ON a fine evening last month, the Contemporary Music Centre's new home in Dublin's cultural quarter, Temple Bar, was officially opened by President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. The building, decked out with a huge red banner proclaiming it as 'A Focus for New Music', looked smart and festive and the unusual presence of Gardaí (the Irish police) on the pavement outside indicated that something special was happening. Inside, the house had never looked so good, with flowers everywhere and all the rooms impressively clean and tidy. Even the paw prints left at the last minute by two enthusiastic police sniffer dogs failed to take the edge off the sparkle!

By 6.30pm a large crowd of guests had assembled and the sense of anticipation was mounting. Because it's not every day you have a President visiting, we wanted to make the event a real celebration. In particular we wanted to make sure that new music, which is after all at the heart of our mission, was very much the focus of the evening. So we commissioned the doyen of Irish composers, James Wilson, to represent all his composer colleagues by writing a Fanfare for brass instruments to greet the President on her arrival. The sight of five members of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and their conductor Proinnsías Ó Duinn positioned outside the front railings in black ties and dinner jackets was quite a surprise to passers-by -- and even more so when they started to play! Incidentally, the Fanfare as recorded on the night can be heard as an audio clip [see below].

The President was then taken on a tour of the building to see the work of the Centre and meet the staff. A plasma screen in the reception area displayed CMC's interactive databases in large format, providing an opportunity to sample the comprehensive range of information that is provided on Irish composers and their music. Elsewhere, the facilities of the score library and sound archive were on display, together with CMC's publications and resource materials. By this time the building was packed to capacity with guests from every area of Irish musical and artistic life. The international community of Music Information Centres, to which CMC belongs, was represented by Bèr Deuss, President of the International Association of Music Information Centres. There was also a good media presence of newspaper photographers and radio personnel.

In a reference to the large turnout, CMC's Chairperson, Dr Joseph Ryan, in his welcoming speech referred to another evening some 250 years ago when, in the New Music Hall on the site next door to the Centre, Handel's Messiah was given its first performance and ladies were requested to come without their hoops, and gentlemen without their swords. Handel, as a professional musician, would be very happy with the facilities now in place in the historic surroundings of Dublin's Fishamble Street, he said.

President McAleese in her speech also referred to the extraordinary co-incidence of the location of the Contemporary Music Centre on a street so closely associated with musical history. The value that was placed on securing a real home at last for composers and for new music in Ireland was a great affirmation, she said, of the kind of people who are involved in contemporary music. Referring to the doubts that a composer like Handel may have had about how his music would be received, she said that every generation is entitled to contribute to the nation's heritage. She was delighted that the Contemporary Music Centre encourages people to believe in the validity and integrity of their contribution to tomorrow's patrimony.

The extensive renovation of the building was funded by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and in responding to the President's words, its Chairman, Mr Patrick Murphy, commented that CMC is regarded as one of the highest quality resource facilities for artists in Ireland. He congratulated the composers on the work that they do which, thanks to the work of the Centre, is becoming increasingly well-known internationally.