Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council recently announced the appointment of Musicians-in-Residence 2018 in a scheme jointly funded by the Arts Council, and managed by Music Network. Three residencies were offered in 2018: residencies for established musicians were awarded to Susan McKeown and Conor Linehan, and a residency for an emerging musician was awarded to Craig Cox.
The residencies will culminate in a series of free concerts at the dlr LexIcon Studio and Library from July to September as follows:
Grammy award‐winning and BBC Folk Music Award nominated vocalist and songwriter Susan McKeown will perform a series of songs about her experience as a woman living in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown today, taking inspiration from her own life and everyday encounters with people in the town as well as the Pier, the Forty Foot, Killiney Hill and beyond. Susan will be joined by collaborators Ger Kiely (guitar) and Trevor Hutchinson (double bass) for two concerts - Sunday 29th July and Thursday 6th September.
Sound artist and composer Craig Cox will perform a new work inspired by and incorporating the incidental rhythms and percussive sounds made by the inhabitants of the area. Performing on violin and electronics, he will be joined by his frequent collaborator Aoife Hammond, an experimental guitarist and Sebastian Jezzi, jazz drummer. Composers Nikki Sheth and Aurelie Ferriere will also present intriguing spatial compositions as part of the concert programme on Thursday 13th September.
Pianist and composer Conor Linehan will perform a concert on Sunday 16th September which will include a showing of work in progress 'Madame Violante's Commodious Booth' and a piece for piano and dancer based on Ravel's cycle 'Le Tombeau de Couperin' featuring Emma O'Kane. On Sunday 30th September Conor will present a concert for violin and piano with Oonagh Keogh which will include a new piece based on and incorporating interviews with friends and family around growing up in Blackrock in the 70s and 80s.
Throughout the residencies the wider community will have an opportunity to gain an intriguing insight into the creative process through a regular online video diary created by each musician – a series of recordings where they talk about their progress throughout the residencies.
The aim of the Musicians-in-Residence Scheme is to provide opportunities to develop and showcase new work which may be compositional and/or performance focused, i.e. to create a new work/body of material and/or to develop a new artistic collaboration. Previous Musicians-in-Residence have included musician and composer Sebastian Adams, The Eidola Trio which features 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).
More here.