Culture Night 2022 @ CMC Curated by Ergodos
On 20 September 2022 (Culture Night) CMC hosted 4 live performances curated by Ergodos, featuring works by composers from Ireland performed by Michelle O'Rourke (voice) and Máire Carroll (piano).
A note from Ergodos on the Culture Night 2022 programme:
This short programme features music by Irish composers who have been important to Ergodos since its inception: Donnacha Dennehy and Linda Buckley, whose distinctive work has reached broad international audiences, and who have both been so important as mentors in the Irish contemporary music scene; and Simon O'Connor and Anna Murray, whose beautifully focussed, intensely intimate work has often featured within Ergodos curations. A short piece of medieval chant by Hildegard von Bingen provides a gently resonant connection to the past.
Culture Night Programme
The White Birds – a fragment from the song-cycle "Then the Night Come" by Donnacha Dennehy (2010), arranged by Garrett Sholdice (2015)
Drink all your passion – from the song-cycle "I have five things to say" by Linda Buckley (2012), arranged by the composer (2017)
O Vis Eternitatis – a fragment of chant by Hildegard von Bingen (12th century), arranged by Michelle O'Rourke (2022)
What is Living and What is Dead VI – the sixth movement in a suite for solo piano by Simon O'Connor (2014)
Water Iris – a song by Anna Murray (2017)
In addition to the live performances, Ergodos curated a CMC Culture Night 2022 playlist which is available to listen on Spotify here.
Ergodos is a record label and production company based in Dublin. Founded by composers Benedict Schlepper-Connolly and Garrett Sholdice in 2006, Ergodos represents an eclectic approach to music curation. Immersion, ritual, concentration, seeking fresh ways of hearing the music of the past: these are recurrent themes. Equally, Ergodos is home to some of the most compelling contemporary music-making taking place in Ireland.
Michelle O’Rourke is a singer based in Dublin, Ireland. Michelle combines her background in Baroque music with an adventurous eclecticism and an interest in interdisciplinary work. Michelle is passionate about the commissioning and performance of new vocal music. She has worked closely with many Irish composers, including Ann Cleare, Andrew Hamilton, Simon O’Connor, Karen Power, Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, and Garrett Sholdice. Notable releases include Andrew Hamilton: Music for People (NMC), and Left Behind: Songs of the 1916 Widows (Ergodos) with Simon O'Connor. Michelle contributes vocals to the critically acclaimed album Inside Out (Genuin) by violinist Diamanda La Berge Dramm. Her most recent album, Folk Songs with Ficino Ensemble, has also met with praise: “O’Rourke’s contributions dazzle with unaffected clarity" (The Guardian). Michelle is ever-fascinated by the seemingly endless expressive facility of the human voice; how singers have been centric to ritual performance for centuries, and how we continue as performers to evolve the interpretative and performative role of voice. http://michelleorourke.ie/
Máire Carroll is a concert pianist who has performed throughout Europe, Asia, United States and Canada including performances at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, National Opera House in Tallinn, the Barbican, Royal Over-Seas League, St. John’s Smith Square and the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest. Máire is the Artistic Director of Hidden Pianos. The series was created in 2018 with the goal of bringing classical and contemporary music to intimate and unexpected spaces. Máire has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Máire regularly collaborates with composers at home and abroad and performs with Crash Ensemble. In 2021 Máire was awarded a Bank of Ireland, Begin Together Arts Fund Award, for her upcoming recording SUDDEN CHANGES in partnership with CMC. SUDDEN CHANGES will feature the work of composers Amanda Feery, Nick Roth, Sam Perkin, Anna Murray & David Coonan. http://www.mairecarroll.com
