Musictown announced its programme for this unusual year which will feature 10 days of live streamed events across genres and from various venues and locations from April 15th to 25th,
Musictown is put together by Dublin City Council in association with Foggy Notions and Aiken Promotions.
Some highlights of the programme:
- Cathy Davey makes a very welcome return to live performance in her first live show since Oct 2019.
- Rooftop Lullabies sung to the city and her people before, during and after dusk. Irish classic songs, delivered from the rooftops of Dublin City, featuring Faye O’Rourke of Soda Blonde, Brigid Mae Power and Monjola.
- A filmic collaboration between David Kitt, author Kevin Barry and video artist Claireban Coffey set in a fictional town in the west of Ireland.
- An exploration of sexual identities in Irish music and literary traditions from Bob Gallagher, Ronan Kealy (Junior Brother), Claire Kinsella (Lemoncello), and Gareth Quinn Redmond with Sallay Garnett (Loah), Pamela Connolly (Pillow Queens) Jane Clarke and FeliSpeaks.
- Experience Brian Irvine, John McIlduff and members of the Totally Made-Up Orchestra’s ‘Big Mistake’ music video installation, projected at multiple sites across the city, while you listen to accompanying audio online.
- Nine, five-minute, newly commissioned musical responses to 2020, performed by duos in Crash Ensemble, by composers outside of the contemporary music sphere.
- Fears performs her debut album, Oíche in its entirety, with musical guests bringing the world of Oíche to life.
- The Electric Kazoo, a fun family music show presented by Paul, Sam and Aislinn Noonan.
- A unique collaboration between Ardú and PalestrinaChoir, staged in the Pro Cathedral, featuring the World Premiere of The Phoenix by Carl Corcoran & Art McGann.
- Word Up Collective tells the story of a modern Dublin, featuring Tebi Rex, Daire Patel, Natalya O’Flaherty, RAJI Music, Sasha Terfous and Nathan Sauramba.
- Ronan Kealy and Bob Gallagher invite you to have a gawk at a specially created Junior Brother concert stream and discussion where they will strip bare their creative process.
- A special cinematic one-person show performed by Adrian Crowley, in collaboration with filmmaker Niall McCann, a look into the inner life of the artist.
- A spark of light inspired by the golden hour, an intimate concert film of contemporary music featuring work by Rachael Lavelle and Aran O’Grady, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Caroline Shaw, Johann Johannson and Joni Mitchell.
- A video project featuring a new piece by Andy Smith and Zeca Munhoz including the Music Together Band and guests.
- Never-before-heard recordings of the 21st century musical explorations of a mid-20th century secret society of musicians who experimented with time travel.
- A 3-part production from ChoiceCuts at The Sugar Club, incorporating an in-depth discussion on music, DJ culture, Club Culture and the future of the city with 7 prominent Dublin DJs: Aoife Nic Canna,
Festival Director Leagues O’Toole said today, “Once again the programme represents an amazing response from producers and artists who’ve been stretched to their very limit during the pandemic. Stripped of a physically present audience, and navigating around requirements of social distance, it takes really imaginative, creative thinking to consistently come up with engaging events and concepts. Across this programme we see artists performing in historic buildings, libraries, churches, galleries but also performances on rooftops, virtually projected onto buildings, or from their own homes, and some cases collaborating online from great distance. Their versatility and determination to keep performing is an inspiration. Let’s continue to support them through this process. And let’s be waiting in the venues when they return to real life.”
