal clarinet with the  National Symphony Orchestra,
and pianist Dearbhla Collins.

Gabriela is studying at the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin. In October she won a major prize and
scholarship in Italyand, this week, she is competing in the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition
in Dublin

The programme will include arias by Puccini and Mozart as well as Schubert’s miniature
dramatic cantata, The Shepherd on the Rock. (I heard Gabriela sing the latter in December. Its a gem)

You can find directions to Anaverna plus more details of the programme (when they are finalised) and a review
of a previous Finucane/Istoc/Collins concert on the website: http://www.anaverna.com/concerts/

For tickets (e18, students e5) email verelc@gmail.comor ring Kate on 042 9380836. Pay at the door but please
reserve your tickets in advance.

You are welcome to stay for supper(e25) with the musicians after the performance. Book early as numbers are limited.

Next week, exactly 100 years on, composer Michael Holohan will commemorating the  moment with a new piece of music theatre http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/1211/1224260495694.htm