![The Celestial Stranger - Broadcast Premiere](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59cab34ff9a61eda2a1d2a68/1718103346406-E45YTQH88QD86ZKAFF8E/Stephen+McNeff+%28photo+Charlotte+Malik%29.jpeg)
The Celestial Stranger - Broadcast Premiere
See Gavan’s Twitter entry with a rehearsal excerpt here.
Diary events are frequently updated. There may also be more events than listed here as sometimes it takes a while for word to filter through...
See Gavan’s Twitter entry with a rehearsal excerpt here.
Stephen McNeff (Image: Charlotte Malik)
Peters Edition Limited (World)
First performance on 20th March 2007 by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop at the Anvil, Basingstoke and on BBC Radio
ORCHESTRATION
2[II:pic].2.2[II:bcl].2[II:cbn]/4.2.1.1/timp.2perc/hp/str
DURATION15 min
CATEGORYOrchestra
COMPOSER
PERFORMANCES
4th May 2024, All Saints Church, Oystermouth, Swansea, United Kingdom
The Celestial Stranger - A Song Cycle for Tenor and Orchestra
The Celestial Stranger was inspired by the rediscovery in 1997 in the library of Lambeth Palace in London of texts by the Seventeenth Century cleric and mystic, Thomas Traherne. In these Traherne imagins a person from another world discovering earth and being enchanted by its beauty: “this little star, so wide and so full of mysteries." In this cycle of songs our Stranger goes on to marvel at natural wonders and recounts how his (or her) brother imagines that in jumping over a stream in the moonlight he falls into a reverse world and ‘leaps over the moon’. Drawing on other poets like Walt Whitman and Dylan Thomas, the cycle describes a broad narrative arc. In 'As Time Draws Nigh'', the realities of the earth wake the Stranger up to the warlike industrialisation of society, and the prophetic fear of a totalitarian regime are expressed in 'The Hand that Signed the Paper’. Understanding the imperfections of the word, our traveller takes their regretful leave – perhaps one day to return.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ej9n5v
For further details please see News pages
Stephen McNeff (Image: Charlotte Malik)
Peters Edition Limited (World)
First performance on 20th March 2007 by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop at the Anvil, Basingstoke and on BBC Radio
ORCHESTRATION
2[II:pic].2.2[II:bcl].2[II:cbn]/4.2.1.1/timp.2perc/hp/str
DURATION15 min
CATEGORYOrchestra
COMPOSER
PERFORMANCES
4th May 2024, All Saints Church, Oystermouth, Swansea, United Kingdom
Chamber Choir Ireland presents a small, yet perfectly formed, quartet of part-songs and miniatures, spanning the centuries. Paring back the full choral sound to its most basic form, an intimate experience of hearing four exquisite voices perform everything from Palestrina to Gershwin including new works by Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff and Eoghan Desmond.
Chamber Choir Ireland Quartet (Image Chamber Choir Ireland)
This concert features Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, my arrangement of the well known nursery song which takes the music in unexpectedly delightful directions. And who knew the others verses…?
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is part of The Starlight Night set of a cappella four-part songs. The score is published by Edition Peters and is available here.
Sample page
Chamber Choir Ireland presents a small, yet perfectly formed, quartet of part-songs and miniatures, spanning the centuries. Paring back the full choral sound to its most basic form, an intimate experience of hearing four exquisite voices perform everything from Palestrina to Gershwin including new works by Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff and Eoghan Desmond.
Chamber Choir Ireland Quartet (Image Chamber Choir Ireland)
This concert features Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, my arrangement of the well known nursery song which takes the music in unexpectedly delightful directions. And who knew the others verses…?
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is part of The Starlight Night set of a cappella four-part songs. The score is published by Edition Peters and is available here.
Sample page
Chamber Choir Ireland presents a small, yet perfectly formed, quartet of part-songs and miniatures, spanning the centuries. Paring back the full choral sound to its most basic form, an intimate experience of hearing four exquisite voices perform everything from Palestrina to Gershwin including new works by Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff and Eoghan Desmond.
Chamber Choir Ireland Quartet (Image Chamber Choir Ireland)
This concert features Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, my arrangement of the well known nursery song which takes the music in unexpectedly delightful directions. And who knew the others verses…?
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is part of The Starlight Night set of a cappella four-part songs. The score is published by Edition Peters and is available here.
Sample page
Chamber Choir Ireland presents a small, yet perfectly formed, quartet of part-songs and miniatures, spanning the centuries. Paring back the full choral sound to its most basic form, an intimate experience of hearing four exquisite voices perform everything from Palestrina to Gershwin including new works by Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff and Eoghan Desmond.
Chamber Choir Ireland Quartet (Image Chamber Choir Ireland)
This concert features Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, my arrangement of the well known nursery song which takes the music in unexpectedly delightful directions. And who knew the others verses…?
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is part of The Starlight Night set of a cappella four-part songs. The score is published by Edition Peters and is available here.
Sample page
Image Guildhall School of Music
Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Jonathan Waller fight director
Raniah Al-Sayed intimacy director
Image Guildhall School of Music
Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Jonathan Waller fight director
Raniah Al-Sayed intimacy director
Image Guildhall School of Music
Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Jonathan Waller fight director
Raniah Al-Sayed intimacy director
Image Guildhall School of Music
Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Jonathan Waller fight director
Raniah Al-Sayed intimacy director
This recording of Ballads of a Bogman: The Sigerson Clifford Song Cycle will be broadcast on RTÉ lyric fm LIVE, on 14 July at 7pm. Listen online here.
Louise Thomas and Gavan Ring (photo Paul)
Recorded live on 16 October 2022 at the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church Cahersiveen.
Gavan Ring, tenor
Louise Thomas, piano
Recording Engineer: Paul Ashe-Browne
Acclaimed Irish tenor Gavan Ring and pianist Louise Thomas present the ‘homecoming’ performance in this recording of Ballads of a Bogman - a cycle of nine songs by CMC Composer Stephen McNeff based on the evocative poetry of the bard of Iveragh, Sigerson Clifford.
The song cycle was devised during 2021 as part of the Contemporary Music Centre's Contemporary Artists Network (formerly CMC Colleagues), where Stephen, Gavan and Louise began their collaboration. On this subject, Stephen McNeff who is Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music in London says, ‘I had been a big fan of Gavan’s voice and I approached him in late 2020 to collaborate as part of ‘CMC Colleagues’ a Contemporary Music Centre initiative to partner composers and artists together. Gavan had no hesitation in recommending that I look at Clifford’s poetry. I was instantly bowled over by his texts; Clifford possesses a clear voice and a technical mastery which made them perfect for the medium of art song’.
Through Louise Thomas, who is Associate Dean of the College of Performing Arts at Chapman University in Los Angeles, the composition of Ballads of a Bogman had its world premiere at Chapman University last year, followed by a European and Irish premiere in association with Cork Opera House at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral – only a stone’s throw away from Dean Street where Sigerson Clifford was born. This performance, however, was recorded in Clifford’s and Gavan’s hometown of Cahersiveen last October and was made possible by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media’s Local Live Performance Programming Scheme.
1. I am Kerry Intro
2. The Ballad of the Tinker’s Son
3. The Old School
4. The Boy Remembers his Father
5. The Kerry Christmas Carol
6. The County Mayo
7. O drink your porter, tinker man!
8. The Fiddler
9. I am Kerry
Recorded at their March 24th concert at Maida Vale, the BBC Singers broadcast The Starlight Night as part of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Afternoon Concert’.
A digital programme for the whole concert is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/extra/q7etQRBn2a/BBC-Singers-24-March-2023. Aoife Mannix’s text for The Horizons of Doubt is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ficca9nemjxe1l8/The%20Horizons%20of%20Doubt%20Text%20final%20edit.pdf?dl=0
Join the BBC Singers at the historic Maida Vale Studios for an intimate concert celebrating contemporary composer Stephen McNeff.
Led by guest conductor Grace Rossiter, enjoy a rich choral programme including pieces by Kerry Andrew, Tarik O’Regan, Rhona Clarke, Dobrinka Tabakova, Alan Bullard and Siobhán Cleary, woven between four of Stephen McNeff's works.
At the heart of the concert is the world premiere of McNeff's The Horizons of Doubt.
Stephen McNeff, Dobrinka Tabakova, Siobhán Cleary, Emily Hazrati, Alan Bullard and Aoife Mannix at the BBC Singers recording in the BBC Maida Vale Studios, March 24, 2023
Recorded at their March 24th concert at Maida Vale, the BBC Singers broadcast Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as part of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Afternoon Concert’.
A digital programme for the whole concert is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/extra/q7etQRBn2a/BBC-Singers-24-March-2023. Aoife Mannix’s text for The Horizons of Doubt is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ficca9nemjxe1l8/The%20Horizons%20of%20Doubt%20Text%20final%20edit.pdf?dl=0
Join the BBC Singers at the historic Maida Vale Studios for an intimate concert celebrating contemporary composer Stephen McNeff.
Led by guest conductor Grace Rossiter, enjoy a rich choral programme including pieces by Kerry Andrew, Tarik O’Regan, Rhona Clarke, Dobrinka Tabakova, Alan Bullard and Siobhán Cleary, woven between four of Stephen McNeff's works.
At the heart of the concert is the world premiere of McNeff's The Horizons of Doubt.
Stephen McNeff, Dobrinka Tabakova, Siobhán Cleary, Emily Hazrati, Alan Bullard and Aoife Mannix at the BBC Singers recording in the BBC Maida Vale Studios, March 24, 2023
Recorded at their March 24th concert at Maida Vale, the BBC Singers broadcast The Horizons of Doubt as part of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Afternoon Concert’.
A digital programme for the whole concert is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/extra/q7etQRBn2a/BBC-Singers-24-March-2023. Aoife Mannix’s text for The Horizons of Doubt is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ficca9nemjxe1l8/The%20Horizons%20of%20Doubt%20Text%20final%20edit.pdf?dl=0
Join the BBC Singers at the historic Maida Vale Studios for an intimate concert celebrating contemporary composer Stephen McNeff.
Led by guest conductor Grace Rossiter, enjoy a rich choral programme including pieces by Kerry Andrew, Tarik O’Regan, Rhona Clarke, Dobrinka Tabakova, Alan Bullard and Siobhán Cleary, woven between four of Stephen McNeff's works.
At the heart of the concert is the world premiere of McNeff's The Horizons of Doubt.
Stephen McNeff, Dobrinka Tabakova, Siobhán Cleary, Emily Hazrati, Alan Bullard and Aoife Mannix at the BBC Singers recording in the BBC Maida Vale Studios, March 24, 2023
Lambeth Wind Orchestra give the premiere of the new concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Orchestra under the baton of their new musical director Samuel Huston. Full details to come.
Samuel Huston (Photo Lambeth wind Orchestra)
Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.
Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.
With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.
Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell
Full details click here.
Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/
Michelle Todd as Beatrix Potter (in the company of Peter Rabbit…)
A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions
'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh
'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh
Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.
Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.
With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.
Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell
Full details click here.
Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/
Michelle Todd as Beatrix Potter (in the company of Peter Rabbit…)
A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions
'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh
'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh
Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.
Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.
With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.
Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell
Full details click here.
Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/
Michelle Todd as Beatrix Potter (in the company of Peter Rabbit…)
A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions
'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh
'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh
Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.
Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.
With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.
Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell
Full details click here.
Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/
Michelle Todd as Beatrix Potter (in the company of Peter Rabbit…)
A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions
'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh
'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh
Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.
Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.
With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.
Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell
Full details click here
Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/
Michelle Todd as Beatrix Potter (in the company of Peter Rabbit…)
A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions
'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh
'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh
A rescheduling of the concert from 2020. Full details from the BBC Singers website available here.
Stephen McNeff at Welsh National Opera (Photo Ryan Eddlestone)
Join the BBC Singers at the historic Maida Vale Studios for an intimate concert celebrating contemporary composer Stephen McNeff.
Led by guest conductor Grace Rossiter, enjoy a rich choral programme including pieces by Kerry Andrew, Tarik O’Regan, Rhona Clarke, Dobrinka Tabakova, Alan Bullard and Siobhán Cleary, woven between four of Stephen McNeff's works.
At the heart of the concert is the world premiere of McNeff's The Horizons of Doubt.
Programme:
Stephen McNeff The Starlight Night
Kerry Andrew Hevene Quene
Stephen McNeff The Song of Amergin
Siobhán Cleary Storm in Devon
Tarik O’Regan I Listen to the Stillness of You
Stephen McNeff Mandy and Milly and Molly and Me
Rhona Clarke A Song for St Cecilia’s Day 1687
Stephen McNeff A Half Darkness
Alan Bullard Peace in the World
Dobrinka Tabakova Of the Sun Born
Stephen McNeff The Horizons of Doubt (world premiere)
Emily Hazrati Drop Down ye Heavens from Above
BBC Singers
Grace Rossiter conductor
Apply for tickets here https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/bbc-singers-stephen-mcneff-24mar23
RNCM says: “our very own Head of Conducting Mark Heron featured on the original recording, we can’t wait to perform a live rendition of Stephen McNeff’s Image in Stone with Vocal Tutor and renowned mezzo-soprano Hilary Summers. “
Hilary Summers (Photo by Claire Newman Williams
Also see ‘News’
Introducing Ballads of a Bogman
Tenor Gavan Ring and pianist Louise Thomas will give a further performances of ‘Ballads of a Bogman’ at the Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church, in Cahersiveen, Kerry. This is part of an ongoing project initiated by the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin. Further details, tickets etc at this link.
This performance will be recorded for later broadcast by RTÉ Lyric FM and is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Kerry County Council, RTÉ Lyric FM and the Daniel O'Connell Summer School.
Gavan Ring and Louise Thomas
Based on Ballads of a Bogman by Irish poet Sigerson Clifford, these songs explore the nature of identity and questing. With roots in Kerry in Western Ireland, the poems and songs relate a troubled world of a newly formed Irish state and the Travellers who populated its roads.
Ballads of a Bogman
In 2023 the project will be expanded and adapted into staged format. The Irish premiere will be at the Wexford Festival.
Watch the fantastic new Promo video, see beautiful arial shots of Cahersiveen and hear Gavan and Louise by following this link.
Gavan Ring writes…
Following the world premiere in Los Angeles and the Irish and European premiere in Cork earlier this year, Cahersiveen tenor Gavan Ring together with acclaimed pianist Louise Thomas present the homecoming of 'Ballads of a Bogman - The Sigerson Clifford Song Cycle' - a terrific new work by composer Stephen McNeff based on the poetry of Cahersiveen's Sigerson Clifford on
16 October 2022 at the Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church at 7pm.
Known as 'The Bard of Iveragh', Clifford was born in Cork City and was raised in Cahersiveen, County Kerry. 'Ballads of a Bogman - The Sigerson Clifford Song Cycle' forms a selection of texts from Clifford's seminal 1955 collection of poetry of the same name. Working with themes such as the revolutionary period, emigration, rural decline and the travelling community in Ireland, McNeff has set Clifford's poetry here to the most exquisite and poignant music, capturing beautifully the spiritual, historical and social fabric of early-twentieth-century rural Ireland through the prism of life in South Kerry at the time.
Cahersiveen in Western Ireland (original photo)
Following the successful launch of the 2117/Hedd Wyn CD at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, the Cardiff launch follows where journalist and composer Steph Power interviews Gruff Rhys and Stephen McNeff about the creation of the opera. Excerpts will be performed by Llio Evans and Dafydd Allen with pianist Rhiannon Pritchard.
Stephen McNeff and Gruff Rhys do Hedd Wyn proud. The piece romps along, full of changing moods and orchestral colour. McNeff’s lyrical gifts find affecting outlet, especially in the great choral set pieces and the harp-dominated ending. Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian.
Mark Padmore and Morgan Szymanski perform Eden Rock, the work they premiered in 2016 commissioned by BBC Radio 3. Settings of the Cornish poet, Charles Causley including the exquisite title song, Eden Rock, where Charles imagines his parents alive again in an idyllic golden summer.
Music at Malling writes:
One of the world’s great singers Mark Padmore CBE, performs with guitar virtuoso Morgan Szymanski in the unique setting of All Saint’s Tudelely with its stunning Marc Chagall windows. Songs by Dowland and Schubert performed alongside new works by Stephen McNeff and Alec Roth.
Full programme:
Dowland – Come ye heavy states of night
Dowland – Come again, sweet love
Dowland -Now, O now I needs must part
Stephen McNeff – A Certain Man
Stephen McNeff – Eden Rock
Schubert – Nachstück
Schubert – Nacht und Träume
Alec Roth – A Road Less Travelled
Mark Padmore and Morgan Szymanski perform Eden Rock, the work they premiered in 2016 commissioned by BBC Radio 3. Settings of the Cornish poet, Charles Causley including the exquisite title song, Eden Rock, where Charles imagines his parents alive again in an idyllic golden summer.
Music at Malling writes:
One of the world’s great singers Mark Padmore CBE, performs with guitar virtuoso Morgan Szymanski in the unique setting of All Saint’s Tudelely with its stunning Marc Chagall windows. Songs by Dowland and Schubert performed alongside new works by Stephen McNeff and Alec Roth.
Full programme:
Dowland – Come ye heavy states of night
Dowland – Come again, sweet love
Dowland -Now, O now I needs must part
Stephen McNeff – A Certain Man
Stephen McNeff – Eden Rock
Schubert – Nachstück
Schubert – Nacht und Träume
Alec Roth – A Road Less Travelled
All Saints, Tudeley (original photo)
A quartet of singers from Chamber Choir Ireland brings this light, joyful programme of Romantic partsongs, early music, and contemporary Irish works—full of birdsong, cheerful foresters, floral garlands, and woodland nymphs—to Valentia Islandfor Chamber Music on Valentia, and to Windmill Lane for an evening of bite-sized miniature concerts this Culture Night 2022.
Featuring works by Clément Janequin, Thomas Morley, Palestrina, Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff, Eoghan Desmond, George Macfarren, and Henry Bishop.
Stephen McNeff & Gruff Rhys’s post-apocalyptic opera
based on the life of Hedd Wyn is released on Tŷ Cerdd Records
On 5 August, 2117 / Hedd Wyn will be released on Tŷ Cerdd Records in partnership with Welsh National
Opera. The piece was commissioned by WNO and features WNO Orchestra as well as a cast of young
soloists, members of WNO Youth Opera and Only Boys Aloud.
The release will be launched with an event on the #Encore stage at the National Eisteddfod on Friday 5
August at 3pm, where Gruff will be interviewed by Sioned Webb, and soprano Ellen Williams, baritone
Dafydd Allen and répétiteur Rhiannon Pritchard will perform excerpts from the work.
Tenor Gavan Ring and pianist Louise Thomas will give the Irish premiere of Ballads of a Bogman produced by Cork Opera House at St Fin Bare’s Cathedral, Cork This is part of an ongoing project initiated by the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin. Further details at this link.
Gavan Ring and Louise Thomas
Based on Ballads of a Bogman by Irish poet Sigerson Clifford, these songs explore the nature of identity and questing. With roots in Kerry in Western Ireland, the poems and songs relate a troubled world of a newly formed Irish state and the Travellers who populated its roads.
Ballads of a Bogman
In 2023 the project will be expanded and adapted into staged format. The Irish premiere will be at the Daniel O’Connell Summer School in Cahersiveen and the Wexford Festival.
Cahersiveen in Western Ireland (original photo)