The Contemporary Music Centre welcomed Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, to launch CMC’s major digitisation initiative, the Irish Composers Project (ICP), 12pm, 24 May 2011.
The Irish Composers Project is a digital archive for Irish Contemporary Music and is a partnership between the Contemporary Music Centre and the An Foras Feasa research consortium comprising the music departments of Dundalk Institute of Technology, NUI Maynooth, and St Patrick's College, Drumcondra. The project also received funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Its overall purpose is to enable the research and promotion of the music of Irish Composers of the 20th and 21st century.
Launching the project Minister Deenihan complimented the Contemporary Music Centre and their partners in the Irish Composers Project on the initiative. “This project is of huge significance as it increases access for the general public as well as musicians, teachers, composers and performers to the music of Irish composers. It is a major achievement to have such a complete collection of work immediately available to browse online.”
CMC’s Director, Evonne Ferguson, outlined the importance of the launch to the CMC. “The launch of the ICP celebrates the contribution of Irish composers to the cultural development of this island and CMC’s unique position in the development of expertise in digital archiving. Of course the ongoing support of the Arts Council has been essential in CMC achieving the project goals to date”
