CMC Ireland and New Music Dublin, in partnership with Nadar Ensemble, is delighted to announce that Paul Scully has been commissioned to develop a new work for the ensemble at their 2025 Summer School
Paul Scully. Credit: Louis Scully.
Following an open call from early-career composers born or based in Ireland, Paul Scully was selected by an adjudication panel including representatives from Nadar Ensemble, New Music Dublin Festival and the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland, as well as an independent international adjudicator.
Composers Matthew Grouse, Nina Fukuoka and Eveline Vervliet have been commissioned by respective festival partners Gaudeamus Festival (Netherlands), Warsaw Autumn (Poland) and Transit Festival, Leuven (Belgium) to each create a piece specifically for Nadar Ensemble. All four composers will participate in Nadar’s 2025 Summer School in De Singel, Antwerp, developing their commissioned work for performance by Nadar at Gaudeamus Festival, New Music Dublin, Transit Festival and Warsaw Autumn in 2025-26.
On the announcement of his selection Paul Scully said:
I'm very excited to be working with Nadar this year. I will be writing a piece that I've wanted to do for a few years now. It's an ambitious multidisciplinary work that will combine my love for running with my artistic practice for the first time. I can't think of a better ensemble to help realise this piece and I looking forward to presenting it in Autumn!
CMC Director Evonne Ferguson said:
CMC is delighted to support this new co-commission and Summer School opportunity with our festival partners New Music Dublin and artistic partners Nadar Ensemble. Nadar Ensemble have a longstanding relationship with Irish composers and New Music audiences in Ireland, having been invited to perform at Dublin Sound Lab’s cutting-edge Music Current Festival over the years. CMC is assured of the rewarding and enriching experience offered by the Nadar Summer School and the significant profile of a commission with performances at four renowned European contemporary music festivals. Our congratulations to CMC Composer Paul Scully, and his fellow commissioned composers Nina Fukuoka, Matthew Grouse and Eveline Vervliet.
Nadar Ensemble is an internationally acclaimed contemporary music ensemble fascinated not only by new music but also by film, visual arts, performance, theatre, installation art and “all that is contained – or not – by these categories”. The ensemble is recognised for their fearless, cross-disciplinary approach and their socially-engaged practice which seeks to anchor new music more strongly in today’s world.
Paul Scully is a composer from Dublin, Ireland. He participated in CMC’s Emerging Composer programme from 2022-2023. His practice is interdisciplinary, borrowing from performance art, theatre, philosophy, literature, and visual art. Speech and language are often important features in his music. Much of his work is site-specific, and sometimes context-specific, considering the full gamut of an audiences’ experience. Recent works 'Will we Give it a Bash?' and 'Everything’s Left That’s Worth Defence' – both premiered in 2022 – seek to subvert the assumptions of the audience through playful, humorous, and often chaotic means. He is the general manager of the experimental music ensemble Kirkos and runs their venue and artist space, Unit 44, in Stoneybatter, Dublin.