The Contemporary Music Centre announces New York premiere by Irish composer, Frank Corcoran 14 March 2011
March will be a busy month for Irish composer Frank Corcoran. His Imagine Ireland 14 March concert in New York will feature the world-premiere of his new Songs of Terror and Love for Bass, David Salisbery Fry and the North South Consonance Ensemble under Conductor Max Lifchitz, at Church of Christ and St. Stephen on 69th. Street, Manhattan.
Frank Corcoran’s work Songs of Terror and Love to texts by Jacopone Da Todi for bass voice and Pierrot Ensemble was composed in 2010 in Todi, a delightful little Medieval Italian town not far from the Tiber river.
Corcoran was born in Tipperary and studied in Dublin, Maynooth, Rome and Berlin with Boris Blacher. He was the first Irish composer to have his ‘Symphony No. 1’ (1980) premiered in Vienna. Since 1983 he has been professor of composition and theory in the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Hamburg. Awards include Studio Akustische Kunst First Prize 1996 for his ‘Joycepeak Music’ (1995), Premier Prix at the 1999 Bourges International Electro-acoustic Music Competition for his composition ‘Sweeney’s Vision’ (1997) and, more recently, the 2002 Swedish EMS Prize for ‘Quasi Una Missa’ (1999). CDs of his music have been released on the Black Box, Marco Polo, Col-Legno, Wergo, Wergo, Composers’ Art, IMEB-Unesco, Zeitklang and Caprice labels. Frank Corcoran is a founding member of Aosdána, Ireland’s state-sponsored academy of creative artists. www.frankcorcoran.com
The North South Consonance Ensemble is an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary/classical from the Americas. It was founded in 1980 and is based in New York City. It is directed by the pianist and composer Max Lifchitz who is also the ensemble’s founder. The ensemble has performed over 850 different works by composers from around the world and has released many CDs on its own label, North/South Recordings. www.northsouthmusic.org
In addition The Gregg Smith Singers will record Corcoran´s newest choral score Eight Haikus for Choir on 15 March in New York. Gregg Smith, who will be eighty at the end of the year, has with his Gregg Smith Singers been a legend in American music these last forty years. He and they have worked with Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Eliot Carter and made legendary recordings of new and old choral music.
The Contemporary Music Centre is Ireland’s national archive, resource centre and promotional body for new music, supporting the work of Irish composers from the Republic and Northern Ireland. Frank Corcoran is a composer registered with the Centre. The Centre is supported by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
For further information on Frank Corcoran, the Contemporary Music Centre and Irish composers contact Karen Hennessy, Promotion Manager, The Contemporary Music Centre, 19 Fishamble Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 8. Tel: 01 6731922 Email khennessy@cmc.ie web site www.cmc.ie
Notes for Editors
St Patrick’s Day Gala
Part of Imagine Ireland
Suppported by Culture Ireland
8pm, Monday, March 14, 2011
Songs of Terror and Love Frank Corcoran
Moto Perpetuo Liviu Marinescu
Anticipation Howard Quilling
Fairy Tale Moon Young Ha
David Salsbery Fry, bass-baritone
Max Lifchitz, conductor
The North/South Consonance Ensemble
Christ and St. Stephen’s Church
120 West 69th Street (between Broadway & Columbus),
New York City