Buoyed by the success of AGENT ORANGE since it’s release, Ken is looking forward to promoting the album in the new-year. Plans for 2006 will commence with a gig in New York City on 18th January.
This showcase gig will take place in the Rockwood Music Hall and marks Ken’s first gig in the US. This exciting venture was prompted by feedback from the United States and Internet sales that are exceeding expectations.
.. ‘Magnificent Stuff’! – HotPress, Dublin. October 2005
.. AGENT ORANGE avoids the stereotypical introspective singer/songwriter format as ‘Corkman Cotter does his own neat take on indie-pop classicism.’ Colm O Hare, HotPress.
‘Purveys a wonderfully assured brand of melodic song-craft’ – Time Out, London.
‘[With] albums due out from writers of the calibre of Ken Cotter in the Autumn, this could turn out to be Cork’s year on the rock front’ – Jackie Hayden, HotPress, Dublin.
‘Sounds totally assured’ and ‘hits all the right buttons’ – Evening Echo, Cork.
CHOICE MUSIC PRIZE – IRISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR – SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED TODAY
The shortlist for the Choice Music Prize – Irish Album of the Year 2005 – is as follows (albums in alphabetical order):
Bell X1“Flock” (Island) Cane 141 “Moonpool” (Exceptional) The Chalets“Check-In” (Setanta) Joe Chester“A Murder of Crows” (Barp) Duke Special“Adventures In Gramophone” (Hag) Julie Feeney “13 Songs” (Self-released) Hal “Hal” (Rough Trade) Nick Kelly“Running Dog” (Self Possessed) Emmett Tinley“Attic Faith” (Independent Records) Turn“Turn” (Setanta)
The shortlist has been selected by a panel consisting of 12 media professionals representing Irish print, radio and TV from the four corners of the island.
The overall Album of the Year will be selected by this judging panel at the Choice Music Prize event at Vicar Street, Dublin on Tuesday February 28th.
The winning act will receive 10,000 euros, a prize which has been provided by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA).
The act will also receive a specially-commissioned award, courtesy of the Recorded Artists And Performers Ltd (RAAP).
The winning album will also benefit from a full advertising campaign from Today FM.
The Choice Music Prize event will be covered live on Tom Dunne´s Pet Sounds show on Today FM on February 28th.
Tickets for the Choice Music Prize event (costing 25 euros including all booking fees) will go on sale from Ticketmaster outlets on Monday January 16th.
Full information on the acts who will be performing on the night and other elements of the event will be announced later this month.
The Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year is a new award which has been established to celebrate and acknowledge the work of Irish musicians.
Every single year, hundreds of albums are released by Irish artists in every genre, from indie, trad and pop to electronic and jazz.
The Choice Music Prize aims to highlight those albums which deserve some extra time in the spotlight and, ultimately, to select the album which best sums up the year in Irish music
Instead of using sales or airplay as criteria, the Choice Music Prize will focus, simply and solely, on the music.
The Choice Music Prize is co-ordinated by Dave Reid and Jim Carroll.
Jim Carroll will be the judging panel´s non-voting chairman.
Dave Reid runs Broadcast Mgt & Events, the company who also organise the National Student Music Awards. Jim Carroll is a music journalist with The Irish Times.
MICHAEL FLATLEY‘S “CELTIC TIGER” SELLS OUT IN 8 MINUTES!
THE POINT THEATRE, DUBLIN, THURSDAY, 20TH APRIL 2006.
“The demand for “Celtic Tiger†was unprecedented. At one stage at 9:04 there was sixteen and half thousand people trying to buy tickets on-line at the same time and this is a box office record for any show in Ireland†Eamonn O´Connor General Manager of Ticketmaster Ireland said.
Michael Flatley and Celtic Tiger will be staged at the Point Theatre, Thursday, 20th April 2006 and is being promoted by Aiken Promotions.
“It´s great to see him back with a sell-out show and we are delighted to renew our association with Michael and Celtic Tiger†Peter Aiken, said.
“I´m proud to be back in Ireland and the Irish people have always supported me. †Michael Flatley said.
With his new show Celtic Tiger, Michael Flatley ignites the world of dance once again with a bold, dramatic and daring production which fuses the spirit of Ireland and its history with dance and music. The result is an epic masterpiece in which Michael Flatley pushes the creative boundaries to deliver Irish dance as a dynamic and power art form.
Ireland´s history provides a dramatic story board for Michael Flatley, challenging his creative ability to produce a spectacle that is at once provocative and sensitive. The story unfolds with the Celts; as darkness fills the stage, the pulsating sound of tap signals the beginning of a daring production that is masterful in terms of choreography, music, stage presentation and costume design.
Accompanied by sweeping epic dramatic music composed by Ronan Hardiman (composer of Lord Of The Dance and Feet Of Flames), it ranks as one of the best scores ever to accompany a stage show or movie. All of Ronan Hardiman’s trademarks are evident-beautiful melodies, exquisite arrangements and the usual passion and energy-but what is most striking is the incredible diversity of styles in which Hardiman seems to effortlessly switch between.
Twelve magnificent highlights from this ground breaking score are included on the soundtrack CD to be released in April 2006. “I am very proud of this score-I believe it contains some of the best music I have ever composed. It has been a privilege to work once again with Michael Flatley on what I am sure is going to be the biggest phenomenon yet!” says Hardiman.
“The show itself is a 90 minute spectacular. It is very fast moving, powerful and hard-hitting and I think that it is something that you have never seen before. I love The Point and it has always been very special to me. It has brought me great luck and it is where it is all started. It is great to be back at the scene of the crime!†Michael Flatley said.
Images of Irish history fill the first half of the show which ends with the portrayal of the birth of modern Ireland as a nation state and a people who are constantly emerging from the jaws of defeat. The choreography, music and stage presentation combine to create a visionary interpretation of a people´s quest for freedom and the nobility of their spirit. The second half builds on images of modern Ireland and celebrates new life in America and across the globe. The invincible spirit of the Celtic Tiger is the thread that draws the images together weaving a tapestry that is a celebration in dance drama.
Celtic Tiger is a highly charged and innovative show with breathtaking special effects making it not quite a stage show and not quite a feature film but uniquely somewhere in between. Controversial and explosive, Celtic Tiger sets new standards in stage presentation and choreography. Celtic Tiger and its musical score represent quantum leaps forward in an arena scale theatrical production.
Celtic Tiger heralds yet another defining moment in the career of Michael Flatley. As its creator and choreographer, the artist´s relentless drive and determination converge with his vision of Irish heritage and dance to deliver a show that roars with energy and defiance.
The Chalets head off to Holland this week as RTE 2FM´s pick of the crop to represent Ireland at Eurosonic. Europe´s biggest new music showcase takes place in Groningen, Holland this weekend and will feature some 130 acts in 15 venues across the city.
The Chalets (along with fellow Irish band The Radio) will be playing on Thursday 12 January and 2FM will carry the show live from Holland during Rick O´Shea and Jenny Huston´s shows on the night. As part of 2FM´s involvement in the event both bands will also have their live sets recorded and distributed to all the major European radio stations.
And keep an ear out for the band´s “Sexy Mistake†on the soundtrack of the Gray´s Anatomy series when it starts to air on this fair isle.
IPNM IRELAND PROMOTING NEW MUSIC in association with The
National Chamber Choir of Ireland present on 3pm Sunday February 12th @ The National Gallery of Ireland Conductor Celso Antunes
Aloys Fleischmann POET IN THE SUBURBS
Per Nørgård WIE EIN KIND
James Wilson TWO POEMS FROM “ALMANACâ€
Peteris Vasks ZEMGALE
Siobhán Cleary ELDE (World premiere)
György Ligeti WENN AUS DER FERNE
Ph. 01 -7007811 for information and ticket booking.
Tickets also available at the door
€12 (€10 concession)
‘An excellent programme and superlative playing marked the first concert promoted by Ireland Promoting New Music’
TWO SOUNDS: OTHER VOICES
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 25TH AT 11.30pm
RTÉ Two and Hummingbird Productions present Other Voices, a series of nine programmes, featuring exclusive recorded performances and interviews by more than thirty Irish and international artists, recorded at St. James Church, Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland in December 2005.
The fourth instalment of Other Voices, the acclaimed RTÉ Two music series, hits Irish television screens on Wednesday, January 25th at 11.30pm. The series, which will run for nine episodes, was recorded in front of a small live audience in the intimate surrounds of Dingle´s St James Church over eight nights in mid December 2005.
Thirty two local and international artists descended on the world famous Kerry town to add their voices including James Blunt, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, The Waterboys, Alabama 3, BellX1, The Walls, Teenage Fanclub, Nizlopi and Elbow. The series is presented by esteemed broadcaster and writer John Kelly, and will feature nine programmes in total. Programmes 1 through 8 will each feature performances and interviews from four artists. Programme 9 will be a compilation of Other Voices highlights as selected by viewers through the series website www.rte.ie/tv/othervoices
Now in it´s fourth year, the Dingle recording of Other Voices has become a music festival in it´s own right, a unique and exciting gathering of the very best in local and international talent. Folk, rock, indie, alt country, dance, roots and much much more, all brought together in a glorious diversity of musical expression resulting in an aural and visual feast for the viewer.
This Other Voices series will differ from its predecessors in that performance footage will now be interspersed with interviews and behind the scenes material. Viewers of the TV series will get up close and personal with James Blunt at the Oceanworld Aquarium, catch Asian Dub Foundation unplugged on Ventry Strand, join Hal for a few games at the Dingle Bowling Alley and settle back for a chat with Rufus Wainwright in Benners Hotel! Other Voices can also now proudly lay claim to a small piece of Irish musical history, when legendary Irish Celt rockers Horslips donned their guitar straps and drumsticks to play their first ever live electric set in more than 25 years!
The fourth series of Other Voices was directed by acclaimed Irish filmmaker and artist, Maurice Linnane, will run on RTÉ Two on the following dates, at 11.30pm (subject to change)
Wed Jan 25th Programme 1 – Laura Cantrell, Vyvienne Long, The Walls, James Blunt
Wed Feb 1st Programme 2 – Pinky, Humanzi, Jose González, The Waterboys with Liam O´Maonlai
Wed Feb 8th Programme 3 – Duke Special, Clare Sproule, Stephen Fretwell, Elbow
Wed Feb 15th Programme 4 – Emmett Tinley, Stars, Trashcan Sinatras, Horslips
Wed Feb 22nd Programme 5 – Julie Feeney, Matt Lunson, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright
Wed Mar 1st Programme 6 – Iarla O’Lionaird, Jape, Asian Dub Foundation, Alabama 3
Wed Mar 8th Programme 7 – Miriam Ingram, The Immediate, Hal, Bell x1
Wed Mar 15th Programme 8 – Nizlopi, Delorentos, Dave Couse,Teenage Fan Club
Wed Mar 22nd Programme 9 – To be selected by viewers through www.rte.ie/tv/othervoices
FÃS Screen Training Ireland
in association with Ceoil Productions Ireland Ltd. is seeking participants for The Film & TV Composer’s Workstation
Dates: 12th February – 25th March 2006 Location: Bow Lane Studios Duration: 6 weeks Fee: €700 (Levels 1 & 2); €600 (Level 2)
Participant Profile
Composers from classical, rock and commercial music backgrounds who aspire to become composers of film and T.V. music.
Course Profile
The aim of the programme is to enhance the technology skills of film and television composers and provide the skills to effectively score a film or T.V. show at the composer’s workstation.
The purpose of this module is to familiarise participants with the technology of the composer’s composition and recording workstation. This course is divided into two levels. The first is a short intensive programme aimed at the technological novice who has little or no hands-on experience of the recording studio.
This will cover everything from initial hardware setup and software instrument applications.
The second level will continue from this foundation and will address topics such as:
· Creating convincing synthetic orchestrations through the use of gigastudio and other virtual instruments to create everything from “mockup” to finished cues.
· The film oriented aspects of composing to picture using conventional commercial sequencers and notation packages.
· Mixing practices and modern production methods in sound design, creating beds and drum loops.
·Integrating acoustically recorded instruments into synthetic scores. Solo vs. ensemble, gestural reinforcement, timbral and textural considerations, etc.
·Synthesis vs. sampling. Exploiting the strengths and avoiding the weaknesses of each.
The emphasis will be on providing participants with practical experience of various methodologies employed throughout the process of electronic scoring.
Tutor Profile
Greg Magee has composed scores for the TV feature film Under the Hawthorn Tree (CH4 & RTE), An Evil Cradling and The Cat and the Moon. He has also worked as Music Supervisor for Countess Cathleen and Scoring Supervisor for such European and Irish Productions as The Last Word, A Love Divided, Filleann an Feall and Rheged – The Lost Kingdom. He scored the multi award-winning animated series The Fairytaler, TV show Cabin Fever, the title music for the “Rose of Tralee”, the score to the award winning Irish language short film The Longest Ditch, and the animated series Zombie Hotel. Greg won an IFTA in 2005 for his score for the feature film Winters End.
Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Copenhagen, New York, Los Angeles. The Vibe for Philo has come a long way from its humble beginnings 20 years ago. Not only is the Vibe taking to the road in Ireland this year, but tribute events will also be staged in America and the Danish capital. Few could have imagined the show growing into the global commemoration it’s become, taking in almost every venue in Dublin along the way – including a sell-out Point Depot at the 10th Vibe and attracting acts from 3 continents. Fans are coming from Holland, Sweden, Denmark, America, Canada, Belgium, Britain, and beyond with two Dublin hotels currently booked out with guests over specifically for the Vibe.
With the turkey out of the way rehearsals have been intense and sponsors Jim Beam have once again put together a choice selection of goodies to raise money for charity at the various shows. The Full line up includes, former Lizzies Eric Bell and Brian Robertson, with Jimmy Faulkner, Noel Bridgeman, Southbound Band, Trad Lizzy, Ex-Pogue Cait O’Riordan and Roadhouse, Glyder, Jimmy Coot and Shibata from Japan’s Lizzyboys (a memorable hit from the previous outing at Vicar Street) and surprise guests.
Tickets are available Nationwide from Ticketmaster and locally from Venue’s and usual outlets.
The Vibe takes to the road at:
Kelly Colleen McMahon presents Amadeus by Peter Shaffer
Wednesday 11 January to Saturday 14 January 2006
St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, Galway, 8 pm
Tickets: €15 Members of Music for Galway: €10
Booking: 087-2719782
This January, the world will celebrate Mozart´s 250th Birthday. To correspond with the festivities, Kelly Colleen McMahon will present Peter Shaffer´s take on the legendary composer, Amadeus, at St. Nicholas Collegiate Church January 11-14.
The work looks at Mozart´s time in Vienna (i.e. the last ten years of his life) but does so through the lens of his rival and purported murderer, Antonio Salieri. An enduring myth implicates Salieri in Mozart´s early death and Shaffer plays with the evolution of these kinds of rumours. He also examines ideas about religious piety, envy, facades, and the inscrutability of destiny. All of this while creating a fascinating portrait of the composer and his would-be nemesis.
Most people are undoubtedly more familiar with the film adaptation of the play, which garnered numerous Oscar and Golden Globe awards when it was released in 1984. The stage production is equally as laurelled with the Broadway production earning Tony´s including Best Play for Shaffer and Best Actor for Ian McKellen who played Salieri. Though stage and screen version share characters and basic plot details, the theatrical original centres much more on the idea of Mozart (whose middle name means ‘beloved of God´) as God´s voice on Earth and the blend of admiration and ire this cause in Salieri. This religious undercurrent makes St. Nicholas an ideal venue for the play as the church´s holy atmosphere will augment those themes quite palpably.
The cast for the Galway production includes actors from a range of theatrical organizations in the city including Galway Youth Theatre, An Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, NUIG´s MA in Drama and Theatre Studies and NUIG DramSoc. In the principle roles are Patrick Curley as Antonio Salieri, Morgan Cooke as his bane and the title character and Helen Gregg the composer´s devoted wife, Constanze.
Cast
Antonio Salieri – Patrick Curley
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Morgan Cooke
Constanze Weber – Helen Gregg
Emperor Joseph II – Ronan McMahon
Count Von Strack – Matt Kelly
Count Orsini-Rosenberg – Shane McDermott
Baron Van Swieten – Martin Sullivan
Venticelli – Aileen Bradley, Lisa Daly
Directed by Kelly Colleen McMahon
Music for Galway
c/o GMIT
Cluain Mhuire
Monivea Road
Galway
phone: ++353 91 705962 email:Â info@nullmusicforgalway.ie www.musicforgalway.ie
With his next album “The Velvet Earth” due for March 24th next , Ger Wolfe is doing a series of concerts leading up to the release:
Buoyed by the success of AGENT ORANGE since it’s release, Ken is looking forward to promoting the album in the new-year. Plans for 2006 will commence with a gig in New York City on 18th January.
CHOICE MUSIC PRIZE – IRISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR – SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED TODAY
MICHAEL FLATLEY‘S “CELTIC TIGER” SELLS OUT IN 8 MINUTES! 
The Chalets head off to Holland this week as RTE 2FM´s pick of the crop to represent Ireland at Eurosonic. Europe´s biggest new music showcase takes place in Groningen, Holland this weekend and will feature some 130 acts in 15 venues across the city.
IPNM IRELAND PROMOTING NEW MUSIC in association with The
TWO SOUNDS: OTHER VOICES
FÃS Screen Training Ireland
Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Copenhagen, New York, Los Angeles. The Vibe for Philo has come a long way from its humble beginnings 20 years ago. Not only is the Vibe taking to the road in Ireland this year, but tribute events will also be staged in America and the Danish capital. Few could have imagined the show growing into the global commemoration it’s become, taking in almost every venue in Dublin along the way – including a sell-out Point Depot at the 10th Vibe and attracting acts from 3 continents. Fans are coming from Holland, Sweden, Denmark, America, Canada, Belgium, Britain, and beyond with two Dublin hotels currently booked out with guests over specifically for the Vibe.
Kelly Colleen McMahon presents Amadeus by Peter Shaffer