JUNE 2007 NEWS UPDATE

Hello everyone, it’s been a great 2007 for me so far, I’ve moved to my new home in Spiddal, Co. Galway and have been extremely busy with a number of new commissions. I’ve also embarked on a research PhD, so in around three years time with a bit of luck I’ll be Doctor Dave Flynn!

I’ve also managed to get my debut album ‘Draíocht’ for sale on this website, thanks to my sister Fran who designed my new online shop, (and the album cover, website, photographs etc!).

I’ve been extremely fortunate to land four commissions for the coming year for four very different but equally prestigious events. They are as follows.

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Commission for The 2007 Waltons Guitar Festival of Ireland

I’ve just completed composing a new piece for three guitars called ‘The Errigal Suite’. It was commissioned by Temple Bar Cultural Trust and will be premiered at the Waltons Guitar Festival of Ireland by festival director Alec O’Leary, steel string virtuoso Clive Carroll and my former guitar teacher John Feeley. The premiere is at 12 noon on the 1st July 2007 and it is free to attend. It is part of the regular Sunday’s at Noon series in the Hugh Lane Gallery in Parnell Square, Dublin. So if you can manage to get up in time (not sure if I’ll be able to myself!) please come along. I'll also be giving a seminar about the piece as part of the festival the day before at 3p.m.
in the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

The festival promises to be great this year with the main guests being the world famous Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, also don’t miss the great Italian virtuoso Antonio Desederio, he is an incredibly intense performer,
I saw him play a few years ago in Germany and he was amazing.

Please visit the festival website www.gfi.ie for full details.

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Commission for Líadan to launch the EBU Folk Festival in Cork
I’ve recently been commissioned by Lyric FM to compose a short piece for the talented new traditional group Liadán. Liadán have a unique approach to traditional Irish music, they all sing and play traditional instruments and their debut album features some magical arrangements featuring fiddles, flute, accordion, harp and gorgeous vocal harmonies.

I’m really looking forward to working with them on the new piece which is called ‘Taibhreamh Ó Riada’.
It is a tribute to Seán Ó Riada the famous composer and arranger who lived in Cork for most of his short life.

The EBU Folk Festival is an annual european folk music festival which brings artists from all over Europe
together and Cork is hosting it this year from August 30th-September 2nd. Should be fun!

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Commission for the Contempo Quartet, Galway Ensemble-in-Residence
I am really delighted to report that I won a commission to compose a new work for String Quartet to be workshopped and premiered by the wonderful Contempo Quartet, ensemble-in-residence in my new home
county of Galway.

Unlike the other commission which were offered to me somewhat out of the blue, I entered a competitive commission call for this opportunity. I love writing for String Quartet and have just begun the piece which I'm calling 'The Keening'. There will be a public workshop on the piece in September with the first performances taking place in Galway and Dublin on December 2nd and 4th respectively. Stay tuned for more details.

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Commission for Martin Hayes and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Last but by no means least is perhaps the biggest commission of my career so far. I’ve been commissioned by RTÉ to compose a large piece for Traditional Irish Soloist and Orchestra, this piece will feature Martin Hayes as the soloist. I’m honoured to be working with Martin again and I hope we can follow up the success of ‘Music for the Departed’. It’s a particular thrill for me to compose for the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. I’ve been hoping to work with an orchestra for a long time, so now I’ve finally got my chance I’m going to make the most of it!

The piece will be premiered at some stage in 2008, I’ve to write it first of course!
So it’s going to be a busy year for me.

Hopefully I’ll get a chance to perform some concerts in between all this composing, please check back for more updates in this regard.

Finally I started a couple of blogs where I’ll be posting some articles and observations on music.

www.blogspot.com/daveflynnswritingsonmusic contains a number of articles I’ve written on various subjects including the composers John Adams, Philip Glass, Gyorgy Ligeti and Steve Reich.

www.blogspot.com/daveflynnsownmusic contains programme notes and commentaries on some of my own music

So the more academically minded amongst you should enjoy those webpages.

Ok, I’ve really got to get back to some composing………

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DECEMBER 2006 NEWS UPDATE

Return to Camden Album Launch

Well I’m glad to announce that my debut CD ‘Draíocht’ is now complete and officially launched. I launched the album at the Return To Camden Town Festival in London performing selections from the album along with some other sets of traditional tunes. I was joined on the night by Liz Coleman, Conán McDonnell and Michael Lempelius. It was great to be able to launch the album at this prestigious festival so special thanks to Karen Ryan and the RTCT team for inviting me over.

I stayed on at the festival for much of the week and had a great time, I was particularly honoured to meet with the great Liz Carroll and attend a fiddle workshop with her.

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Draíocht release

My debut CD ‘Draíocht’ is not yet available in the shops but I’m hoping that it will be available for purchase in the shops worldwide in early 2007. In the meantime you can order one of the limited edition first pressings by emailing me at dave@daveflynn.com.

I’m currently in the process of developing an online shop where you will be able to purchase ‘Draíocht’ either as a CD or as Mp3 downloads. I also hope to make some of my scores available for sale in this online shop. Stay tuned for more details.
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Ennis Trad Festival
I’m just back from the Ennis Trad Festival in Clare. This was my first time at this festival and you can be sure it won’t be my last! I enjoyed some great music, particularly the session with Pat Ó’Connor and Claire Keville in Brogans and the tunes with Liz, Paídín, James & Co. in Woody’s, was also great to hear some songs from the lovely Noriana, what a beautiful voice she has. :-)

Also thanks to Oisín MacDíarmada and Síle Boylan for putting on great fiddle workshops. I’m learning more and more about the fiddle, hopefully I’ll be able to play it some day!

At the beginning of the festival I also attended Cruinniú, a gathering of many important people in the traditional music industry. This was a great event where I got to meet some very nice and interesting people working in the business and learnt some valuable things about what to do to maintain a career as a traditional musician.
So thanks to Tara Connaghan for letting me know about the event and thanks to Katie Verling and all at Glór in Ennis for helping make the event run so smoothly. I look forward to another gathering like this next year.

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SEPTEMBER 2006 NEWS UPDATE

‘Music for the Departed’ Premiere

I’d just like to thank everyone for helping make the premiere of my piece ‘Music for the Departed’ on the 16th August at the Masters of Tradition Festival in Bantry House, Cork one of the most memorable nights of my life. The musicians Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill and Ioana Petcu-Colan all played wonderfully, Ruud Kuper and the rest of the West Cork Music staff helped the night run smoothly and last but not least the audience were terrific in the way they received the piece so warmly and openly. Thanks to all the people who came up to me and expressed their appreciation of the music. I’ve never had so many compliments in one week! I really enjoyed the festival overall and it was a particular treat to be asked up on the last night to play with Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Eoin O’Sullivan and Steve Cooney, I’ll never forget those wonderful, hair raising couple of sets!

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A Summer of Festivals

Well I didn’t think I’d manage it, but I managed to attend all the Festivals I planned on this summer and had a wonderful time. Many great sessions were had particularly these ones.

The C# session out the back of the pub in Mullach during Willy Clancy Week with Bill, Joan and Liz, what a magical night that was! The huge Thursday night session in the Crosses of Anagh with all those great musicians including Frankie Lane and some of Dervish, Cathy Jordan you’re a legend!

My first proper Sligo session with Siobhán O’Donnell and friends at the Tubbercurry South Sligo Summer School. I could swear that was Mike McGoldrick playing flute beside me at times! (It wasn’t though) All the great outdoor sessions in Drumshanbo during the Joe Mooney Summer School, plus the great tunes with Elsa, Donogh, Johnny, Ciara and Dave on the last night I was there. Special thanks to Aidan and Dave for letting me play fiddle for the first time ever in a session!

The many memorable fiddle sessions in Glencolumcille, during Donegal Fiddle Week. Even though I didn’t play much it was a pleasure to hear all those great fiddlers in one session, it was also a privilege to play with James Byrne and friends, what a beautiful way of playing you all have. Last but by no means least, some great sessions were had during the Feakle festival, particularly any sessions with Pat O’Connor involved. Such a great rhythm, feel and selection of tunes. It was a particular pleasure to play with and listen to Pat, Mary Mac and the Keville sisters. Such magic comes from Breda’s fiddle! _________________________________________________________________________

Hello everybody. It’s been a while since I’ve updated the news section so here we go.

NEW COMMISSION FOR MARTIN HAYES AND DENNIS CAHILL

Well the biggest news I have to report is the fact that I have just completed composing a piece called ‘Music for the Departed’ which was commissioned to open the 2006 Masters of Tradition Festival in Bantry, Cork on the 16th August. The piece is for fiddle, guitar and classical violin and it was written for Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill to perform with Ioana Petcu-Colan.

I have been a great admirer of Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill for many years and it is a great honour to me that they will be playing my music. (www.martinhayes.com)

I’m equally excited to be working with Ioana Petcu-Colan who is one of Ireland’s finest classical musicians and first violinist in the marvellous Callino Quartet. (www.callinoquartet.com)

‘Music for the Departed’ is a continuous suite in 7 movements lasting around 23 minutes. For more information on the 2006 Masters of Tradition Festival including details of how to book tickets for the premiere of the piece please visit www.westcorkmusic.ie. _________________________________________________________________________

ALBUM RECORDING AND LAUNCH

I’m putting the finishing touches to my debut album ‘Draíocht’ at the moment with the help of legendary sound engineer/producer Paul Thomas. I hope to have the album completed at some stage this summer. Once it is complete I will be launching it with concerts in various places, the only confirmed date so far is in London on the 23rd October 

At the Return To Camden Town Irish Festival (www.returntocamden.org), further dates will be announced closer to the launch date.
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A GREAT CONCERT IN CABINTEELY PARK HOUSE

I performed another concert in the Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council’s Concerts in Country Houses Series on the 8th June and it was a great night, which was enjoyed by all.

Jazz guitar maestro Hugh Buckley (www.hughbuckley.com) once again joined me along with Aisling Agnew, Liz Coleman, Mick Dunne and Ciarán Swift. Aisling Agnew (www.aislingagnew.com) and myself gave the World Premiere of my new flute and guitar suite ‘Omos do Frankie Kennedy’ and the Irish premiere of ‘Quirk No.2 – Shadowplay’ whilst I performed the World Premiere of 3 of my ‘4 Guitar Etudes for Five Fingers.’

Hopefully we’ll get to put on more such concerts in the near future.

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NEW STUDIO RECORDINGS WITH AISLING AGNEW

The day before the Cabinteely concert Aisling and I entered the studio to record ‘Omos do Frankie Kennedy’ and ‘Quirk No.2-Shadowplay’ with Paul Thomas doing the sound engineering.
The recordings are mainly for promotional reasons so I’ve no plans to release them commercially at present, but once they are mastered I may put some sound clips on the site, and in the future I may offer them for sale as mp3 downloads.

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NEW MYSPACE SITE

Finally, I’ve joined the MYSPACE.com phenomenon! I didn’t realise what a major thing myspace.com was but following prompting from my good friend Cion O’Callaghan I got myself a myspace.com page www.myspace.com/daveflynncomposer. Here you can listen to and/or download some full samples of my music. You can also visit the pages of some of my myspace.com friends.

That’s it for now, hope to see some of you over the summer at the Willie Clancy, Feakle or Masters of Tradition Festivals, might make it along to some other festivals too.

Slán

Dave Flynn

Addendum

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FRANCIE MOONEY R.I.P.

I’d like to express my condolences to the Ó’Maonaigh family, following the passing of the great Francie Mooney. I didn’t really know Francie personally but he has had a great influence on my musical life by virtue of the fact that without him the great Donegal music tradition which I love so much probably wouldn’t be the vibrant tradition it is today. Simply put, without Francie there’d be no Altan or Frankie Kennedy Winter School, so rest in peace Francie, along with many others I owe you a great debt of gratitude.

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LATEST UPDATE 2.1.06

FRANKIE KENNEDY WINTER SCHOOL
Just before the recording sessions I attended one of Ireland’s best festivals, the Frankie Kennedy Winter School in Gweedore. This is the fifth year in a row I attended and I had a great time as usual, despite a bought of pneumonia around New Years. Special thanks must go to the local Now Doc team for giving me the right drugs to get over the disease and be high as a kite on New Years night!

I had some great sessions with some marvellous musicians during the festival and afterwards, particularly in Húdi Beags pub in Bunbeg. Special thanks to Hugh and all the staff at Húdí’s for being so welcoming and providing us all with some memorable times.

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CMC REPRESENTATION
I’ve finally been accepted by the Contemporary Music Centre (CMC) for representation. The CMC is Ireland’s national archive for composers so I’m now officially an Irish Composer!

You can view my CMC page by following clicking here. You can view a list of and purchase some of my scores here. Eventually all my concert compositions will be listed on this webpage. You can also listen to some examples of my music if you pay a visit to the CMC Library in Fishamble Street, Dublin.

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A RETURN CONCERT IN CABINTEELY PARK HOUSE
Following a successful sold out concert in Cabinteely Park House last September, I have been invited to put together another concert in the Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council’s Concerts in Country Houses Series. This concert will take place on the 8th June and full details will be announced shortly. Jazz guitar maestro Hugh Buckley has once again kindly agreed to join me along with a number of other special guests. This concert will be a mix of Jazz and Traditional Irish Music, with some fusions of these styles, along with some of my own compositions, including the World Premiere of my 4 Etudes for Five Finger Right Hand Guitar Technique, which were commissioned by Charles Postlewate and are due to be published worldwide by Mel Bay Publications later in 2006. I also hope to use this concert as the launch for my as yet untitled debut album. Tickets will be on sale some time in February so watch out for them as they sold out very quickly last time.

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I’M COMNG HOME!
I’ve been thinking about it for a while and I’ve finally made a decision to move back to Ireland. I’ll be leaving London at the beginning of February and returning to Dublin for a few months before moving to the West of Ireland in the Summer. Not sure exactly where I’ll live but it’ll hopefully be somewhere I can easily access all the great summer music festivals in and around the West Coast.

I’ve really enjoyed my time in London, but I really feel it’s time to move on. At the same time I’ll really miss some of the great things about London, particularly the thriving London Irish music scene. So special thanks to everyone I’ve played with over the past few years in sessions throughout London, especially those at The Porterhouse, Waxy O’Connor’s, The Herschel Arms, The Cobden Arms, The Railway Bar, the Mother Redcap and of course the Return To Camden Festival. I’ll miss you all, but I’m sure it won’t be long before we meet again.

That’s it for now.
Slán
Dave Flynn

RECENT LIVE PERFORMANCE

Cabinteely Gig
Since the last update I've done a number of important performances including my sold out concert in Cabinteely Park House, Dublin which was a great success. I'm very grateful to the other musicians who took part – Hugh Buckley, Mick Dunne, Ciarán Swift and Mairtín Tourish, who brilliantly replaced the sick Ciarán Mitchell at short notice. I had a great time and I hope more such events happen in the future!

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Prestigious Support Slots
I've been lucky enough to support some real Irish music legends in the past month. I did a solo support slot to Arty McGlynn and Nollaig Casey in the Hammersmith Irish Centre in October and I've also recently started accompanying the wonderful singer Helen Roche (see www.helenroche.net ). We've done just two gigs so far together but they were both pretty prestigious. The first was a support to the Begley Family at the Return To Camden Festival, London and the second was supporting the wonderful Téada at Lewisham Irish Centre, London.

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CLASSICAL COMPOSITION NEWS

This month is quite an important month for me as I've got two World Premiere's happening.

First up is the World Premiere of my 2nd String Quartet ‘The Cranning', which will be performed by the Smith Quartet at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival on the 26th November. It is a very high profile event and I'm looking forward to it with nervous anticipation! See www.hcmf.co.uk for more info.

Also, on the 30th November, the Young Composers Collective is presenting a concert of new works for piano and/or percussion in the Goethe Institute, Dublin. The pianist Mary MacCague will be performing my new piece ‘Tar Éis An Cran' at this concert along with works by Cathy Burke, Simon O'Connor, Aengus O'Maolain and Donal Sarsfield. ‘Tar éis an Cran' is a solo piano piece which is a sort of companion piece to the 2nd String Quartet ‘The Cranning', because it begins in a similar way to the way ‘The Cranning' ends, but then it goes off in some other mad direction altogether, Ted!

Also some tentative news is that it looks like I might be getting commissioned to compose a piece for some really prominent musicians for a major festival in 2006. I can't give out the details until it's confirmed, but watch this space, it is very exciting!

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RECORDING NEWS

I recently spent two days recording some of my solo guitar arrangements in Reading with the help of Sam Proctor who did a great job engineering it. Now he has the thankless job of editing the recordings into something people might want to listen to! I know he'll do a great job of this and hopefully most of these recordings will end up on my debut album, which should be released early in 2006. I'm doing the rest of the recording in January in one of my favourite places, Bunbeg, Co. Donegal right after the brilliant Frankie Kennedy Winter School/Festival which I'll be at again this year. It's the fifth year in a row for me there, I can't think of a better way to bring in the New Year.

Hope to see some of you there!
Cheers
Dave Flynn