Kirkos presents The Song Ring’d Sky a new piece by Irish composer Ian Wilson and bayou-borne, for Pauline by New Zealand-born American composer Annea Lockwood.

Both pieces have a strong ecological element and an interesting use of space:

The song-ring’d sky (string trio, horn, flute, alto saxophone & bass clarinet) is an environmental birdsong piece that uses the cries and call of some of the highest-flying birds in the world as source material and plays with horizontal and vertical space of the Boys’ School in Smock Alley.

bayou-borne, for Pauline (six players) is a map of the six bayous converging near Houston, Texas, with accompanying instructions. Performers improvise, each following one of the six bayous on the map. In the score, Lockwood writes, ‘while these rivers normally move sluggishly, their character changed powerfully during Hurricane Harvey (August 2017), when rapids formed, currents accelerated considerably and placid bayous became fierce conduits of floodwaters which devastated the Houston area and caused many deaths.’

Ian Wilson — Biography

Ian Wilson (Northern Ireland, 1964) has composed more than 200 works including operas, a range of orchestral and chamber music, and multimedia pieces.

His compositions have been performed and broadcast on six continents and presented at festivals including the BBC Proms, Venice Biennale and Gaudeamus and at venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. There are over 30 commercial recordings of his music available.
In 1998 he was elected to Aosdána, Ireland’s national association of creative artists, and since then he has been AHRB Research Fellow at the University of Ulster and “An Foras Feasa” post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Dundalk Institute of Technology as well as composer-in-association with California’s Camerata Pacifica ensemble, the Ulster Orchestra, and the Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble. He was director of the Sligo New Music Festival from 2003 to 2011.
Ian Wilson’s music is published by G. Ricordi & Co. and Universal Edition.

Annea Lockwood — Biography

New Zealand-born American composer Annea Lockwood (b. 1939) brings vibrant energy, ceaseless curiosity, and a profound sense of openness to her music. Lockwood’s lifelong fascination with the visceral effects of sound in our environments and through our bodies—the way sounds unfold and their myriad “life spans”—serves as the focal point for works ranging from concert music to performance art to multimedia installations.
In recent years Lockwood and her music have received widespread attention, including a Columbia University Miller Theatre Composer Portrait concert, a feature article in The New York Times, a SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award, a documentary film by director Sam Green, and most recently, election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her recent collaborative works Into the Vanishing Point with the ensemble Yarn/Wire and Becoming Air with avant-garde trumpeter Nate Wooley were released on Black Truffle Records to great acclaim. Her work has been presented internationally at institutions and festivals such as Lucerne Festival, Tectonics Athens Festival, Signale Graz, Counterflows International Festival of Music and Art, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and many others.

Performers:
Lina Andonovska – Flute
Ali Comerford – Viola
Yseult Cooper Stockdale – Cello
Erin Hennessey – Violin
Hannah Miller – Horn
Berginald Rash – Clarinets
Nick Roth – Saxophones

Tickets €10 | €8 concession (student/OAP)
Running time approximately 60 minutes (Duration varies)

About Kirkos
Kirkos is a new music group focused on high-concept performances and on trying to develop the ecosystem that thrives at the fringes of Irish new music. Many of our projects include extra-musical elements, with influences from theatre, visual art and performance art heavily present. Kirkos is made up of musicians in their late twenties, who mostly studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and is directed by Sebastian Adams with Robert Coleman as artistic advisor. Everything Kirkos does pursues a larger goal of helping audiences feel, understand and love contemporary music, aiming to develop the audience along with the scene. Kirkos hope their offbeat take on serious new music can be a game-changer for the uninitiated. In July 2021, they opened their DIY concert and rehearsal space Unit 44 in Stoneybatter.