Donegal Chamber Orchestra perform a new work by John McLachlan

John McLachlan

The Inishowen Set is a six-movement work specially composed for Donegal Chamber Orchestra (DCO) by John McLachlan. The work will be performed on Sunday, 23 February 2014 at 3.00pm at Conwal Parish Church, Letterkenny as part of the Sundays in Conwal 2014 series.

John McLachlan, who lives in Inishowen, has been working with the string ensemble during February in the lead up to the premiere. He writes about the work:

"The Inishowen Set is a suite of six pieces for string orchestra especially arranged for the Donegal Chamber Orchestra. I called it the Inishowen Set, but I think only two were originally written here. They are all arranged and re-dedicated, in a sense, to Donegal. Somehow getting involved in this community scene is probably something I wouldn’t have done when living in Dublin, so hence the title. It is what living here has done to integrate my sense of how the different levels of music (difficulty and style) intercommunicate—rather than keeping them compartmentalised as I used to. It’s a bit more like opening an old drawer full of curios and basking for a few minutes in the memories."

The Donegal Chamber Orchestra features classical string players from across county Donegal and is dedicated to helping students and amateur musicians achieve the highest level of excellence in performance. Since 2010 the Donegal Music Education Partnership’s ensemble has successfully worked with one Irish composer per season, promoting new music and commissioning new pieces for their repertory. Ian Wilson, Derek Ball and Elaine Agnew were involved in working with the DCO in previous seasons.

John McLachlan’s The Inishowen Set will be conducted by the composer in a programme which also includes music by Karl Jenkins, Hindemith, Mascagni, Britten, Tchaikovsky and Bartók. McLachlan will also introduce the piece to the audience.

The concert is presented by the Donegal Chamber Music Society in association with Donegal Music Education Partnership. Tickets €10/5 will be available at the Door.

Further information: Donegal Chamber Orchestra