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The Nomad Project – BIG BANG Dublin!
April 5, 2019 - April 7, 2019
The Ark is delighted to officially unveil details of a first of its kind festival for Ireland, BIG BANG Dublin! This thrilling new music festival for young music lovers of all kinds will see The Ark building in Temple Bar transform into an adventurous musical labyrinth of delights for the ears as well as a number of events taking place outside and at other locations close by.
Outstanding musicians will converge at The Ark to perform for children, their families and friends. What’s in store?
BIG BANG Dublin! is part of the BIG BANG network of adventurous international music festivals for young audiences which will see festivals taking place annually in 11 cities across Europe over the next 4 years, with the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Dedicated to music for young audiences, these festivals aim to enrich and broaden the quality of music currently on offer to children in Europe. Each will present an exciting mix of high quality music performances within a programme of international and local musicians. In Dublin audiences can look forward to:
- A delightful early years music show which weaves music from well-known classical composers into a music performance adventure for ages 2-6
- A percussionist, a pianist and a trumpet player will guide young music lovers into the fascinating world of the legendary Miles Davis.
- A walking musical adventure trail to discover three mini-performances at 3 different locations close to The Ark
- A chance to make your own music in an extraordinary interactive installation.
- The festival will end with a bang at a free outdoor performance for family audiences in Meeting House Square with Stomptown Brass on 7th April.
The programme for Big Bang Festival Dublin has been greatly informed by children. Through a Festival Ambassador’s programme, young people from The Ark’s Children’s Council (past and present) have, and will continue to be, very involved in the preparation, delivery, evaluation and communication of the festival. During the festival they will welcome audiences, interview artists and staff, and help to document the festival from a child’s point of view.
Another festival strand will see a highly regarded international artist work travel to Dublin to work with a group of children directly. Entitled “The Nomad Project” this year will see award winning composer John Barber from the Aurora Orchestra (UK) work with a group of children across a series of creative music workshops. Working collaboratively with people of all ages and abilities to make high quality and rewarding work is central to John’s musical life. He has devised and led projects for many of the UK and Europe’s leading arts organisations. During this process the children will explore a range of musical ideas and devise a short music performance which will be a unique expression of their personalities and musical imaginations which the children will then perform in The Ark. Nomad is part-funded by IMRO and The Ark gratefully acknowledges their valuable support of this key festival strand.
“It gives us great to pleasure to bring to young audiences in Ireland this new festival filled with exciting international music performances alongside brilliant performances by Irish musicians. We look forward to building on this new programme in 2019 into the future in collaboration with our 11 other partner organisations across Europe, so that children here may be inspired by a range of genres, styles and approaches in music. Through the engagement strands of the programme we will ensure children are fully at the heart of our annual Big Bang Dublin festivals. As music for young audiences is still a developing area of arts practice, it is our hope that this sustained international programme for the next 4 years will play an important role in strengthening this as a valuable and exciting area of music practice for artists and audiences in Ireland. We are most grateful for the support of Creative Europe which makes the large scale international ambitions of this project possible, as well as the vital support of all our local partners.” Aisling O’Gorman, Creative Arts Manager at The Ark
For tickets and more information go to ark.ie
The programme
- Early Years Music Show: Smile (MishMash Productions, UK)
Ages 2-6
Magical chamber music for little ears performed by three exceptional musicians. Filled with fantastic music by well-known classical composers including Bach, Bartok, Ravel, Copland and more played on cello, violin and viola, Smile is a show that will take you on a delightful music adventure to help Augustus the Tiger find his smile again. Smile is a show by MishMash Productions from the UK and is based on Catherine Rayner’s book Augustus and His Smile.
Fri 5 & Sat 6 April @ 10.30am & 12pm. Tickets €12.50/€9.50 (20% off for Members)
- Mile(s)tones
Ages: 6+
From Zonzo Compagnie (Belgium) comes the show MILE(S)TONES. A percussionist, a pianist and a trumpet player guide you into the fascinating world of the legendary jazz composer and trumpet player Miles Davis. His adventurous, innovative approach to music is this show’s starting point, leading you into a labyrinth of ever-changing spaces and moods. One moment, you may find yourself in the vibrant creativity of a recording studio, or on stage as one of the musicians; the next moment, you’re creating a live soundtrack to a movie or you’re in the celebrated musician’s painting studio.You will experience the endless, fantastic possibilities of improvised music through the compositions of Miles Davis, with members of the renowned Belgian jazz ensemble De Beren Gieren, Thijs Troch, Simon Segers, and trumpet player Bert Bernaerts as the ideal guides.
Fri 5 April @ 10.15am & 12.15pm, Sat 6 April @ 11.30am and 2pm. Tickets €12.50/€9.50 (20% off for Members). Approx. 50 mins
MILE(S)TONES is a Zonzo Compagnie production in coproduction with De Beren vzw, Centro Cultural de Belém, De Werf Arts Centre, Rataplan Arts Centre and Jeunesses Musicales Flanders.
Ages 6+
On this walking musical adventure trail discover three mini-performances at 3 different locations close to The Ark – The Gallery of Photography, National Photographic Archive and Temple Bar Gallery + Studios.
Toy Piano and Music box mini-concert
The toy piano is an intriguing instrument. American composer John Cage brought the instrument into the public eye and it has become popular again with many contemporary composers writing music for it. Our concert is performed by pianist and composer David Bremner and also has some extra instrumentation in the form of a mechanical music box.
Trad Music with The Buzzy Bees duo
A dynamic fiddle and bodhrán duo create a performance full of all the energy you’d expect from traditional Irish music. Get ready to tap your toes to fast reels and jigs, some of which can be found in the collection available in the National Library archive.
The Smashing Red Kite’s Blues
This performance uses the children’s story ‘The Smashing Red Kite’ story by Ann Lorraine Mack to bring the blues to life. The music follows the red kite as he leaves the toy shop for a life of adventure.
Sat 6 April @ 12.15pm, 1.45pm, 3.15pm. Tickets: €6 (20% off for Members) Approx. 1 hour. Starts at The Ark.
Stomptown Brass
Ages 5+
Stomptown Brass is one of the most unique acts in Ireland in recent times. Blending the sounds of funk and blues with powerful driving rhythms, the band make the most of their impressive line-up: two Drummers, two Trombones, two Trumpets, one Saxophone and a Tuba. Their music is bursting with bluesy vocals, infectious grooves, disco beat breakdowns, and funky rhythms all delivered with their signature enthusiasm and showmanship. To celebrate the end of BIG BANG Dublin 2019, this free outdoor performance for family audiences brings the band’s joyful, loud and upbeat brass street performance to Meeting House Square.
Stomptown Brass are: Liam Ryan – Trumpet, Rob Grant – Trumpet, Luke Byrne – Tenor Sax, James O’Leary – Trombone, Finnian Kelly – Trombone, Brian Larkin – Tuba, Brendan Doherty – Drums, Darragh McGrath – Drums.
Sun 7 April @ 2.30pm to 4pm. Meeting House Square. Free but ticketed
Presented in partnership with Musictown Junior 2019 and the support of Temple Bar Cultural Trust & Dublin City Council
- Interactive Installations: Pnemaphone (Logos Foundation (Belgium)
Ages 4+
Pneumaphone is a music installation by Godfried-Willem Raes. It is made up of several pneumatically (or air) driven sound sculptures named after ancient Greek and Roman mythological wind gods. Each sculpture is attached to an air filled pillow that when pressed pushes air through flutes, single reeds, double-reeds, sirens, horns, whistles, membranes or cavity resonators in the sculpture to make sound. By sitting, rolling or lying on one of the inflated tetrahedron shaped air cushions, you can adjust the air flow and in this way change the musical pitch and intensity of the sound of each sculpture.
Sat 6 & Sun 7 April @ 11am-3.30pm. (Last entry 3pm) Free Entry, Drop-in Activity
All events have been programmed with the approval of the children on the BIG BANG Dublin Festival Ambassador team.
About The Ark: The Ark is place where children can discover and love the arts, exploring theatre, music, literature, art, film, dance and more. Over the past 23 years The Ark, located in the heart of Dublin City has commissioned, presented and developed work especially for children aged 2-12. Although created for this age group the productions and events are also adored by adults of all ages! The Ark team continues to play a key role in encouraging artists and other companies to explore the area of creating work for children and sharing their expertise through running continuing professional development sessions for artists and Primary school teachers.
The Ark gratefully acknowledges the support of its principal funder the Arts Council and also its other annual supporters: the Department of Education and Skills, Temple Bar Cultural Trust,
Dublin City Council and UNESCO Dublin City of Literature.
BIG BANG project was initiated by lead partner Zonzo Compagnie (Belgium) who are an award-winning production company that specialise in creating exciting and stimulating music performances and projects for children. BIG BANG was awarded with the European EFFE (Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe) award in 2015.
@TheArkDublin
