Ian Wilson’s music will be heard on the streets of Sligo in an innovative public art project.

Pieces of Elsewhere locates short musical Haiku specially commissioned from Wilson in listening stations temporarily installed around the town. These include the railway station, the Quayside Shopping Centre, and Sligo’s Institute of Technology.

The listening posts were designed and built by industrial design students of the Institute of Technology. Each post, when activated by a member of the public, plays seventeen one-minute pieces set to the Japanese poetic form known as Haiku. Listeners can enjoy as much or as little as they like -- the composer’s idea was to write music that would be contemplative and atmospheric in mood, allowing them to step outside their surroundings for a brief moment and imagine beyond the urban environment.

The project was funded by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government under the Per Cent for Art Scheme and is one of ten public art commissions under the title of Unravelling Developments 2004-2006 commissioned by the Sligo Local Authorities.

Other recent commissions for Ian Wilson include a chamber opera, Minsk, for the Feldkirch Festival, Austria, based on an idea by English poet and novelist Lavinia Greenlaw. A new brass band work has been commissioned for the European Brass Band Contest.

Pieces of Elsewhere was recorded on CD at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with soprano Natalie Raybould and the RIAM Percussion Ensemble. Free copies of the CD are available from the Public Art Officer at the Arts Office, Sligo County Council, Market Yard. Tel: 071 91 40986.

Posted: 2 November 2005