Another week's music in Cork and a ticket competition!

Hallo everyone,

Great to be back in Cork - last night's concert from Lunfardía at the Triskel was excellent (far more impressive music from South America than I heard on my travels last month I'm afraid). Great to see another sell-out concert too! Speaking of sell-outs there was a queue outside Pro-Musica on Monday morning for superstar guitarist John William's concert on April 24th so you'd want to get moving if you want to hear him play. Word has it that he'll be giving some kind of seminar for guitarists - I'm not sure what the craic is but if you're a guitarist and would like to go let me know and I'll try and put you in touch with the right people.

This week there's a good choice of music - from straight-up classical to experimental improv, blues (the good kind) to singer-songwriter stuff so get the hat and gloves on and get into town...

Nearly forgot the competition! Easter weekend sees a brilliant festival courtesy of West Cork Music, East Meets West - 2 sexy quartets are in town to meet each other and play - the all-male T'ang quartet from Singapore (I saw them a couple of years ago and they really are damn cool) and the all-female Callino quartet from Britain/Ireland and there'll be other performers too. There's six concerts in total over the weekend and I've blagged 2 tickets (worth €40) to the closing concert on Easter Monday at 8pm for one lucky winner at which you can see both quartets play individually before the grand finale of an uplifting octet where the two groups join forces. More info to come next week, and if you're not available on the Monday I can change the tickets for another concert in the festival. To enter leave a comment, any comment and I'll pick the winner out of a hat on Friday week. (yes it is an odd way to hold a competition but I'm hoping it will help the blog go up the Google search thing if I get a few comments on it!).

but for now...



Thursday 13th

1.10pm Crawford Art Gallery Two of Cork's most established and talented classical musicians, violinist Ruxandra Petcu-Colan (who begat the amazing Ioana) and pianist Gabriela Mayer will play violin sonatas by Schubert and Szymanowski. Tickets are €10/7.

8pm Cork School of Music I'll be at the National Symphony Orchestra checking out their performance with young violin soloist Alina Pogostina - a gorgeous programme of Bruch and Beethoven and opening with that popular chestnut, Wagner's overture to Tannhauser.

9.30ish Ziggy's (opposite the Oval) Andrea Bonino who brought you last year's big news Hadasha has an as yet unnamed new blues band with Eoin O'Regan and Jerome Rimson - they've only done 2 gigs but word has it something very special is happening already - won't cost you anything to find out! Can I do the Symphony Orchestra and this in one night? Course I can! Can you?

9pm Roundy Cormac O Caoimh is one of Cork's best singer-songwriters - I still haven't actually heard him but I know it's true, I just know it.



Friday 14th

9pm Bodega (White Room) STeT Lab Cork's most exciting experimental music event plays takes place for the last time in this plush and intimate venue before moving somewhere bigger - it's attracting big crowds of hip musos and is always an adventure for the ears. I'll be lazy and quote Han - "The event will feature Lone Monad (A.K.A. Don Malone) on electronics with Jesse Ronneau on double bass. Emeritus professor of Composition and Electronic Music at Roosevelt University, Chicago, Don Malone is a true pioneer of electronic music and improvisation."

Saturday 15th

10.30 Liquid Lounge Ping Pong needs little plugging from me anymore I gather but it's still a good place to hang with the hip cats - this week it hosts Plug'd Records' 4th birthday and Felix Kubin, a dadaist electro artist from Hamburg who cites Stockhausen, Ligeti & Kraftwerk as influences. There's always the roofgarden if it's too much for ya!

Sunday 16th

3pm Charlie's I don't say it often enough, if you've nothing to do of a Sunday afternoon there really is no better way to spend it than with a rake of Beamishes at the trad session. It's fun, it's messy and the music's usually great.

Monday 17th

9pm Cyprus Ave It'll be hot n sweaty and great craic altogether (and there's feck all else on of note) ....the St Patrick's Day Céilí Mór - gwanyabiya!


Wednesday 19th

8pm UCC Music Dept (O'Riada Hall) Once a year something very special happens - Mel Mercier and the UCC gang let the rest of us in to share in the music of the Javanese Gamelan. The traditional orchestra of metal pots, gongs and xylophones is perfectly normal in Indonesia, but this is the only one in the Republic of Ireland. It plays extraordinary, other worldly music - as they play a melody kind of floats out that is not carried by any one person, it really is magic. Gamelan music had a major effect on Western compaosers and visionaries in the twentieth century. Be warned - get there really early as this always fills...


That's it for now x