How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting artists around the world? We speak to four Irish artists abroad about their lives during the lock-down and the impact on their work.
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There is No Going Back Now: Live Music and the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic means we are going to witness another radical shift in music in the digital age, writes Toner Quinn.
In the technologist Kevin Kelly’s 2017 book The Inevitable, he writes about the large technological trends that are already up and running and that will shape our society over the next three decades. His argument is that these trends are not especially reliant on the arrival of new products or inventions, but are driven by the ‘biases’ of technology that has already been invented. When we ‘bend’ our society to these biases, we are in a better position to control the technology and take advantage of it. What is fascinating is how we often resist them until conditions suddenly change.
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Can Anyone But Artists Themselves Solve Their Money Problems?
If artists and musicians are ever going to solve their perennial financial issues then it is time for a different approach, writes Toner Quinn.
Last week, an article by the economist John FitzGerald appeared on the front page of the business supplement of the Irish Times. ‘Music really put us on the map with European citizens’, the title read. In the online version, an alternative title appeared: ‘Irish cultural exports helped pave the way for economic growth.’
Podcast: What Next for Other Voices? – An Interview with Philip King
The creator of Other Voices spoke to the Journal of Music about the ideas behind the programme and about the role music can play in society.
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Journal of Music to Launch Podcast Series
Upcoming guests include Philip King, Laoise Kelly, Gareth Murphy and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh.
Starting next Wednesday 5 February, the Journal of Music will issue a weekly podcast interview that will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Soundcloud.
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The Beethoven Connection
The Midwinter Festival in Galway focused on early Beethoven this year, and brought a renowned piano-violin partnership to the west. Toner Quinn reviews.
Music for Galway’s Midwinter Festival (17–19 January) was the first major musical event of the European Capital of Culture celebrations in Galway, although the year does not officially get underway until February. Despite all the challenges for Galway 2020, there is a sense that this is going to be an exceptional year for the city and county. Galway has a strong cultural life already. Add in an additional layer and we can’t anticipate the impact it will have.
The Harp and Soul of Ireland
Irish harping has been given recognition by UNESCO. It is an important moment for Irish music, writes Toner Quinn.
We are accustomed to ups and downs in Irish music. One minute we are celebrating the recipients of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil awards, the next we are campaigning to save Lyric FM. One day we are welcoming the arrival of an exciting new forum like the TradTalk conference, then in the same period we hear the news that Galway Jazz Festival is closing.
Are We Ambitious Enough for Irish Traditional Music?
The inaugural TradTalk conference, a new discussion forum for traditional artists, took place last weekend (16 November). Toner Quinn reflects on some of the issues raised.
Two years before he died, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin recalled to me in an interview the surprise he felt in the 1970s when Irish traditional music became so popular across the world, and how surprised he was again when, in each subsequent decade, its popularity seemed to grow even more.
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Lankum Won’t Let Ireland Forget
Traditional music once comforted us and reassured us, writes Toner Quinn, but not Lankum.
The music writer Barra Ó Séaghdha once observed a connection between the success of the Irish economy and a decline in slow-air playing. Bustling commerce took the traditional musicians with it, he suggested, speeding up and layering their sound, meeting a demand for entertainment created by ‘societal amnesia’ and market forces. Although the slow air did make a return with the economic crash, the essay, titled ‘The Price of Happiness?’, reminds us that there is a significance to the music created at critical times.
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Seeing Beyond
The Irish Memory Orchestra and 26 musicians with sight loss gave the world premiere of Dave Flynn’s Vision Symphony last weekend. Toner Quinn reviews.
On the same night as the Philip Glass Ensemble was performing at the NCH in Dublin last weekend, a very different interpretation of Glass’ music, and a contrasting ensemble, could be heard in Glór in Ennis (26 Oct.).
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Toner Quinn 