Music Current Festival 2019

Dublin Sound Lab, Ireland


Music Current is an Irish festival for new music, organised by the Dublin Sound Lab in cooperation with the Contemporary Music Centre. Already in its fourth year, it offers a platform for the newest of contemporary electronic music and presents five concerts over four days. The program – consisting of new works from Irish artists and a contemporary international repertoire not often heard in Ireland – can be heard at the Smock Alley Theatre. This year’s festival has a focus on the theatrical, in particular Steven Takasugis’ Sideshow, an instrumental masterpiece of ensemble and electronics in which the players (in this case, the Tzara Ensemble from Switzerland) perform in a theatrical sense. The theme is continued with the Swiss Trio Retro Disco, whose members are inspired by Dada aesthetics, creating performances which swim in the absurd. The trio will present both Swiss and Irish works which have been specially written for them. Retro Disco will likewise perform commissioned works from the Argentinian composer Patricia Martinez and the Irish composer Karen Power, alongside a special concert in which new works composed as part of the festival’s ‘call for participation’ event will be played. The festival begins with a double-program: the concert Sweeney Lives! will present three large ‘radiophonic’ works of the Irish pioneer of electronic music, Frank Corcoran, and a Cross-Play concerto by the Stock11-Kollektiv from Germany. The latter will be presenting new works from Irish composers for mixed ensemble and electronics, as well as works by the collective itself. As before, this year’s festival will feature masterclasses, workshops and round-table discussions – in particular with the guest-composer Steven Takasugi – offering the opportunity to make contacts within the profession and meet fellow composers.


April 10–13, 2019
Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, Ireland

April 10–13, 2019
CMC Library, Contemporary Music Centre, Dublin, Ireland


Further Information:
dublinsoundlab.ie