New Noise 2009: New Music Marathon in Belfast

Video highlights from New Noise, a marathon of new music by student composers presented by CMC in Queens University, Belfast on 9 May 2009.

The Contemporary Music Centre presented its annual student new music marathon, New Noise, at Queen's University Belfast on Saturday 9 May 2009.

The event took place in the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC), Belfast as part of the Sonorities new music festival. This was the first time that it took place in Northern Ireland, with previous marathons hosted in NUI Maynooth (2008), University College Cork (2007), and Trinity College Dublin (2006).

As well as composition and performance students from Queen's University and the University of Ulster in attendance, students from University College Cork (UCC,) Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University of Limerick (UL), Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) and Dublin Institute of Technology Conservatory of Music (DIT) also traveled to Belfast to participate.

The day took the form of a sequence of short concerts with an eclectic mix of new instrumental, electro-acoustic and electronic music, all programmed by Professor Michael Alcorn, composer and Head of the School of Music and Sonic Arts at Queens University.

Since 2006, CMC has organised a marathon day of concerts of student composers' music in cooperation with a number of university music departments and colleges. As well as showcasing the best in up-and-coming compositional talent by undergraduate and postgraduate students, the event provides a valuable opportunity for young composers to hear the music being produced by their peers in other colleges around Ireland, and to informally network with each other throughout the day.

The Contemporary Music Centre is supported by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. CMC would like to acknowledge the support of the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queen's University Belfast, in making the venue available.

The views expressed in this video are those of the persons concerned and are not necessarily the views of the Contemporary Music Centre.

Addtional Videos: 

'Gradually' by Warren McCarthy, NUIM