Several performances are now available for viewing online! First up is my new choral work I thirst, which I multi-tracked from home during January’s lockdown. This is a response to the trad. tune My Lagan Love, which is one of my favourite Irish tunes and one I’ve wanted to use for a long time, and the words are taken from Psalms 42 and 43. Artwork is by my brother, the print artist Oisin McDonnell.
On Monday 1st of February the Contemporary Music Centre Ireland and the Irish Embassy in Hungary will hosted an online event celebrating St. Brigid’s Day. As part of the celebrations, I recorded three movements from Grainne Mulvey’s A Carlow Song Cycle with soprano Elizabeth Hilliard. The event can be seen at the YouTube link below, including premieres of two new works by the Hungarian guitarist Katalin Koltai, and a panel discussion after the performances featuring some of Ireland and Hungary’s most prolific composers, conductors, and performers.
And to finish, the Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, under the baton (and production expertise) of Sinead Hayes, put together a fantastic online concert featuring a trio they commissioned from me in 2020, Refractions. Based on Gaelic Psalm-singing, the piece uses an old Scottish hymn tune called Martyrs and fractures it throughout the instruments of the ensemble.
Plenty to come in February – a new commission for dancers with choreographer Suzannah McCreight, a collaboration with New Zealand guitarist Jake Church, my piano suite being recorded in Spain by Cahal Masterson, and recording my piece for the LSO Soundhub, conducted by Darren Bloom. Stay tuned for lots more music…