Explore New Music
with RTÉ lyric fm

Linda Buckley

Did you know that RTÉ lyric fm commissions new works, releases contemporary music cds and has a composer in residence? Well, beyond Nova, lyric proudly flies the new music flag through a number of other activities such as those below.

International Rostrum of Composers
Each year, RTÉ lyric fm selects a work, or multiple works, as the Irish entry for the International Rostrum of Composers, an international forum of representatives of broadcasting organizations who come together for the purpose of exchanging and broadcasting contemporary art music. (In June 2008, RTÉ lyric fm served as host for the 55th edition of the Rostrum.) To check out the selected works from Ireland and the results for 2009, click here.

Heaney at 70 Music
As part of its Heaney At 70 celebrations, RTÉ commissioned Irish composers Rachel Holstead, Kevin O'Connell and Ian Wilson to write short pieces for the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet in response to Seamus Heaney's work. All three pieces were premiered in a concert broadcast live on RTÉ lyric fm - Easter Monday April 13th at 5pm as part of Classic Drive.

Lyric Commissions
RTÉ lyric fm has an ongoing policy of commissioning works from composers who are born or based in Ireland. Since 2000 we have commissioned forty five works for transmission on the station, in a wide variety of genres and styles. For details of previous commissions and how to get your work commissioned, click here.

RTÉ lyric fm Label
RTÉ lyric fm is the only recording label for classical music in Ireland.
Our aim is to promote classical music, Irish musicians and composers at home and abroad by creating a commercially available, quality record of how much incredible music is being made in this country. Works by Seóirse Bodley were featured on a recent release (click here for details) and forthcoming releases will feature works by John Kinsella, Kevin Volans and Deirdre Gribbin. For details of all lyric releases, click here.

Composer in Residence
The Composer in Residence Scheme was set up, in association with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, to allow lyric to build a relationship with someone who would not only write new music for broadcast, but also contribute to the station's programming, education and outreach activities and website in the form of podcasts, a blog and other online events. For more about Linda Buckley, the current Composer in Residence and her activities, click here.