Dave Flynn, Artistic Director of Irish Memory Orchestra, celebrates a decade of a truly unique musical endeavour...
The Irish Memory Orchestra celebrates its 10th anniversary at the National Concert Hall Studio on 12th August with a programme that reflects its first decade. It was late 2010 when I formulated the idea of an orchestra with a specifically Irish style, one that would blend traditional Irish instruments, rhythms and melodic styles with the rich orchestral traditions of the world.
The orchestra looks to Ireland's ancient music traditions for inspiration, but it looks forward with innovative programming that has won plaudits from audiences, critics and fellow musicians from Clare to Korea.
When we took to the stage for the first time in September 2012, we were a 12-piece orchestra with guest soloists Liz Carroll and Máirtín O'Connor and conductor Bjorn Bantock. A year later, we took to the same stage, glór in Ennis, with 70 musicians and premiered my 60-minute Clare Concerto entirely from memory.
and Cois Cladaigh Chamber Choir in the Vision & Memory concert
in The Black Box in Galway in April 2022
In order to reflect the oral music traditions of Ireland and to open orchestral music to musicians who are unable to read sheet music, the Irish Memory Orchestra always plays without sheet music on stage.
This provides access for musicians who don't usually get opportunities to play in orchestras, be they vision-impaired musicians or fully sighted musicians who learn music aurally. Memorisation also allows for a kind of spontaneity that sheet music cannot convey.
Over the past decade, we have shown how the benefits of our memorised methods extend beyond the basics of music-making. Our methods have proven influential, with other orchestras in Ireland and abroad following suit. It is great to see how the idea of this type of performance, borne equally from the aural music traditions of Ireland and the orchestral practices of Central Europe, has taken hold.
Watch: Vision & Memory - a documentary about the Irish Memory Orchestra
Our outreach initiatives, like our Apprentice Schemes and Youth Orchestra, have been among our strongest impacts over the past decade. Through these, we have trained hundreds of musicians in our uniquely Irish memorised performance practices. Some apprentices go on to perform professionally with us, and this helps us to expand our ambitions. The Head of our Outreach Programme, Matthew Berrill, was one of our first apprentices and, soon after, he was invited to be a professional member.
Given our limited resources over the past decade, we have made remarkable progress, a feat recognised by recently being named a finalist in the National Lottery Good Causes Awards this coming October. Illustrating our unique instrumentation, our distinctive repertoire, our innovative performance style and the skill of our world-class musicians, our NCH concert will celebrate the conclusion of our 10th anniversary year in style.
Watch: Music for the Departed performed by Aisling Agnew and Dave Flynn
Our Section Principals - Aisling Agnew, Matthew Berrill, Tara Connaghan, Róisín Donohoe, Brian Fleming, Bríd Harper, Etain McCooey, Anne-Marie O'Farrell, Neil Ó Lochlainn and Jack Talty - will lead the way as we perform brand new music and audience favourites from our first decade. And we will be joined by some outstanding participants of our Apprentice Schemes and Youth Orchestra for a grand finale.
I'm so looking forward to conducting these wonderful musicians on this landmark occasion, so please join our celebration on 12th August at the NCH Studio!
The Irish Memory Orchestra celebrate their 10th anniversary with a concert at the National Concert Hall on August 12th 2023 - find out more here.
