design by Robin Parmar

Live Concert Performance: New Approaches To Guitar

8pm Wednesday 2 April 2008

Soundings presents "Angels at the Shotgun Wedding" by Brian Bridges and "Works for Hexaphonic Guitar" by Enda Bates, two live performance pieces that demonstrate New Approaches To Guitar. Also on the programme is "(sighing): oh...but we were monsters" by Jonathan Nangle. This concert will delight fans of both chamber music and experimental rock. As usual for Soundings events, the finest audio system in Limerick will be utilized to maximise the sonic potential of the pieces.

"Angels at the Shotgun Wedding" by Brian Bridges is written for 23 electric guitars and will be performed by the Maynooth Electric Guitar Array, under conductor Marc Balbirinie. This large scale piece uses a combination of electronic drones, microtonal tunings, and amplification to create novel harmonies and textural effects. The aim is to create a piece which balances the inherent force of the ensemble with the subtlety of the materials, creating something both delicate and visceral with blunt instruments.

"Works for Hexaphonic Guitar" by Enda Bates is a piece for an electric guitar fitted with a pickup that individually amplifies each string. These are processed and spatialised to a loudspeaker array placed around the audience. In this way the musician can perform spatial music in real time using standard instrumental techniques to control various spatialisation and processing algorithms.

"(sighing): oh...but we were monsters" is a composition for four-channel tape, two resonating snare drums and video by Jonathan Nangle. Directly inspired by Alvin Lucier, it was written for a Spatial Music Collective performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The accompanying video, commissioned by the Crash Ensemble, uses improvisational and sampled components.

Brian Bridges is an experimental composer who has studied with Glenn Branca and Tony Conrad in the USA. After completing a Masters in Music Technology at Trinity College Dublin he is working towards a PhD in Music Technology with Victor Lazzarin at NUI Maynooth.

Enda Bates is a musician and composer based in Dublin. He is currently pursuing a PhD in computer music at Trinity College with Donnacha Dennehey and Dermot Furlong.

Jonathan Nangle is a composer living in Dublin. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, he has studied composition with Donnacha Dennehy and Rob Canning, and electro-acoustic composition with Roger Doyle.

This event continues another innovative season of Soundings, a continuing performance series designed to open the senses to new forms of music, sound art and media interaction. The location is the beautifully restored Daghdha Space, John's Square, Limerick, Ireland.

Admission is only 10 euros at the door. University of Limerick students are free with student ID. Space is limited: first come, first served.