New Music at WCMF — Fidelio Trio Winter Chamber Music Festival

The commissioning and performance of music by living composers is an essential part of our annual festival.

New Music at the 2023 Winter Chamber Music Festival

A central facet of the 2023 Fidelio Trio Winter Chamber Music festival is the performance and celebration of music by internationally acclaimed Irish composers. Inspired by the species of our natural world, four new pieces by Irish composers for solo violin and electronics will receive their world premieres at a special lunchtime concert in the National Botanic Gardens on Saturday 25th November. These works have been written especially for violinist Darragh Morgan, and funded by the Arts Council Music Project Award. This project is coordinated by locally-based composer Fergal Dowling together with composers Siobhán Cleary, Seán Ó Dálaigh, and Gráinne Mulvey.

‘Snapshots’, a composer workshop presented by Fidelio Trio in collaboration with the Contemporary Music Centre and GlasDrum, and in partnership with Fidelio Trio Winter Chamber Music Festival, forms an integral part of the Saturday’s events. This is a unique, exciting and in-person opportunity for emerging or early-career composers to try out new musical material and ideas, inspired by the oasis that is the National Botanic Gardens, with the renowned members of the Fidelio Trio. Selected participants in Snapshots will have the opportunity to hear Fidelio Trio (Darragh Morgan – violin, Tim Gill – cello, Mary Dullea – piano) play their new material, or try out new ideas and sounds in a collaborative format.

'A Kaleidoscope Snapshot’, a pre-concert event on the evening of Saturday 25th November, will celebrate the rich tradition of commissioning and performing new repertoire for the festival. The Fidelio Trio will be joined by some of Ireland's most renowned composers, each of whom have created new music for the trio over the eleven years of this festival. In a roundtable discussion, the audience will have the opportunity to hear the stories behind these pieces that have travelled the globe with the trio. This track record of commissions is testament to the Fidelio Trio's incredible work as ambassadors for Irish music.

New Music at the 2022 Winter Chamber Music Festival

For 2022, GlasDrum has commissioned two new works by Áine Mallon and Deirdre McKay which will be premiered on Friday 25 November in our Opening Concert: The Poet Sings.

Áine Mallon

**Composer**
Áine Mallon (b.1994) is an award winning, Irish born composer. Her music engages with the fundamental human experience of storytelling and has been described as “Traditional yet fresh and new” (- John Rutter CBE).
She is quickly making a name for herself as a sought after composer of both Irish folk and Contemporary Classical music, and is frequently commissioned by ensembles and promoters from within both genres.
Her current commissions see her working with world class ensembles and soloists such as the ORA Singers, Kirkos Ensemble, the New Sounds Ensemble at the Deal Music and Arts Festival, the Irish Youth Training Choir, members of the Sibiu Philharmonic, Michael McHale (piano), Katalin Koltai (solo guitar), and Michael Trainor (solo violin); with previous commissions and performances from the Psappha Ensemble, Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, the Piatti Quartet, Ad solem Chamber Choir, and Manchester University Chorus.
Her music has been performed in many festivals such as the Aldeburgh Festival (premiere 2022), Deal Music and Arts Festival (premiere 2022), West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Clifden Arts Festival, Icon Arts Festival (Romania), Dublin Culture Night; and in venues across Ireland and the UK such as Henry Wood Hall, London and the National Concert Hall of Ireland and the Seamus Heaney Homeplace, and Elizabeth Gaskell’s House (Manchester).
Áine has been the recipient of many prestigious awards and prizes from distinguished organisations across Ireland and the UK. She was selected as the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland ‘Emerging Composer’ 2020/2021, allowing her to work with some of the finest ensembles in Ireland and abroad. She was also selected for the Psappha Ensemble ‘Composing For’ scheme to create and record a new work with members of Psappha, 2021.
Áine was selected the winner of the 2019 ORA Singers Composer competition and audience prize by a panel of esteemed judges including Stephen Fry, John Rutter CBE, Susanna Eastburn MBE and Katie Tearle MBE. Conducted by Suzi Digby OBE and sung by the award winning ORA Singers, Áine’s “imaginative and folk inspired reflection touched the hearts of the judges and audience members alike.” She has also been a recipient of the 2017/18 ‘Emerging Artists Award’ from nationally acclaimed organisation Moving on Music.
Furthermore, in 2019 Áine was commissioned by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann to write a large scale folk suite based on the history and heritage of Counties Fermanagh and Tyrone, which was received to critical acclaim. The 20 piece cross-community instrumental and vocal work brought together the Scottish and Irish traditions in a euphoric celebration of the culture and heritage of the area. This piece titled ‘The Beating Heart of Ulster’ was commissioned by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, Dun Uladh, the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association N.Ireland branch and Fermanagh and Omagh district council and Artsland; and was premiered across the North of Ireland by the Two Traditions Orchestra in November 2019.
Áine is gratefully supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Arts Council England.

Deirdre McKay

**Composer**
From County Down, Deirdre's work has featured at London’s Southbank, Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam, Gothenburg International Chamber Music Festival, Orléans Concours International, The Wigmore Hall, London, The National Sawdust, Brooklyn, The Phillips Collection, Washington, National Concert Hall, Dublin, Symphony Space & Carnegie Hall, New York.
Recipient of a Director’s Choice Award from Boston Metro Opera’s International Composers’ Competition and an Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Major Individual Artist Award, Deirdre received a coveted Paul Hamlyn Composer Award, London, in 2018.
Commissions and performances include works for Northern Ireland Opera, State Choir Latvija for Louth Contemporary Music, Chamber Choir Ireland, BBC Singers, Ulster Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Boston Firebird Ensemble, RTÉ Con Tempo, Vanbrugh, Norwegian Vertavo, Swiss Terpsycordes and Tippett string quartets, Access Contemporary Music Chicago, New Music Dublin, pianists Andrew Zolinsky and Antti Siirala, Matthew Schellhorn, Jessica Chan, Chloë Hanslip & Danny Driver, Tasmin Little & Martin Roscoe, Dutch violist Elisabeth Smalt, Calefax Reed Quintet, Irish artists Clíona Doris, Robin Tritschler, Carol McGonnell, Darragh Morgan and Mary Dullea, Catherine Leonard and Hugh Tinney, Elizabeth Cooney and Finghin Collins, Xenia Pestova, Concorde and the Crash Ensemble.
Former Composer in Association to the Northern Sinfonia’s affiliated Young Sinfonia, Deirdre studied music at Queen’s University, Belfast, and at the University of Manchester, supported by a British Academy Award. She completed her doctorate in composition in 2003, with Piers Hellawell, at Queen’s University. Whilst living in Dublin, Deirdre studied privately with Kevin Volans.
Her work has been incorporated by filmmaker Des Bell into three films, featuring at the Venice Film Festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival. Collaborations have included new work with visual artist Jean Duncan and writer/ actor Richard Dormer.
Her music has been released on the Lorelt, Diatribe and RTÉ Lyric FM labels and broadcast by BBC Radio 3, Deutschlandradio Kultur and New York's WNYC and WQXR.

The Fidelio Trio are delighted to give the world premiere of Strange Sea by Ed Bennett at the National Botanic Gardens on Saturday 26 November in our Lunchtime Concert: From Beethoven to Bennett.

Ed Bennett

**Composer**
Irish composer **Ed Bennett** was born in Bangor, Co.Down. His music, which has been described in the press as ‘anarchic’ (Irish Times), ‘manic’ (Classical Music) and ‘thrilling’ (Gramophone) is often characterised by its strong rhythmic energy, extreme contrasts and the combination of acoustic, electronic and multimedia elements; it was recently described in The Guardian as ‘unclassifiable, raw-nerve music of huge energy and imagination’ and by Sinfini Music as ‘one of the most scintillating voices to emerge of late from the British Isles.’ His body of work includes large-scale orchestral works, ensemble pieces, solo works, electronic music, opera, installations and works for dance and film. In 2019 he was awarded the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Major Individual Artist Award, the highest honour awarded to an artist from the region.
He performs with and directs his own ensemble, *Decibel*, which is dedicated to the performance of new and experimental cross-discipline work and with whom he has released three critically acclaimed CDs of his music. *Dzama Stories* (Quartz Music) was described as ‘a glorious addition to the contemporary canon…I haven’t heard a disc of Irish Composition as vital and as urgent as this in a long while’ (Musical Criticism, 5/5 stars) and *My Broken Machines* (NMC) was Chicago Time Out’s No.1 Contemporary CD of 2011. His most recent release ‘Togetherness’ (2018) was described in a 5 star review in Classical Music Magazine as ‘high-octane music that demands the listeners attention.’
He has been commissioned and performed the world over by many diverse artists, ensembles and organisations including the BBC, RTE, PRSF, Music Network, Moving On Music, 2012 Olympics, Integra and the arts councils of England, Ireland and N.Ireland. Noted collaborators and performers of his work include the BBC Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, the National Orchestra of Belgium, RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Ulster Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, Crash Ensemble, Icebreaker, Riga Sinfonietta, Orkest de ereprijs, Fidelio Trio, Berlin Percussion Ensemble, Ensemble SurPlus, Lontano, Concorde, the Smith Quartet, Noszferatu, Ensemble Ars Nova, Garth Knox, Pedro Carneiro, Reinbert de Leeuw, James MacMillan, Darragh Morgan, Mary Dullea, Rolf Hind and Paul Dunmall. Ed has also enjoyed collaborations with several visual artists and choreographers including those with Juneau Projects and the award-winning Belgian choreographer Ann Van den Broek.
His work has been featured in festivals such as Gaudeamus (Amsterdam), Musica Viva (Portugal), Huddersfield, Spitalfields, Bath, City of London, Homecoming (Moscow), Crash, Sonorities, Sonic Circuits (USA), Bourges, the BMIC Cutting Edge Series, Soundings (London/Vienna), News from the UK (South Bank), Integra and at New Music/New Ireland in Carnegie Hall, New York. In 2008 Ed Bennett was the first composer in residence at the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris, France.
Recent projects include ‘Psychedelia’ a substantial work for Thomas Ades and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, ‘Out of Nowhere’ a large-scale work for piano and electronics for Xenia Pestova (PRSF Beyond Borders commission), ‘Suspect Device’ for amplified ensemble for Icebreaker (Britten-Pears commission), an opera in collaboration with the writer Stacey Gregg (commissioned by Northern Ireland Opera for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad), ‘Internal Organs’ for mechanical organ and ensemble for the Dutch ensemble Orkest de Ereprijs (commissioned by the Orgelpark, Amsterdam), ‘Heavy Western’ for violin and ensemble for Barbara Lueneburg and Decibel and ‘Freefalling’ for the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (commissioned by RTE). Future commissions include those for Garth Knox, the Crash Ensemble, Syzygy Saxophone Quartet, Decibel and Northern Ireland Opera.
He is represented by the Irish Contemporary Music Centre and Composers Edition Publishing where further scores and recordings of his music can be obtained. In 2012 Ed Bennett was awarded the prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize for the Performing Arts and in 2014 he was awarded a fellowship by the New York based Civitella Ranieri Foundation.

The Fidelio Trio bring the invigorating music of Tunde Jegede to this year’s festival on Saturday 26 November in our Evening Concert: Across Time and Space.

Tunde Jegede

**Composer**
World-renowned composer, producer, cellist and kora virtuoso Tunde Jegede brings a new vision to contemporary African and Western classical music. A renaissance man of the harp-lute with over twenty years experience, his work is a unique synthesis of classical, jazz and traditional music and embodies the legacy of the idiom; African Classical Music.
Tunde Jegede’s work has changed the face of classical and contemporary music in Europe and Africa. He is one of the only composers in the world to be steeped in both Western and African music who is rooted in two cultural musical legacies. Tunde Jegede studied both Western classical music and the Griot Tradition of West Africa from a very early age, attending the Purcell School of Music in London and learning from a Master of the Kora in the Gambia, Amadu Bansang Jobarteh.
This unique cultural inheritance has since informed his work as a composer and multi-instrumentalist, creating links between European classical music and that of Africa. With his music he has created a set of mirrors between the old and new world, between compositions for solo cello and kora. Tunde Jegede is, in himself, a dialogue between contemporary classical music and a renewed vision of an oral tradition rooted in Malian culture - the Griot vision. He is truly a C21 renaissance man.
Tunde Jegede is the founder of several ensembles including the Art Ensemble of Lagos and the African Classical Music Ensemble. He is also the curator of Living Legacies, Gambia's first traditional music archive, and the director of New Horizons, an educational initiative to develop young musicians in Nigeria. Over the last few years Tunde has been the Artistic Director of the MUSON Centre, one of West Africa's only music conservatoires that specialises in classical music. He consequently set up the NOK Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to raising consciousness through music, arts and culture.

In partnership with the Contemporary Music Centre, the Fidelio Trio will work with emerging composers in their professional development workshop, Fragments.