Composer Lab 2019 - premiere performance of works in live radio broadcast

The Contemporary Music Centre, in partnership with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and RTÉ Lyric FM, is delighted to announce that the premiere performances of the works composed as part of Composer Lab 2019 will be broadcast live on RTÉ Lyric FM. The premiere performances of these four new works will form part of a special episode of RTÉ Lyric FM’s popular late night programme, Blue of the Night presented by Bernard Clarke on Tuesday the 28th of May from 9pm, live from the RTÉ Radio Centre. 

Now in its fourth year, Composer Lab is aimed at composers who wish to write for symphony orchestra and focuses on providing these composers with a creative and open environment to deepen their experience in writing for symphonic forces, under the mentorship of composer David Fennessy.

Alongside the opportunity to hear these new works broadcast live on Blue of the Night, the programme will also include discussions regarding the process of the project with the mentor composer, David Fennessy and this year's participating composers; Peter Fahey, Kerry Hagan, Daniel McDermott and Sam Perkin.

Background

The four composers began work on their compositions back in November 2018 in preparation for their first meeting with composer mentor, David Fennessy. This took the form of a one-to-one mentoring session in the Contemporary Music Centre in December 2018.

This was followed by an orchestral workshop with section principal players of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in February 2019. Here the composers learned how to work with a large-scale symphony orchestra, and acquire the skills necessary to adapt and assimilate orchestral requirements into their compositions. They also received guidance and advice from the RTÉ NSO and CMC teams on preparing and presenting their final scores and parts.

On Monday, 1 April 2019, the four composers participated in a public workshop in the main auditorium of the National Concert Hall. Each composer received the opportunity to work with the full orchestra and the workshop was facilitated by mentor composer David Fennessy and RTÉ NSO conductor Gavin Maloney.

The live broadcast of these new works on the 28th of May is the culmination of many months of developing musical ideas and creative decisions by the four participant composers, with unique access to the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.

The performance and live broadcast of these new works is a radio event only and is not open to the public.