New music by five Irish composers at New Ross Piano Festival
From 25 - 28 September, the New Ross Piano Festival will return for its ninth year, under the directorship of concert pianist Finghin Collins in collaboration with Music for New Ross. The festival is of course piano-focussed, but expands its remit through the involvement of some resident ensembles such as Cassiopeia Winds, and features a number of guest performers including Melvyn Tan, Lise de la Salle, Joseph Moog and Beatrice Berrut.
The weekend’s programme features a number of performances of works by Irish composers, alongside standards from Mozart, Debussy, Beethoven and Chopin. The opening concert on 26 September sees a performance of John Kinsella’s Ros Tapestry Suite I: The Celts: An Island Fastness given by Finghin Collins: the first of a five-piece suite of specially commissioned works by Irish composers based on the Ros Tapestry Panels. The Ros Tapestry is a commemorative community project begun in 1998, with fifteen embroidered panels designed by Ann Bernstorff depicting events around the founding of the town of New Ross itself.
The second of the five, The Abduction of Dervogilla by Elaine Agnew, will be performed on Saturday’s afternoon coffee concert (27 September) by Joseph Moog, which is followed by a masterclass with Moog and young pianists. Melvyn Tan performs the third in the series by Gerald Barry Arrogant Trespass: The Normans Landing at Bannow Strand, at that night’s main evening concert. The final two instalments of the series come on the final day of the festival on 28 September, with Beatrice Berrut playing Sebastian Adams’ The Siege of Wexford and Lise de la Salle performing Gerry Murphy’s Battles in the Kingdom of Ossory.
In addition to the premieres, CMC will host a panel discussion at the festival with Finghín Collins and some of the commissioned composers on 28 September at 11am in St. Mary’s Church, New Ross.
For more information on the New Ross Piano Festival, see www.newrosspianofestival.com
Listen interviews with Finghín Collins on the idea and background of the Ros Tapestry series of commissions, and some of the composers about their pieces
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