Countdown to Fuse!
The first Fuse Project, our annual celebration of new and innovative work, opens next month. One of the highlights for me will be the world premiere of a new work by Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy. He’s perhaps most famous for his Gra Agus Bas (Gaelic for Love and Death) for chamber ensemble and Iarla O’Lionaird, lead singer for Afro Celt Sound System and member of The Gloaming (who performed here in October through the Lincoln Center White Light Festival). In my opinion, Donnacha is one of the most exciting composers to have emerged in the last decade or so, and it is a thrill for me to be able to commission a new work from him. The world premiere of his new piece, Tessellatum for viola, viol consort, and electronics, is part of Nadia Sirota’s week-long residency in Fuse.
In addition to being a virtuoso violist, Nadia is a media personality who has created an award-winning podcast series called Meet the Composer for New York Public Radio WQXR/Q2. Who better to introduce Donnacha to you than Nadia herself? In this Meet the Composer episode, “Donnacha Dennehy: Composing With Frequency,” Nadia traces the evolution of Donnacha’s musical style that combines Irish folk music with a 21st-century sensibility.
I hope you enjoy exploring the incredible sound world Donnacha creates just as much as I do, and I look forward to seeing you at the world premiere of Tessellatum on February 5.
