‘Seizing the Day: Ian Wilson at 60’ launched at the Contemporary Music Centre
In December 2024, the Contemporary Music Centre hosted the launch of 'Seizing the Day: Ian Wilson at 60' an essay by author and journalist Tim Rutherford-Johnson reflecting on the artistic trajectory of CMC Composer Ian Wilson.
...there's something about absence in music that's very hard to catch, musically. I think you have to be a certain age to be thinking about absence in music. Because it's bound up with loss as well as philosophy...
- Ian Wilson, extract from 'Seizing the Day: Ian Wilson at 60' by Tim Rutherford-Johnson.
The launch event included an interview with Ian Wilson in conversation with Tim Rutherford-Johnson, recorded for release on the amplify podcast, and live performances of some of Ian Wilson’s works by violinist Ioana Petcu-Colan, flautist Lina Andonovska and the composer himself.
Written biography is only a snapshot in time, and change is an artist’s prerogative. More than once, I’ve published an overview of an artist, only for them to do something contradictory almost straight away. Yet I found Wilson’s new trajectories especially unexpected: I thought I’d seen in his work a strong stylistic identity, and although works like the Fifth Quartet substituted episodic form for that vapour-trail melodicism, in the Sixth Quartet and the marimba concerto Inquieto, I believed Wilson was continuing to explore and consolidate his musical language.
- Tim Rutherford-Johnson, extract from 'Seizing the Day: Ian Wilson at 60'.
The essay was launched by CMC Composer Jane O’Leary who congratulated Ian Wilson on his contribution to Contemporary Music in Ireland:
Ian is a remarkable composer and surely one of the most prolific in Ireland. He is relentless in his pursuit of creativity. Over the years he has explored and experimented, with a catalogue of over 250 works. From his first concert performance with Concorde in 1987 as part of a composition competition at Sligo Arts Festival - many more performances followed - beyond Ireland to Italy, London, Romania, Latvia, Chicago. Ian has also played an important role in the programming of concerts, notably in Sligo where his residency had a major impact on musical life there, and more recently with TERRAIN festival in Belfast in 2024.
‘Seizing the Day: Ian Wilson at 60’ was commissioned by the Contemporary Music Centre and is printed in a limited edition of 200, available to order from the CMC Shop. Printed copies are free of charge (excluding the price of postage). Please note that orders placed now will be processed in January 2025. Order your copy in December 2024 and your delivery will include an additional musical gift from CMC Ireland. A digital version of the essay is available here.