The 2007 Sligo New Music Festival presents a weekend of contemporary Spanish Music this April.

This year's programme features the world premiere of two new commissions, music from Frederico Garcia Lorca, guitar masterpieces from Maurice Ohana and new works from young European composers Gabriel Erkoreka and the festival's featured composer Aureliano Cattaneo, as well as works from Irish composers John McLachlan, Garrett Sholdice and Gráinne Mulvey.

A highlight of the festival is the opening concert on Friday, 13 April, which features the world premiere of two new works by Spanish-based composer Aureliano Cattaneo and Irish composer, Gráinne Mulvey, both commissioned by the festival for soprano and accordion.

Cattaneo's work Dialoghi, co-commissioned by the festival and RTÉ lyric fm, explores the work of 16th century Italian poet Lepóreo. Cattaneo chooses not to use the words of the texts to tell stories, instead exploring the sounds, colour and timbre of the words to evoke an emotional sympathy with the audience.

The second commission, Earthsong, is a new work by Irish composer Gráinne Mulvey, and has been commissioned with the assistance of the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. Earthsong is based on the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, but in an interesting comparison with Cattaneo's commission, the work looks closely at the text, revisiting Emerson's Hamatreya. Mulvey uses the contrast between two very different instruments to outline the discord between Earth and Man, eventually resolving the piece in a harmonious union between the two.

Curated by composer Ian Wilson, the Sligo New Music Festival takes place each spring in the Model Art and Niland Gallery. It is a composer-orientated event that focuses on the work of one, or two, key composers who have strong reputations elsewhere but whose music is not well known in Ireland.

The festival runs from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 April 2007 in the Model Art and Niland Gallery, Sligo. See Calendar for details.

Posted: 30 March 2007