Shinrone composer in NCH concert spotlight

A new commission from renowned composer Ann Cleare from Shinrone concluded a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Chorus last weekend.

The concert which presented varying visions of Ireland took place in the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Friday, April 21.

The piece called 'MIDHE' was performed by solo voices, accordion, choir and orchestra. It invoked the Midlands and through the movement of sound and bodies throughout the entire concert hall space reanimates a lost centre, offering fascinating new perspectives on what power and collectivity might mean.

Ann Cleare is Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin and she studied music in UCC. She also completed her PhD in composition with Chaya Czernowin and Hans Tutschku at Harvard University.

Among those who also worked on MIDHE included Justine Cooper, visual direction; Annemarie Ní Churreáin, poetry; Michelle O’Rourke and David Young, vocal development & collaborators.

Annemarie was the inaugural recipient of the John Broderick writer’s residency by Westmeath County Council in partnership with the Arts Council in 2018. Part of Annemarie's residency involved the use of an office at the Aidan Heavey Library in Athlone where some of the research and writing for a book of poetry called 'The Poison Glen' took place.

The concert also featured a major world premiere by composer Amanda Feery, alongside music by Seóirse Bodley.

The programme opened with Seóirse's kaleidoscopic A Small White Cloud Drifts Over Ireland, celebrating the composer’s 90th birthday. Amanda's 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation', was completed in 2022 as the pandemic began to recede.

Frauke Aulbert, soprano; Michelle O’Rourke, mezzo-soprano; Eoghan Desmond, baritone; Dermot Dunne, accordion; David Brophy, conductor; David Young, chorus master also featured in the line-up for the event.