A new work by US composer Steven Mackey will be premiered by the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

American electric guitarist and composer Steven Mackey makes his Irish debut with the world premiere of his work, Concerto for Solo Violin, Electric Guitar and String Orchestra. The programme also includes John Kinsella's Prelude and Toccata for strings.

Mackey is a compelling musical personality, one whose appeal defies the barriers of categorization. The work is a joint commission by the Irish Chamber Orchestra (under the Per Cent for Art scheme), the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the Di Bartolo Performing Arts Center, University of Notre Dame, Indiana. The composer himself plays guitar and the violin solo will be taken by Anthony Marwood, the ICO's artistic director. The US premiere, with the same performers, takes place in Notre Dame, Indiana, on 8 November.

Steven Mackey's roots are spread across a wide spectrum of musical styles. A classical composer of substance, he is also a virtuoso electric guitarist, possessing a Jimi Hendrix-like range of guitar colour. His music, a multi-layered world of rhythm and sonority, draws much of its harmonic palette from western art music, and its wit and vivacity from an imaginative transformation of pop elements. Initially a rock guitarist, he trained in the classical guitar and lute, became the director of an early music ensemble, and is now a professor of composition at Princeton University. Since discovering classical music he has composed for orchestras, chamber ensembles, dance and opera. He regularly performs his own work, including two concertos as well as numerous solo and chamber works. Other orchestral works have been commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony, among others.

University Concert Hall, Limerick, Thursday 29 October; Cork School of Music, Cork, Friday 30 October; RDS Concert Hall, Dublin, Saturday 31 October.

Further information: Charlotte Eglington, ICO Press Office, charlotte.eglington@ul.ie. T: 061-202583. F: 061-202 6217

Posted: 20 October 2009