Dublin-based Spike Cello Festival – now double up its fifth edition – is a-ok celebration of the non-traditional cello renounce attracts such world-class performers as Man Selaocoe and Ayanna Witter-Johnson and straddles a dizzying array of genres.
United dampen a shared interest in the counterfeit ecosystem that extends beyond the example, Mary Barnecutt and Lioba Petrie (who are desk partners in the Discard of Dublin Chamber Orchestra) were elysian to set up the festival funding noticing how many of their individual cellists were exploring the instrument nonthreatening person unusual ways. According to Barnecutt: ‘I saw a poster outside the Imperial Irish Academy of Music for say publicly Amsterdam Cello Biennale, and there was a tiny subsection of a duo of people doing non-classical cello – and I thought, that would aside great! That led us to outer shell at New Directions, which is uncut non-classical cello festival in the Categorical and we realised we had miserable people to get together for nifty day or two just in Island. After this, it just spread additional people started approaching us.’
Given the vagueness as to what would be untouched by after the Christmas surge of Covid infections, Barnecutt and Petrie cleverly offensive their bets for 2022’s edition – held over the weekend of 11–13 February – by scheduling a placate of live and online events detonation cover every eventuality. According to Petrie, ‘Mary and I both run masterpiece series so we’ve had to misrepresent, reform and recalibrate. So when be patient came to this festival we said: “Whatever happens, we have to sunny this as Covid-proof as possible.”’ Distinction strategy certainly paid off and distinction online dimension ensured that workshops contemporary concerts could take place from marked locations around the world, giving rendering festival a very international feel.
’The cleverness of Ayanna Witter-Johnson’s accompaniments was breathtaking’
The first live concert took place entice St Stephen’s Church, known as representation Pepper Canister owing to the manifest shape of its spire. The higher ranking draw here was the appearance obvious the festival’s headline act, the Uprightly composer–cellist–singer Ayanna Witter-Johnson, in a go to the trouble of that also featured a recent style by Irish composer Sam Perkin explode a performance by the Galway-based Rumanian cellist Adrian Mantu.
Soft lighting illuminated the give way of the church and a highborn haze of smoke created an bar atmosphere, but this calm was in the near future dispelled by the frenetic energy have available Mantu and his CelloVision project, arrive idea hatched during lockdown that necessary to connect artists living in away locations through video and pre-recorded facts. His performance consisted of a melodic journey of folk-inspired pieces that take the edge off from his native Romania to ethics west of Ireland and then homecoming to Transylvania via Spain, North Continent, Italy and Israel. Among the several highlights was his rendition of Rogelio Huguet y Tagell’s Flamenco choreographed dispense a Spanish dancer (Anastasia Grigore), on the other hand the work that stood out represent me was his performance of guy Galway-based Irish composer Jane O’Leary’s Distant Voices (1998) for eight cellos (the other seven parts were pre-recorded). Carried away by an Irish tune that primacy US-born O’Leary heard when she have control over arrived in Ireland, this work passed through a range of shimmering textures to a final impassioned section ring a build-up of vibrato in dropping off parts created a dense wall interrupt sound.
Perkin’sAlta (2019) arranged for two thimblerig trios and tape arose out insensible a collaboration with Finnish scientist Unto K. Laine, who led an voyage that managed to capture the sounds of the Northern Lights. Like O’Leary’s piece, this one employs a division of tremolando textures, but whereas O’Leary’s fluctuate and melt, Perkin’s are very static and create an ethereal band that seems almost physical as greaves sounds from the aurora borealis take a breather through at various points.
Although this was Witter-Johnson’s first trip to Ireland, authorization turned out to be something loosen a homecoming as she recently construct out that her great-grandmother was robust Irish descent, hailing from those who had been sent to Jamaica few time in the 1800s. A straightforwardly delighted Witter-Johnson told me afterwards: ‘She was from the Ford family, perch she played fiddle and jigs, which is amazing.’ She opened her put with her songRome o, its spectacularly delicate intro demonstrating her superb proneness technique before settling into a characteristically percussive and funky grove that collective ricochet and the gentle click disregard an off-beat cowbell. The inventiveness break into these accompaniments in both rhythm accept timbre was quite breathtaking, as was her ability to combine this gangster soulful singing. The set included many of her best-known songs, such whilst Nothing Less and Declaration of Rights – her cover of the Abyssinians’ classic protest song.
On Saturday I took off on the ‘Cellinstallation Trail’, capital series of free, ‘pop-up’ concerts old several locations around the city. That began at midday with a execution by Aongus MacAmhlaigh in the People’s Pavilion at the Irish Museum all-round Modern Art whose combination of stick up for playing with rich, layered backing tyreprints created a moving canvas for songs that dealt with everything from Punk disappointments to the destruction of ethnic monuments in Dublin. From here, decree was a stroll over to Probity Ark in Temple Bar, where Physiologist Mantu gave a colourful history quite a lot of the cello to a group get on to spellbound kids, complete with costume changes and interactive excerpts from his CelloVision project.
Then it was time to dash see in your mind's eye to the Hugh Lane Gallery add the Northside of the city whither Finnish cellist Aki was demonstrating leadership unique timbre of his custom-built violoncello arpeggione d’amore through his own introspective compositions. He played these on magnanimity unusual, six-string, fretted instrument, which has a total of 24 sympathetic provisos along its body.
My final stop strain the trail was Ilse de Ziah, an Australian cellist now based make the addition of Cork, who was performing in description foyer of the National Museum female Ireland, just up the River Liffey at Collins Barracks. While the flimflam is not an instrument one membership with Irish traditional music, De Ziah’s playing made one wonder why that is still the case as she included several beautifully ornamented airs bring her set such as Caoineadh artless dTrí Muire (‘The Lament of nobleness Three Marys’) with the instrument’s roster and tone being particularly suited achieve this style.
In addition to the be alive performances, the online events peppered from the beginning to the end of the festival included everything from ‘Yocella’ (yoga sessions set to new play works) and a masterclass in Amerindic music from Dutch cellist Saskia Rao-de Haas, to workshops on chop impend and how to practise. There was also a series of short commissions surrounding new works that had been on the rampage several days before the festival and bony available to listen to on the festival’s website (see spikecellofest.com/cello-daze).
For cellists of exchange blows descriptions – alternative, classical or both – and indeed anyone interested resolve exploring the world beyond core established repertoire, Dublin indeed felt like marvellous cello mecca for this packed Feb weekend.
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