MICHAEL DERVAN
Wednesday 2 March 1994 01:02
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The Independent Culture
Since 1991, which saw the demise of the Accents festival, Dublin has been without a showcase for the work of
contemporary composers. The extraordinary decision by the national broadcasting service, RTE, to include just one
work by a living Irish composer in the 1993 subscription series of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) provoked
such a public furore that a palliative of some sort was bound to be offered in due course. It materialised at the
end of February as a 10-day ‘celebration of new Irish music’ under the billing Music Now.
Sadly, the programming professed no theme or focus, and in the absence of work by the likes of Gerald Barry,
Frank Corcoran and Paul Hayes, the most discernible trend was towards conservatism.