Month: April 2012

The Contemporary Music Centre presents an outdoor music trail in partnership with Music in Drumcliffe in the grounds of St. Columba’s Church and its environs throughout the Music in Drumcliffe Festival, 11am – 7pm, 5 – 7 May 2012. The trail celebrates the rich connections between W.B.Yeats and Irish composers specifically, whilst also highlighting the many associations between Irish music and Irish literature.

The Trail consists of three outdoor listening posts featuring a total of four works by Irish composers: Brian Boydell, Rhona Clarke and Donnacha Dennehy. Brian Boydell’s Four Yeats Poems features the wonderful Grainne Yeats, daughter-in-law of W.B.Yeats, along with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Rhona Clarke’s Tread Softly, takes its title from the W.B.Yeats’s poem He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven: ‘Tread softly because you tread on my dreams’. Rhona Clarke’s Five Songs features Judith Mok and Dearbhla Collins. Donnacha Dennehy’s That the Night Come was composed for Dawn Upshaw (soprano) and the Crash Ensemble, conductor, Alan Pierson and released on the Nonesuch Record Label CD Grá agus Bás. A walk and talk of the New Music Literary Trail led by Irish composer Benjamin Dwyer will take place 130pm, 6 May. Admission is FREE to both the trail itself and participation on the Walk and Talk.

In comjumction with the New Music Literary Trail at Drumcliffe, the Contemporary Music Centre, presents its Art of Sound multi-media exhibition throughout the month of May in the Ballymote Community Library, Co. Sligo. The Art of Sound exhibition features photographer Eugene Langan’s dramatic and perceptive photographs of Irish composers. An audio-guide narrated by Eamonn Lawlor, RTÉ lyric fm, brings to life the music that is displayed. The exhibition will run from 1 – 31 May inclusive during library hours and admission is free.

The Contemporary Music Centre is Ireland’s national archive and resource centre for new music. The Centre is supported by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. For details on the New Music Literary Trail  and information on the composers featured please contact Karen Hennessy, Promotion Manager, The Contemporary Music Centre, 19 Fishamble Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 8. Tel: 01 673 1922 email: khennessy@nullcmc.ie web site: www.cmc.ie

Since its establishment in 2000, Music in Drumcliffe, formerly The Vogler Spring Festival, has become one of Ireland’s leading international chamber music festivals and is now a major highlight in the national annual calendar of music events. Music in Drumcliffe offers its loyal audience and new visitors alike the opportunity to experience high standards of programming through a fresh choice of artists performing alongside the internationally acclaimed Vogler Quartet, in one of the most beautiful locations in Ireland, at the foot of Benbulben mountain and in the heart of Yeats country. For information on Music in Drumcliffe please contact Artscope tel: 01 505 9582 or email: info@nullmusicindrumcliffe.ie www.musicindrumcliffe.ie

 This year’s World Intellectual Property Day on April 26 celebrates visionary innovators – individuals whose ingenuity and artistry have broken molds, opened new horizons and made a lasting impact.  Across the world, intellectual property (IP) Offices, associations, businesses and technology institutions and students are organizing numerous activities to mark the day,  including competitions, exhibitions and public discussions.

In his World IP Day message, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry describes a visionary innovator as someone whose innovations have transformed our lives and, at times, the way society operates. In the arts, he notes, innovation revolves around new ways of seeing things. “A visionary artist or a composer or a writer is able to show us a different way, a new way of looking at the world,” Mr. Gurry says.

The Director General says World Intellectual Property Day is an opportunity to celebrate the contribution that intellectual property makes to innovation and cultural creation – “and the immense good that these two social phenomena bring to the world.” He notes it is an “opportunity to create greater understanding about the role of intellectual property,” and encourages young people to get involved in discussions on IP.

World IP Day is “an opportunity to create greater understanding about the role of intellectual property as a balancing mechanism between the competing interests which surround innovation and cultural creation: the interests of the individual creator and those of society; the interests of the producer and those of the consumer; the interest in encouraging innovation and creation, and the interest in sharing the benefits that derive from them,” Mr. Gurry says, noting, “we should look upon intellectual property as an empowering mechanism to address these challenges.”

Background

WIPO’s member states initiated World IP Day in 2000 to raise public awareness about the role of IP in daily life, and to celebrate the contribution made by innovators and creators to the development of societies across the globe. World IP Day is celebrated annually on April 26, the date on which the Convention establishing WIPO entered into force in 1970.

2012 is a key decision-making year during which the EU budget 2014-2020 will be voted upon by Members of the European Parliament and Ministers from the Member States.

EU support to culture over the next seven years is at stake and the negotiations over the first four months of 2012 will be crucial. The campaign ‘we are more – act for culture in Europe’ calls for vital support for culture in the next EU budget.

Act for culture in Europe and sign the manifesto now: www.wearemore.eu

As part of the run up to the Derry-Londonderry’s term as UK City of Culture in 2013, the city today announced that it will host a major new festival of digital culture this summer. 

Culture Tech is billed as a four-day festival of digital culture and technologies and will take place from August 29th to September 1st within Derry’s historic walled city centre. The festival promises an eclectic mix of film screenings, digital arts installations, live music performances, public workshops and a major games tournament.

Mark Nagurski from Digital Derry, principal organisers of the festival, explained: “Digital technology has become a part of all of our lives in everything from the way we work to the games we play. In the run up to the City of Culture year we wanted to host an event that celebrated the way that technology is helping to shape exciting new projects in culture and the arts. We’re bringing in speakers, acts and artists from all over the globe but there’ll also be a strong emphasis on exciting projects being developed right here in Northern Ireland. We hope it’s an event that everyone can come and enjoy and we expect to have over 10,000 people taking part over the four days.”

The festival will include an industry conference expected to attract over 500 delegates and also a showcase event, co-sponsored by Invest Northern Ireland, where local companies can present their projects.

Martin Adair, acting Head of Creative Industries at Invest NI, commented: “Northern Ireland’s vibrant creative industries sector is hugely important to the Northern Ireland economy which has ambitious, world-class companies operating across the full spectrum of industries, from film and TV to digital media including gaming, animation and music.

“The Culture Tech festival will be an important opportunity to showcase this talent and help to maximise the export potential of these business as well as position Northern Ireland competitively among international investors.”  

Many of the festival events are open to the public and free to attend and the organisers expect it to be a big draw for families. Tickets for the conference, screenings and music events start at just £49 for all four days and are available online at www.culturetech.co where you’ll also find details of the festival programme.