During the course of his Residency Dave Flynn will collaborate with musicians from the Guitar Training Centre in Dún Laoghaire and their tutor Ciaran Swift, to compose and perform an exciting new composition for guitar ensemble, Dún Laoghaire Guitars. All of the collaborative and performance elements will take place online.
Over the three-month Residency, which starts on 12 May 2020, audiences will be able to follow weekly video updates, insights, performances and interviews from Dave and his collaborators on DLR’s and Music Network’s social media channels. The Residency will culminate on Thursday 30 July at 7pm with the online premiere of the new work Dún Laoghaire Guitars created during the Residency.
Dave Flynn works with some of the world’s best musicians across several genres and his music is acclaimed internationally. He is also a virtuoso guitarist who has toured worldwide. Recent work includes being the first Composer-in-Residence at Ireland's state guest-house Farmleigh and the ground-breaking world premiere of The Vision Symphony by the Irish Memory Orchestra and 26 blind/vision-impaired musicians in glór. Praised in the New York Times for the “power and grittiness” of his music, Dave has redefined the possibilities of orchestral music by creating the cross-genre Irish Memory Orchestra, a “formidable collective of musicians” (The Irish Times) who perform exclusively by memory.
The Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Musicians-in-Residence Scheme provides opportunities for performers and composers to develop and showcase new work and cultivate new artistic collaborations. The residences also serve to enrich the cultural environment of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown through engagement with local community groups.
Dave Flynn commented:
"It's wonderful to be appointed Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Musician-in-Residence. I was born and raised in the area and my deep connections there will inform my residency. I will be composing a cross-genre guitar ensemble piece called Dún Laoghaire Guitars, which I will perform with Ciaran Swift and some of his talented students from Dún Laoghaire's Guitar Training Centre. Ciaran has been a great musical collaborator and friend for 25 years so it's great to be working with him again.
Originally this was meant to involve a live concert at the DLR LexIcon, however we are adapting to the times by instead creating a video of the piece to premiere online. So whilst we hope to perform the piece live in Dún Laoghaire in the not too distant future, we look forward to the challenge of developing new ways of presenting new music to the public."
Previous Musicians-in-Residence have included percussionist and composer Éamonn Cagney, improvising pianist and composer Izumi Kimura, composer, sound designer and multi-instrumentalist Lara Gallagher, vocalist and songwriter Susan McKeown, pianist and composer Conor Linehan, sound artist and composer Craig Cox, musician and composer Sebastian Adams, The Eidola Trio featuring Malachy Robinson (viola de gamba) Eamon Sweeney (baroque guitar, lute) and Anita Vedres (baroque violin), Elizabeth Hilliard and Grainne Mulvey (Opera), Matthew Jacobson (Jazz Drummer) and Metier (Jazz Quintet led by Ronan Guilfoyle).