Donegal Chamber Orchestra meets composer John
McLachlan
Sunday 23rd February 3pm, Conwal Parish Church, Letterkenny
“Sundays in Conwal 2014” Concert Series
Music by Jenkins, Hindemith, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Bartók and John McLachlan.
Admissions € 10/5. Tickets at the door
The Donegal
Chamber Orchestra starts another musical year playing Contemporary Music by
living Irish composers.
On Sunday 23rd of February, the Donegal Chamber
Orchestra will perform the “world première” of a new six-movement piece 'The
Inishowen Set' especially composed for the string ensemble by John McLachlan, the internationally esteemed Dublin
born composer who lives in Inishowen. During the month of February the composer will
work weekly with the Orchestra in this new work that will be premiered in
Conwal Parish Church and also performed later on the year in Inishowen.
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 music making with DCO in previous seasons.
John McLachlan is an
Irish composer from Dublin. He is a freelance composer who is also active in
the representation and promotion of Irish composers. He has had many articles
on contemporary music published in various journals.
He has written over 40 works, for all the
usual instrumental combinations and his music has been played and broadcast
widely around the world, from Tokyo
to New York
and South Africa
to Peru .
Commissions have come from the Irish National Symphony Orchestra, National
Concert Hall, the Dublin International Piano Competition, and Music Network,
and from many international groups and soloists active in new music.
He holds a musicology PhD from Trinity
College Dublin and was the Executive Director of the Association of Irish
Composers from 1999 to 2012. He is a member of Aosdána , Ireland
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. The Donegal Chamber Orchestra gives regular
performances throughout the county during the year and previous seasons have
included trips to Spain and Italy. Since its establishment the orchestra worked
with guest artists such as violinist Darragh Morgan, Belgium soprano Tine Verbeke, renowned Romanian/Irish
cellist Mihai Dancila, the Spanish chamber orchestra Concerto Málaga and the
Italian Maestro Massimo Paris. The Orchestra was founded in 2006 by Hungarian
violinist Orsolya Szabó-Yélamo (Violin resource tutor with Donegal Music
Education Partnership) and Spanish cellist Víctor Yélamo (Artistic Director of
the ensemble).
For their February concert in Conwal Parish Church, they
will perform John McLachlan’s 'The
Inishowen Set' conducted by the composer itself who also will introduce his
new piece to the audience. The program will also include Karl Jenkin’s
Palladio, Hindemith’s Five Pieces for Strings Op. 44, Mascagni’s Intermezzo
from “Cavalleria Rusticana”, Britten’s Simple Symphony Op. 4, Tchaikovsky’s
Elegy for string orchestra and Bartók’s Ten pieces “For Children“ Sz. 39
arranged for strings by Leo Weiner.
This concert is presented by the Donegal Chamber Music Society as part of their Sunday afternoon concert series “Sundays in Conwal” in
association with Donegal Music Education Partnership. A recital of about 45
minutes of music. Admissions € 10/5. Tickets will be available at the door.
