PRESS RELEASE
Ireland’s pioneering new music company, Crash Ensemble, are proud to announce their highlight show of the year on Saturday October 2nd in IMMA. This show is of special significance due to its world premiere of an important new Yeats-inspired collection of songs written by the ensemble’s artistic director Donnacha Dennehy which will be performed on the night by four-time Grammy Award-winning and internationally renowned U.S. soprano Dawn Upshaw. The work was commissioned by Dawn Upshaw with funds from the Arts Council.
During the evening there will many more world-class performances including new music from the Americas by Argentina’s Osvaldo Golijov performed by his long-time muse Dawn Upshaw; Ireland’s own internationally distinguished sean nós singer, Iarla O’Lionáird will perform Dennehy’s “deeply expressive” (The Irish Times, 2007) Grá agus Bás; plus the Crash Ensemble will perform music by New York’s cult composer/performer extraordinaire John Zorn!
As the nights get darker let the fiery autumn leaves and sunset over the grounds of Kilmainham Hospital combine with the poetry of Yeats and an ecstasy of music to convey you through an unforgettable autumn evening.
Following the evenings performance Crash Ensemble will be going directly into the studio to record both Dennehy works for Nonesuch Records (estimated release, Spring 2011).
DAWN UPSHAW is one of the world’s most beloved and admired sopranos. She has a way with complex modern works — her 1992 recording of Henryk Gorecki’s Third Symphony broke classical sales records — and also the tuneful melodies of American composers like Stephen Foster and William.
Born in Nashville in 1960 and raised outside Chicago, Upshaw grew up in a musical — and politically active — home. Her parents, deeply committed to the Civil Rights movement, recruited Dawn and her big sister into the Upshaw Family Singers. While not a truly professional, the folk group performed for school and community groups, including an assembly the day after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
After moving into classical voice during college, Upshaw began an accelerated rise to the top of her craft, arriving at the Metropolitan Opera five years after graduation. She has achieved worldwide celebrity as a singer of opera and concert repertoire ranging form the sacred works of Bach to the freshest sounds of today. In 2007, she was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation, the first vocal artist to be awarded the five-year “Genius” prize.
Dawn has become a generative force in concert music, having premiered more than 25 works in the past decade. From Carnegie Hall to large and small venues throughout the world she regularly presents specially designed programs composed of lieder, unusual contemporary works in many languages, and folk and popular music. She furthers this work in master classes and workshops with young singers as will be seen on Friday 1st Oct in the National Concert Hall.
IARLA Ó LIONÁIRD, a singer, solo artist and core member of Afro Celt Sound System, Iarla developed his voice in Seán O’Riáda’s cult status choir, Cór Chuil Aodha. A prolific recording artist, he has released two solo albums with Real World Records and collaborated on countless albums and film sound tracks including The Gangs of New York and Hotel Rwanda. An iconic influence on, and pioneer of, the renewal of sean-nós as an art form, Grammy nominated Ó Lionáird is a treasure of Irish Music.
DONNACHA DENNEHY (Artistic Director) is a composer living in Dublin. Born in 1970, he studied music composition at Trinity College Dublin and at the University of Illinois. He pursued further studies in electronic music at The Hague and at IRCAM, Paris. Returning to Ireland, he founded the Crash Ensemble, Dublin’s now-renowned amplified new music band, in 1997. Dennehy is also a lecturer in music composition at Trinity College Dublin.
Forthcoming recordings include releases from Nonesuch and Canteloupe Records. Donnacha’s first full-length album, Elastic Harmonic, was released by NMC Records in London (www.nmcrec.co.uk) in the summer of 2007. The Wire in its review of that disc declared that “Donnacha Dennehy has a soundworld all of his own”.
FOR MEDIA INFORMATION, PHOTOGRAPHS & PRESS TICKETS CONTACT:
Karen Walshe | 087 975 4101 | [email protected]
CRASH ENSEMBLE: www.crashensemble.com
Manager & CEO: Frances Mitchell | 01 8586645 | [email protected] |
TICKET SALES: www.tickets.ie
On Saturday 2nd of October 2010 at 8pm, Crash Ensemble present ‘That the Night Come…’ A world premiere of Donnacha Dennehys new piece ‘That the Night come…’ commissioned by DAWN UPSHAW(USA). Plus very special guest IARLA Ó’LIONÁIRD (IRL). Located in The Great Hall, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Royal hospital Kilmainham, Dublin 8. In association with Lyric FM and IMMA. Tickets 30e & Students 25e concession www.tickets.ie.
Crash Ensemble perform:
Osvaldo Golijov, "Lua Descolorida" (featuring Dawn Upshaw)
Osvaldo Golijov, "HowSlow the Wind" (featuring Dawn Upshaw)
Donnacha Dennehy, "Grá agus Bas" (featuring Iarla Ó’Lionáird)
John Zorn, "Paran"
Donnacha Dennehy, "That the Night Come…" (featuring Dawn Upshaw, world premiere)