Crash Ensemble - This Is The Space/Part II

This Is The Space//Part II features the world premiere of Free State 13 works by Robert Coleman and Lara Gallagher commissioned by Crash and NMD, alongside [REACTIONS] - new music from Amy Rooney, Bébhinn McDonnell (SYLK) and Deirdre Gribbin set to film by videographer Laura Sheeran, and the film premiere of INVITATION TO A JOURNEY with music by Deirdre Gribbin and film by Eoin Heaney. 

Free State is the 13th edition of Crash’s open submission concert for up-and-coming composers from, or resident in, Ireland. Composers were selected from an anonymous open submission call, commissioned by Crash Ensemble and New Music Dublin and this year mentored by acclaimed Irish composer Andrew Hamilton. 

Free State provides incubation for new work, a professional platform for its presentation, supporting composers through having work commissioned, mentored, workshopped, performed, promoted and recorded. 

Free State Composers: 

Robert Coleman 

Lara Gallagher 

Performers: 

Crash Ensemble 

Ryan McAdams Conductor 

Mentor: Andrew Hamilton 

[REACTIONS] 

Amidst the onset of the global pandemic, in 2020, Crash Ensemble commissioned 9 Irish composers - established, up and coming and from outside of the contemporary music sphere - to write unique new works for duos within the group. Composers were asked to create a musical response - a political or personal response to their experiences, the current state, or their thoughts for the future. Filmmaker Laura Sheeran was commissioned to make an accompanying film for each work, combining footage from the recording sessions alongside text and imagery. 

[REACTIONS] Composers: 

Amy Rooney 

Bébhinn McDonnell (SYLK) 

Deirdre Gribbin 

Performers: 

Crash Ensemble 

Film: Laura Sheeran 

INVITATION TO A JOURNEY 

Inspired by the inimitable Irish modernist designer Eileen Gray, INVITATION TO A JOURNEY is a powerful, evocative score by Irish composer Deirdre Gribbin, commissioned by CoisCéim Dance Theatre for Crash Ensemble. In this new work, film maker Eoin Heaney evokes Eileen Gray's sensibilities, her excitements and successes, through impressionistic and lyrical imagery, architectural shapes and form, and the emotional fallout of strained relationships. “We must ask nothing of artists but to be of their own time”– Eileen Gray 

This film is dedicated to the memory of Emma O'Kane (1977-2021) 

Composer: Deirdre Gribbin 

Performers: Crash Ensemble 

Film: Eoin Heaney Highly Stimulating Productions.