Month: May 2012

The Playhouse are seeking Tenders to:

Compose Original Music Score for two Theatre of Witness Productions in Northern Ireland one in 2012 and one in 2013.

To receive a Tender specification and documentation or for further information please contact:

Ms. Emma Stuart
Programme Co-ordinator,
Theatre of Witness
The Playhouse
5-7 Artillery Street,
Derry/ Londonderry
Northern Ireland

T +44 (0) 28 7126  8027
F +44 (0) 28 71 26 1884
Email to emmastuart@nullderryplayhouse.co.uk

Upon receipt of the documentation please acknowledge receipt of same by contacting the above office.

Prices should be stated as an all in price excluding V.A.T but with V.A.T. stated separately, if applicable.
 
Final date for submission of completed tenders is 5.00pm on Friday the 8th June 2012, a hard copy and electronic version of the tender is required.

Also required is at least two examples of previous relevant work on CD or DVD.

Facsimile or late tenders will not be accepted.

A project supported by PEACE III Programme managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by the Community Relations Council/Pobal Consortium

ISC Grand Prize Is Awarded To New Zealander Kimbra For The Song “Cameo Lover”

The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), the world’s foremost global songwriting event, is pleased to announce its 2011 winners. Over 16,000 songs were submitted and of those, many UK and Irish-based songwriters were recognized with First, Second, and Third Place wins and over 20 Honorable Mentions. Winners Dan Smith, Mike Rosenberg, Martina Flaherty, Bryan Tess, and Rachel White each received First, Second, or Third place showings across five different ISC categories–attesting to not only the high caliber of songwriting, but also to the diverse representation of musical styles coming from UK and Ireland.

Called “the songwriting competition to take note of” by the New York Times, ISC was established in 2002 and awards more than $150,000 in cash and prizes to amateur and professional songwriters around the globe. This year was the most competitive of any year in terms of quantity and quality of entries, and winners were selected from over 16,000 songs submitted from 112 countries worldwide. Judges included iconic artists Tom Waits, Jeff Beck, McCoy Tyner, Kelly Clarkson, Janelle Monae, Ozzy Osbourne, Lucinda Williams, Tori Amos, Wynonna, Keane, and many more. In addition to the high-profile artists, the roster of judges also included five record label presidents as well as other industry leaders, offering songwriters the unprecedented opportunity to have their music heard by influential decision-makers. See below for the complete list of judges.

For a complete list of 2011 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners

Winning ISC’s highest honor is New Zealand’s latest export, the quirky and wonderfully eclectic artist Kimbra. Kimbra has recently exploded onto the international music charts as the featured singer on Australian artist Gotye’s current #1 hit song, “Somebody That I Used To Know.” Her recent TV performances with Gotye on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Saturday Night Live were electrifying and introduced her to the US public, fortifying her meteoric rise to fame.

 Everybody knows The Flaws.  They exploded onto the Irish music scene in late 2007 when theirdebut long player ‘Achieving Vagueness’ was released to universal critical acclaim. It entered the Irish Top 20 and lead to both Choice and Meteor nominations. Having toured the debut for over 18 months solid playing some amazing shows across the country including memorable sets at Glastonbury, Electric Picnic ’08 and Oxegen the band took a well deserved break.

In October 2010 the band released their new album ‘Constant Adventure’. This much anticipated second album was recorded at Tumbleweed Studios in Dundalk, was self produced and mixed and engineered by Jason Varley. The end result showcased just how much The Flaws have grown as a band, track after track boasts beautiful harmonies and dazzles with glittering guitars.

With the departure of original bass player Dane McMahon in early 2012 the band were compelled to look themselves squarely in the eye. They did what they have always done best. They sat down and wrote some dazzling new songs. The first fruit of that process is Million Miles which is released on iTunes on May 25th. All the hallmarks of the band’s sound are there, the soaring harmonies, Colin Berrill’s relentless drum attack and the sumptuous melodic interplay between Paul Finn and Shane Malone’s guitars. With more fantastic songs in their arsenal 2012 promises to mark the return of The Flaws.

The Flaws launch ‘Million Miles’ with a show in the Spirit Store on Friday 25^th May and play .   There’s a link below where you can download a copy of the single.   If you would prefer a CD copy please get in touch.   

What the Press Say:

‘a sumptuous slice of classy pop rock’ Jackie Hayden Hot Press

‘Such grace and elegance doesn’t come without the careful nurturing of creative aspirations’

Jackie Hayden Hot Press

Constant Adventure…………….’is a hugely confident step forward……..’ Lauren Murphy Irish

Times ***

‘a serious of delightful radio friendly pop songs that ………..sound fresh and beguiling’,

Eamon Carr The Herald

‘The Flaws deserve to be heard’, Eamon Carr The Herald

In late 2010, to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the release of our first record Neither am I, we set out on an acoustic(ish) tour of North America & Europe.
 
With guitars, piano and an iPod, it was a very different take on the songs than what has ended up on the records – the three of us taking them back a few steps to how they were born in a lot of cases.
 
Phil Hayes, our friend and sound engineer, recorded most of the gigs, taking the desk mix and a couple of ambient microphones in in the room.

He also took many photographs of the sky, us guys, buildings and food.
 
From this bounty we’ve put together Field Recordings, 21 songs and photography from the road, and are very grateful to Phil for it.
 
We have very fond memories of the tour, traveling as we did in little white vans, with James Vincent McMorrow in North America and John Smith in Europe.
 
In those small, frequently beautiful rooms we felt a little closer, and it was good to meet so many of yis after. As Bad Santa’s t-shirt said, shit happens when you party naked…
 
Field Recordings will be available as a double CD or a limited edition (250 only, numbered) 40 page hardback photobook with CDs.

Both packages will only be had from the Bell X1 online shop.

It will also be available from iTunes and most digital retailers on July 20th.

You can listen to In Every Sunflower – recorded at Town Hall Theatre, Galway here: http://main.bellx1.com/

Track Dogs , the acoustic four piece based in Madrid, announce the release of their new EP which features the brand new single “Show Me The Sun”.

“…a remarkably assured, modern European acoustic-roots record…an antidote to introverted naval-gazing…”
R2 ****

Made up of two Irishmen; Garrett Wall (Vocals/Guitar) & Dave Mooney (Bass/Vocals), Englishman Howard Brown (Trumpet/Vocals) and Cleveland, Ohio native Robbie K Jones (Cajón/Banjo) the band have already released two albums under their previous incarnation, Garrett Wall Band.

Perhaps inspired by the new lease of life given to them as a result of the name change the new material shows the energy and freshness you normally associate with a “debut” album combined with the confidence and diversity you would expect from a band with as many miles under their belt as Track Dogs.

Apart from the new EP release the band have prepared a deluxe version of their album, simply titled “Track Dogs”,  which contains the new single, two remixes, and a previously unreleased track, “Fear Inside”,  which features on a series of live TV concerts the band recently filmed for TVE1, Spain’s national TV channel.

The band will be touring in the UK in May and have been selected to take part in a Europe wide campaign for Heineken which kicks off in Spain at the same time.

Wall continues to sing and write for TV and cinema and was featured on the soundtrack to “Buried” starring Ryan Reynolds. He is also main vocalist on all 52 episodes of acclaimed animated series “Let’s Go Pocoyo“.

“Track Dogs is a jaunty, smile-inducing collection of classic pop songwriting…” R2 ****

UK tour dates –
May 9 – Troubadour, London
May 11 – The Regal Room, London
May 12 – Bloomsburys, Biddenden
may 13 – The Forum, Tunbrige Wells

www.trackdogsmusic.com

Following the triumphant release of their debut single ‘Copy & Paste’, She’s a Beauty are set to release their highly anticipated follow-up, ‘Too Much Confusion’ on Saturday the 19th of May in Whelans, Wexford St.

Too Much Confusion will be the second installment in She’s a Beauty’s current series of 2012 releases, all which are to be issued via USB stick. 

She’s a Beauty’s fans are therefore being invited to attend the ‘Too Much Confusion’ single launch along with their original, ‘Copy & Paste’ USB sticks. 

Those returning fans will receive gate concessions and the opportunity to update their USB sticks with the most current releases from She’s a Beauty, including their brand new single ‘Too Much Confusion’ with additional bonus material.

Upstairs, Whelans,Wexford St., Dublin Sat 19/05/2012

Entry:

€10 ( w/free USB stick containing Too Much Confusion & more.

€5 concession for those returning with their ‘Copy & Paste’ single launch USB sticks.

http://www.facebook.com/shesabeauty.irl

 Ireland Promoting New Music presents

New Sound Worlds : May 2012

The Kevin Barry Room at The National Concert Hall

8.30pm, 16 May 2012: The Amstel Quartet featuring Maria McGarry

Jane O’Leary – riverrun 2008
Siobhán Cleary – Conachlann 2008
Ian Wilson – her charms invited 2011(world premiere)

-intermission-

Otto Ketting – Close Harmony 2010
Fant de Kanter – FEINT 2012 (world premiere)
Albert van Veenendaal – Minor Incidents 2012 (world premiere)

NewSoundWorlds welcomes the celebrated Amstel Quartet to the Kevin Barry Room for an evening of new music. A performance of Irish and Dutch works and a combination of Irish and Dutch performers, Wed 16 May is a truly bi-national evening! Combining tested Amstel Quartet favourites and two world premiere works, the evening brings the ever popular quartet once more to the heart of Dublin.

NewSoundWorlds series curator, Siobhán Cleary, illustrates the techniques behind her work Conachlann; written for the Amstel Quartet and Maria McGarry for the Sligo New Music Festival in 2008 and featuring McGarry as a guest for this performance in the Kevin Barry room. Cleary states, ‘Conachlann was a technique used in early Irish poetry where the last word of a line is repeated as the first word of the next line. The piece replicates many of the devices found in the poem, such as the incremental rhythms and the internal and end assonances.’

Characterised as ‘the most colourful saxophone quartet in the world’, the Amstel Quartet are no strangers to Ireland. They receive frequent invitations to perform, due not only to their rich sound, but also to the incredible diversity in their repertoire. According to the quartet themselves, ‘technical limitations do not exist, and musical boundaries are only there to be crossed’, resulting in an engaging experience for audiences each time. The concert on 16 May is a energetic end to another season of exciting new works of Irish and international new music. NewSoundWorlds can also be found on Facebook or Twitter – you can follow us there for more information closer to the concert date.

NewSoundWorlds is a concert series curated by the composer Siobhan Cleary. The series is presented by Ireland Promoting New Music (IPNM) which was set up in 2005 to improve opportunities for the performance and dissemination of contemporary music and to introduce Irish audiences to exciting new works from home and abroad. The NewSoundWorlds concert series is funded by grants from the Arts Council/An Comhairle Ealaoin and is supported by The National Concert Hall, through the provision of the Kevin Barry Room, and by the Contemporary Music Centre from their offices in Fishamble Street.

Ticket Information:

Tickets: €15 (€8 unwaged/student)

Tickets are available from The National Concert Hall

Tel: 01 4170000 or email info@nullnch.ie

The Contemporary Music Centre has joined forces with the Dublin Laptop Orchestra for its next new music::new Ireland salon, which takes place 6pm – 7pm, Wednesday, 30 May 2012, National Concert Hall. The Dublin Laptop Orchestra will present 4 works by members David Collier, Saramai Leech, Rachel Ní Chuinn, Jenn Kirby.

This will be the premiere for Samarai Leech’s Playroom and Rachel Ni Chuinn’s Quatrain. Quatrain is inspired by Samuel Beckett’s work Quad. Jenn Kirby’s Two Point Oh was premiered earlier this year at the CMC Student New Music Marathon, held in the DIT, March 2012. David Collier’s Smacht was previously performed at Smock Alley Theatre with musicians from This Is How We Fly.

The Dublin Laptop Orchestra (Dublork) was founded by Alex Dowling and Dan Trueman at the start of 2011. Founding members are Rachel Ní Chuinn, David Collier and Jenn Kirby. Dublork makes music with lots of laptops, hands, golf controllers, a wireless router, and anyone that plays……anything. Their aim is to bring some theatricality and ‘physical presence’ into electronic music performance. Current members are: David Collier, Alex Dowling, Amanda Feery, Enda Gallery, Jenn Kirby, Saramai Leech, Tara Lewis, Karl McHugh, Rachel Ní Chuinn, Emma O’Halloran. www.dublinlaptoporchestra.com

Admission is free for the new music::new Ireland salons but booking is strongly recommended. To book please contact the National Concert Hall on tel: 01 417 0000  www.nch.ie

new music::new Ireland salon

6pm – 7pm, 30 May 2012, FREE ADMISSION

Kevin Barry Room, National Concert Hall, Dublin 2

Dublin Laptop Orchestra

featuring David Collier, Saramai Leech, Rachel Ní Chuinn, Jenn Kirby

David Collier | Smacht (2011) 6’

Samarai Leech | Playroom (2012) 8’

Rachel Ni Chuinn | Quatrain (2012) 8’

Jenn Kirby | Two Point Oh (2012) 8’