Kilkenny Arts Festival Programme 2007

Kilkenny Arts Festival

WELCOME TO OUR 34thFESTIVAL,10 DAYS OF ENCHANTING ARTISTIC DELIGHTS FOR ALL! FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON ALL EVENTS,PLEASE DROP INTO OUR BOX OFFICE,LOCATED THIS YEAR AT THE ST FRANCIS ABBEY BREWERY,PARLIAMENT STREET (OPPOSITE ROTHE HOUSE).

Kilkenny Arts Festival Box Office

Tel+353 (0)56 775 2175 www.kilkennyarts.ie

Email info@kilkennyarts.ie

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Fergus Cronin (chair),Susan Proud,Donna McGreevy, Maureen Kennelly,Anna O’Sullivan,Conor Langton, Thomas O’Toole,Michael O’Toole,Isabell Smyth, Emer Foley,Orla Kelly

Festival Team

CEO Geraldine Tierney

Administrator Colette Power

Interim Administrator Áine Dennehy

Programme Co-ordinator Rebekah Patterson

Production Manager Michael Burke

Assistant Production Manager Orla Burke

Programme Editor & Publicity Co-ordinator Maeve Butler

Technical Consultant Eamonn Fox

Marketing Consultant Jane Russell

Marketing Assistant Aisling Comerford

PR Kate Bowe PR

Friends & Volunteer Co-ordinator Niamh Duffe

Artist Liaison Rebecca Reynolds

Merchandising Manager Jacqui Dempsey

Box Office Team Tracy Power (Manager)

Lilian Burke,Ami Burke,Liz Nolan,Nicola Young

Graphic Design A&D

Web Design Pixel Design

IT Support Tectrix

Web Maintenance Spot On

Programmers

Theatre/Dance & Street Theatre Jimmy Fay

Classical Music Catherine Leonard

Music Gerry Godley

Literature Colm Tóibín

Visual Art Hugh Mulholland

Children’s Events Emer McGowan

Festival Image Saturio Alonso

Thanks to our amazing team of volunteers, especially all our regulars - we could not do this without you.

Thank you to all our sponsors and friendsyour generosity makes this happen.

To our programmers and artists –your passion and commitment inspires us.

To everyone who gets involved –thank you.

Special thanks to Íde Deloughry,Karen Hanratty, Caroline Magee,Brian Tyrrell,Tony Walsh,Kathleen Moran,Ger Cody,Mary Butler,Annette Stapleton, Peggy Murray,Fintan Blake Kelly,Donal Gibbons, Denis O’Reilly,Superintendent Pat Mangan,Alison McGrath,Alexandra Meldrum,Dean Norman Lynas, Johnny Holden,Winifred Lee Long,Róisín

McQuillan,Eamonn Walsh,Sharon O’Gorman, John Ryan,Errol Delaney,Brian Kiely,Michael Lynch,Grace Marshall,Anne Teehan,Frank

Kavanagh,John Purcell,Colm Hogan,Majella

Byrne,Lisa Bourke,Fr William Dalton,Bridget

O’Brien,Betty Brennan,Dalton TV,Michael Gannon, Maria Comerford,Fiachra de Róiste,Elizabeth

Keyes,Sunniva O’Flynn,Kasandra O’Connell,Julia

Crampton,Marion Acreman,Annemarie O’Meara, Grace Kearney,Esther Mullins,Gabrielle Hickey, Blaise Smith,Malcolm Proud,The Cat Laughs, Tom Watts,John Clarke,Richard Hennessy, Sammy Geoghegan,Philip Edmondson,Vincent Dempsey,Sergeant Gary Gordon,Kilkenny College, Mary Blanchfield,Martin Brett,Michael Brett.

This event is free of charge, but ticketed.Please be sure to collect your free tickets in advance from the box office to reduce queuing time at the venue. Buses leave from The Parade at 9pm, €2 (return). Car parking on site.

Please note that this is an outdoor event - please bring warm clothes/rain wear.

Sunday 12 August 9.45pm

The Hub at Cillín Hill

Carlow Road,Kilkenny

Admission free BUT TICKETED

Bus €2 (return)

This free public event is kindly supported by Kevin Moore Building Contractor Ltd.

Isséo!

COMPAGNIE DU MIRADOR(Belgium)

A tender love story,charmingly told through a delightful display of aerial theatre.A mélange of circus,dance,humour,poetry and foolishness,this sensitive and funny performance will re-awaken in us the wonder and joy of life.

The Ark TEATR ÓSMEGO DNIA (Poland)

A large ship,metallic sails glittering in the night,a symbol of hope in the dark…

The Ark is a place of celebration,dance and joy… or a temple for worship… or a haven where memories come to life… A powerful and visually thrilling spectacle,The Ark tells the turbulent stories of ordinary people thrown into war, where their only refuge is this great,graceful,benevolent ship,gliding through the crowd,spreading its sails,drawing in the weary and the war-torn,and charting a course to their promised land.

Award-winning experimental theatre company Teatr Ósmego Dnia has carved a role as an artistic collective creating large-scale outdoor spectacles,forging theatrical experiences rich in imagery and expression and seizing opportunities to address the destinies of those often forgotten in the vast machine of the world.

Following the success of last year’s parade,the festival is delighted to bring this exciting and stunning theatrical spectacle to the people of Kilkenny.

The unmissable highlight of the festival’s outdoor events!

Marvel at the fearlessness and skill of these two engaging performers as they create a scene in the sky to enthral.So warm and charming are the characters,they win over the hearts of audiences of all ages. So skilled are they in acrobatics and gravity-defying movements,they make this funny,poetic aerial “dance”seem easy.An absolute joy.

Regis Leroy and Ingrid Swaelens trained in Brussels and Antwerp and spent many years touring with Cirque du Soleil and Féria Musica,two of the world leaders in physical and circus theatre.

Sunday 19 August 1pm & 4pm

The Peace Park (beside James Stephens’ Swimming Pool)

WINNER OF THEGRAND JURY PRIZE AT THE GHENT INTERNATIONAL STREET THEATRE FESTIVAL

“seized the hearts of the audience”

LIBRE BELGIQUE

Tomasz Kizny

Oyster Opera Duo (UK)

Friday 17 & Saturday 18 August

Market Cross Shopping Centre & Streets of Kilkenny

“Their duets were of the highest quality… almost transcendent”

THE TIMES

Buí Bolg (Ireland)

Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 August

Market Cross Shopping Centre & Streets of Kilkenny

When was the last time you were invited to waltz along to Verdi’s Brindisi?

Or pounced upon by a man-mad mezzo? Or serenaded at close range by a stunning soprano? Oyster Opera is a unique double act,combining wonderful singing with lots of fun and a healthy helping of audience participation. Chancing to hear a beautiful operatic voice on the street can have a truly surprising… and magical effect!

KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL presents the world première of MABOU MINES (US) production of

Fri 10 & Mon 13 Aug,9pm

Sat 11 Aug,6pm & 9pm

Sun 12 Aug,8.30pm

The Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle

Admission €20/€18

Mayhem returns to the streets of Kilkenny this summer,courtesy of internationally renowned street theatre company Buí Bolg,who are back in town with their larger than life,unpredictable but lovable characters.The Mad Hatter is looking for his tea party but he better watch out for the Queen of Hearts!

Poor Maud and Bill,the lovable grandparents.The weather’s lovely but if they could just find somewhere for a little nap…

But if you’re looking to work off those summer ice-creams,keep an eye out for the Aerobics Instructors; they’ll have you running around Kilkenny in no time!

And still wandering around three months after the Rhythm and Roots Festival are the Hillbilly Brothers… Can you help them find their way home?

A Prelude to a Death in Venice (Harvey’s Version)

A Prelude to a Death in Venice is a “west coast concept”,referring to Venice Beach California,awash in organic salads,sun splash tie-dye and acid tabs – every John’s Place in the Sun.

Lee Breuer is one of the most extraordinary and visionary directors working in theatre today.From his roots in late sixties radical political theatre,to recent and now legendary productions such as The Gospel at Colonus (starring Morgan Freeman and the Blind Boys of Alabama) to the vertically challenging Dollhouse,Breuer has remained true to his unique and subversive vision.

Mabou Mines is one of the most adventurous and extraordinary avant-garde theatre companies of the last forty years,defined by a deep understanding of the collaborative process,their work emphasising the truly theatrical, a theatre of fusion where all the arts are given equal consideration.

In an organic and quirky mix of drama,puppetry and film, A Prelude to a Death inVenice (Harvey’sVersion) is a mythological passion of animal and man that rivals Tristan and Isolde in its iconic impact on western culture.

Trust us:you have never seen anything quite like this before.Be brave.

Co-directed by Lee Breuer & Dodd Loomis With Nic Novicki

Public interview with Lee Breuer & Jimmy Fay,Curator of the festival theatre programme

Saturday 11 August 3pm

The Parade Tower

Admission €5

Screenings of Mabou Mines’ 1975

The Lost Ones by Samuel Beckett

Sat 11 Aug - 12 noon,1pm & 2pm, Sun 12 Aug - 12 noon,2pm & 3pm Medieval Room,Kilkenny Castle

Admission Free

A rare opportunity to see a valuable theatrical/video document of the legendary production,original score by Philip Glass.

Tom LeGoff

Sunday 12 - Tuesday 14 August

Sun & Mon 7pm,Tues 6.30pm

The Watergate Theatre

Admission €18/€16

Nouvelles Folies

FIAT LUX(France)

An uproarious performance by the leading French theatre ensemble Fiat Lux, Nouvelles Folies tells the story of a smart young city couple,in search of a holiday from the frenetic pace of urban life.On arrival in a remote village by the sea,they find the behaviour of the fun-loving local fishermen less than helpful.Misunderstandings,cultural differences,gender clashes… nothing is spared in this fresh,light-hearted and humorous production.

Colourful,inventive and bursting with energy,this wordless spectacle from the masters of French physical theatre promises an evening of clowning, absurdity and mischief-making of the highest order.

Following the sell-out success of Strike last year,Kilkenny Arts Festival is delighted to welcome back the hilarious burlesque theatre company Fiat Lux with their brand new show.

This Dancing Life World Première

IRISH MODERN DANCE THEATRE (Ireland)

THE STAGE

“terrific… a tremendous source of comedy”

THE SCOTSMAN

“It would be absurd to miss it”

THE HERALD, EDINBURGH

Wednesday 15 August 6.30pm

The Carlton Ballroom

Chapel Lane,Kilkenny

Admission €12/€10

A celebration of dance and dancers,a marathon installation in non-theatrical time and space,breaking down the distinction between dance as performance and dance as a way of life… Structured like a massive orchestral work,with a cast of 20 dancers and two musicians,and lasting for four hours,the audience is free to come and go throughout the event.

“I do not address why we dance but rather,that we dance.The very effort holds meaning and significance for those who participate and,hopefully,for our witnesses.” Sara Rudner

Sara Rudner is a living dance legend,revered as a choreographer and dancer. Her dance performances include the Milos Forman films Ragtime, Hair and Amadeus and the lead in David Byrne/Twyla Tharp’s Catherine Wheel.Her choreographies include Heartbeat for Mikhail Baryshnikov and major work for the leading European festivals Dance Umbrella,Festival D’Automne and the Salzburg Festival.

John Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre is dedicated to creating new work and expanding the experience of dance theatre for audiences and performers. The company has toured extensively worldwide.

Music

William Catanzaro

Jerome Morris

Lighting

Eric Würtz

“To watch a Rudner dance is to see a constant interplay of impulses… a rich, witty lyricism that is at once intoxicating and as natural as bird song”

NEW YORK TIMES

“Tenderness, feistiness, craziness and wit mingle in this banquet of dancing”

THE VILLAGE VOICE

Beginnings - Workshop

Intro to modern dance, suitable for 14 yrs+

Tuesday 14 August 6pm

The Carlton Ballroom

Admission €10

“exuberant comedy… a delight from start to finish”

Choreographed by Sara Rudner

Performed by Sara Rudner & Company

Thursday 16 - Sunday 19 August

8pm

The Watergate Theatre

Admission €18/€16

NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN

Director Gavin Quinn

Written by Simon Doyle & Gavin Quinn

Design

Andrew Clancy

Lighting Design

Aedín Cosgrove

Costume Design

Helen McCusker Music

Gordon is a Mime

“wickedly funny and wonderfully theatrical”

THE IRISH TIMES

“fearless theatre… a bold modernisation”

EDMONTON JOURNAL, CANADA

“funny and intelligent”

THE GUARDIAN

“a rocking, rolling soap opera”

THE GLASGOW HERALD

Oedipus Loves You

PAN PAN THEATRE COMPANY(Ireland)

Are we more interested in survival than truth? Exploring the historical curiosity of the Oedipus myth and its relevance for our anxious age, Oedipus Loves You exposes the violation of taboos in our society,which we observe almost every day,but are unsure how to deal with at the moment of discovery of the truth…

Based on and inspired by the Oedipus the King plays of Seneca and Sophocles and Sigmund Freud’s The Dissolution of the Oedipus Complex, Pan Pan Theatre Company’s fearless production presents a sensational new take on an ancient story.Set in a contemporary,imaginary suburbia inhabited by Oedipus,Antigone,Creon,Terisias and Jocasta,this powerful performance maximises the use of visual imagery,live music and remote control direction to enhance the seething dramatic tension surrounding the telling of a “complicated”family history and the taboo subject of sexuality within the family politik.

Pan Pan Theatre Company creates and produces contemporary live performances in diverse locations,exploring new forms and approaches and experimenting with time,space and music,with the aim of finding their own idiosyncratic,individual step.

With Gina Moxley,Ruth Negga,Ned Dennehy, Derrick Devine and Dylan Tighe.

Ulster Orchestra (Northern Ireland)

Enriching life through music,the mission statement of the Ulster Orchestra,is a clear articulation of the goals and dreams of this major symphony orchestra whose achievements display extraordinary passion and commitment. Based in Belfast,the Ulster Orchestra is the cornerstone of cultural life in Northern Ireland and fulfils a significant ambassadorial role for the region through its extensive tours of Europe,Asia and the United States.

Conducting the Orchestra’s Kilkenny programme will be the internationally-renowned Adrian Leaper,who brings to this concert an exceptional reputation for musical integrity and intensity of interpretation.The guest appearance of the exciting and dynamic American cellist Ani Aznavoorian for the Dvorák concerto promises to be a rare treat.

The festival is particularly delighted to welcome the Ulster Orchestra in its 40th anniversary year to perform this wonderful repertoire in the glorious surroundings of St Canice’s Cathedral.

Saturday 11 August

8pm

St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €25/€23

Conductor

Adrian Leaper

Soloist

Ani Aznavoorian

PROGRAMME

BRAHMS Hungarian Dance No.1

DVORÁK Cello Concerto

BRAHMS Symphony No.2

“A consistent and joyful pleasure”

THE IRISH TIMES

“A fantastic night of music”

BELFAST TELEGRAPH

Photos Ros Kavanagh

music

Sunday 12 August

8pm

St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €22/€20

Ailish Tynan (IRELAND) & Julius Drake (UK)

“full-hearted and free… made the spine tingle”

THE TIMES

music

Tuesday 14 August

8pm

St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €22/€20

PROGRAMME

PROGRAMME

BRAHMS Ten songs

DEBUSSY Fêtes Galantes I

FAURE Three Verlaine settings

MOZART Non temer amato bene –With violinist

Catherine Leonard

DEBUSSY Fêtes Galantes II

FAURE Three De Lisle settings

HUGHES Selection of Irish folk songs

A unique stage performer,the irresistible Irish soprano Ailish Tynan has a “lyric voice of delicious purity” (Opera Now),a commanding stage presence and a charm that utterly delighted Kilkenny audiences at last year’s festival.Ailish has performed leading roles at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,with Welsh National Opera and Opera Ireland,and made her United States debut earlier this year as Zerlina in Don Giovanni for the Seattle Opera.

Nicholas Daniel (UK), Julius Drake (UK) & the Carducci String Quartet (UK & IRELAND)

Distinguished pianist Julius Drake has collaborated with many of the world’s leading artists at major international music centres including Carnegie Hall and The Lincoln Center in New York,and the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna.

Passionately interested in song,Julius has devised song series for the BBC,the Wigmore Hall in London and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam,and his comprehensive recording resumé includes Gramophone and Edison award-winning collaborations with Ian Bostridge.

“splendid in a variety of moods and styles. The audience loved it all”

Widely regarded as one of the greatest exponents of the oboe in the world, Nicholas Daniel is also a distinguished and charismatic performer,an increasingly successful conductor and an important ambassador for music and musicians in many different fields.He has enjoyed a long and fruitful collaboration with fellow chamber musician and illustrious pianist Julius Drake,a combination which has been described as “one of the most satisfying in British chamber music:vital,thoughtful and confirmed in musical integrity of the highest order”. THE INDEPENDENT

Here they are joined by one of Europe’s top young string ensembles,the exceptional Carducci String Quartet,for this exquisite programme of classics from the chamber music repertoire.

MOZART Sonata in F,K376

HARTY Three Miniatures for Oboe and Piano - Orientale; Chansonette; A la Campagne

BLISS Oboe Quintet

SCHUMANN Piano Quintet in E flat,Op.44

NICHOLAS DANIEL:

“a formidable virtuoso”

THE GUARDIAN

JULIUS DRAKE: “a pianist of strength, character, exquisite precision”

TORONTO GLOBE & MAIL

CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET: “stunning… musicians of high intelligence”

RTÉ LYRIC FM WILL RECORD THIS CONCERT FOR BROADCAST AT A LATER DATE. RTÉ

THE TIMES

NEW YORK TIMES

Neil Libbert

Neil Libbert

Tricia de Courcy Ling

»classical music

Wednesday 15 August

1.10pm

St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €15/€13

A Musical Crescendo

(IRELAND, UK & US)

PROGRAMME

PENDERECKI Cadenza for solo viola

RAVEL Sonata for violin and cello

MOZART Oboe Quartet in F Major

Violinist Catherine Leonard has captured the attention of audiences and critics across the world for the musical integrity and interpretive insight she brings to standard repertoire and newly composed works alike.In this performance she leads a unique ensemble of extraordinary talent in a performance of some of the finest examples of contemporary and classical European chamber music.

The Carducci String Quartet (IRELAND & UK)

Thursday 16 August

1.10pm

The Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle

CATHERINE LEONARD: “a conspicuously gifted player”

SANTA BARBARA NEWS PRESS

NICHOLAS DANIEL: “a formidable virtuoso”

THE GUARDIAN

ANI AZNAVOORIAN: “a true artist”

NEW YORK CONCERT REVIEW

JENNIFER STUMM: “outstanding”

THE STRAD

Nicholas Daniel is a distinguished and charismatic performer and is widely regarded as one of the greatest exponents of the oboe in the world.One of the foremost cellists of her generation,the dynamic Ani Aznavoorian is a young musician to watch,while a unique musical voice and a commanding stage presence have earned worldwide accolades and awards for violist Jennifer Stumm. A feast for the senses.

Catherine Leonard is the Curator of the classical music programme of Kilkenny Arts Festival 2007.

One of Europe’s top young string ensembles,the Carducci String Quartet is blazing a trail on the international stage.In addition to winning an impressive array of international competitions,including the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland,the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition,the London International String Quartet Competition and the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition,these superb musicians have also studied with members of the Amadeus,Vanbrugh and Chilingirian quartets,and most recently with Gabor Takacs in London,as well as Paul Katz of the Cleveland Quartet and composer György Kurtág in Paris.With such a burgeoning career, Kilkenny Arts Festival is delighted to welcome the Carducci String Quartet for this year’s festival.Catch these stars in the ascendant.

Admission €15/€13

PROGRAMME

HAYDN Op.20,No.4

KURTÁG Moments Musicaux

DVORÁK “American”quartet (String Quartet No.12 in F,Op.96)

THE TIMES

“The best of the nation’s young, professional talent”

LONDON EVENING STANDARD

“stunning…. musicians of high intelligence”

Tricia de Courcy

LingJack Liebeck

Thursday 16 August

8pm

St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €20/€18

Leon McCawley (UK)

One of Britain’s finest young pianists,the eloquent Leon McCawley has performed with many of the leading British and international orchestras including the London,Royal,Netherlands and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras,and the Vienna,Cincinatti,Dallas and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras.

In addition to his New York recital debut at the Frick Collection last year, Leon has also recently performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Wigmore Hall in London,Philharmonie and Konzerthaus in Berlin, Prinzregententheater in Munich,Musikverein in Vienna,Tonhalle in Zurich, Rudolfinum in Prague,Kennedy Center in Washington DC and at the Miami International Piano Festival.

A former BBC Young Musician of the Year,Leon’s expressive and poetic style has led him to collaborations with the Belcea and Emperor Quartets, Gautier Capuçon,Thomas Carroll,Natalie Clein,Steven Isserlis,Emma Johnson,David Pyatt and Matthew Trusler,and his many CD recordings include works by Barber,Beethoven,Schumann,Hans Gál and Mozart.

Friday 17 August

8pm

St Canice’s Cathedral Admission €22/€20

PROGRAMME

Amour,Tourments & PlaisirsAirs de Cour,Cantatas and Suites from the French Baroque, featuring works by De Chancy, Charpentier,Marais and Montéclair.

Ensemble

Wanda Landowska (FRANCE)

Legendary French Baroque musician Sébastien Marq brings to the Ensemble Wanda Landowska a depth of passion and breadth of expertise that is truly rare. Featuring the exceptional talents of soprano Elizabeth Dobbin,cellist Emmanuel Balssa and harpsichordist Raphaël Collignon,this concert at St Canice’s Cathedral promises to be an extraordinary experience.

RTÉ LYRIC FM WILL RECORD THIS CONCERT FOR BROADCAST AT A LATER DATE.

A leading light in the internationally renowned early music ensemble Les Arts Florissants, Sébastien Marq also performs with Marc Minkowski and Jordi Savall, and is a member of L’Ensemble Mezza Luna.Founder of the jazz-baroque ensemble Ximproviso,he is also a professor at The Hague Conservatory of Music.

Elizabeth Dobbin performs as a soloist with various baroque ensembles in Europe, including L’Arpeggiata and the Academy of the Begijnhof. Emmanuel Balssa is a member of ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants,La Petite Bande and the Ricercar Consort. Raphaël Collignon has performed with the European Union and the Harmony of Nations Baroque Orchestras,Ensemble Sirocco and Laterna Magica.

PROGRAMME

MOZART Fantasie in C minor, K475

BEETHOVEN Sonata Op.27 No.1 “Quasi Una Fantasia”

CHOPIN Fantasie in F Minor, Op.49

SCHUMANN Drei Fantasiestücke in C Minor,Op.111

SCHUMANN Fantasie in C major, Op.17

“consistent intelligence”

THE IRISH TIMES

NEW YORK TIMES

“a lyrical and heartfelt performance”

Benjamin Ealovega

KINDLY SUPPORTED BY ANNE O’DRISCOLL

Saturday 18 August

1.10pm

St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €15/€13

PROGRAMME

MOZART Sonata in C Minor, K457

BARBER Excursions,Op.20

WILSON For Eileen,after rain

LISZT Après une lecture de Dante

Michael McHale (IRELAND)

“an elegant sensibility… instantly engaging”

THE TIMES

“sincere and unaffected playing”

THE IRISH TIMES

Chamber Masterpieces (IRELAND, UK & USA)

Bringing together the extraordinary talents of pianist Leon McCawley,cellist Ani Aznavoorian,violist Jennifer Stumm, the Carducci String Quartet and violinist Catherine Leonard creates a world-class international collective for an unmissable performance of two of the masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire.A thrilling finale to the classical music programme of Kilkenny Arts Festival 2007.

Saturday 18 August

8pm

St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €22/€20

PROGRAMME

SCHUBERT Piano Trio in E Flat, Op.100

BRAHMS String Sextet in B Flat Major, Op.18

One of the leading young Irish pianists of his generation, Michael McHale graduated in Music from Cambridge University and went on to study piano with Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music as holder of the EMI Music Sound Foundation Scholarship.

A former student of John O’Conor and Réamonn Keary at the Royal Irish Academy of Music,Michael won the Brennan and Field Prizes at the 2006 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition and was the 2004 Camerata Ireland Musician of the Year.

Featured as a ‘rising star’ in International Piano magazine following his performance with the Hallé Orchestra at the Piano 2006 Festival in Manchester,Michael has also performed with Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland,and with the Ulster Orchestra.

Though early in his career,this intelligent and hugely talented musician has performed throughout the UK and Ireland,France,Belgium,Germany, Hungary and the US,including several broadcast performances for BBC Radio 3 and RTE Radio.Catch this rising Irish star while you can.

CATHERINE LEONARD: “magical interpretation… an artist of international stature”

THE SUNDAY TRIBUNE

LEON McCAWLEY: “lyrical and heartfelt”

NEW YORK TIMES

ANI AZNAVOORIAN: “a true artist”

NEW YORK CONCERT REVIEW

JENNIFER STUMM: “outstanding”

THE STRAD

CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET: “stunning”

THE TIMES

RTÉ LYRIC FM WILL RECORD THIS CONCERT FOR BROADCAST AT A LATER DATE.

Sheila Rock

Saturday 11 - Sunday 19 August

10.30am - 5pm (Mon-Sat)

12 noon - 5pm (Sun)

Rothe House,Parliament St

Admission free

Please note:As Rothe House is an historical building,access for wheelchairs and pushchairs is restricted.

CONCERT

Friday 17 August

2.15pm

Rothe House,Parliament St

Admission free but ticketed. Limited availability.

Tickets & further info from The Contemporary Music Centre 01 6731922 / info@cmc.ie

Please note,access to the exhibition is restricted to ticket holders during this performance.

“Without a doubt, hers is the most original compositional voice to emerge in Ireland in the last 20 years.”

The Art of Sound

A GLIMPSE INTO THE CREATIVITY OF A SELECTION OF IRISH COMPOSERS

The Contemporary Music Centre presents a photographic and multimedia exhibition which brings to life Irish composers and their music.The exhibition features Irish photographer Eugene Langan’s dramatic and perceptive photographs of each composer,alongside original manuscripts and graphic scores.An audio-guide narrated by Eamon Lawlor of RTÉ Lyric fm brings to life the personalities of the composers and the music on display,leading to a truly unique and rich experience for the visitor.

The Contemporary Music Centre is Ireland’s national archive and resource centre for new music,supporting and developing the work of composers throughout the Republic and Northern Ireland. www.cmc.ie

CONCERT Jennifer Walshe

Notations

Award-winning avant-garde composer and vocalist Jennifer Walshe will present a variety of compositions for solo voice, with visuals,which demonstrate the wide variety of notation used by composers today.

OPERARIA

Soprano Sinéad Blanchfield will perform a selection of renowned arias at Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre.The world premiere of a solo version of Vide Con Meum by Patrick Cassidy will also be performed.

Friday 10 August at 8pm Tickets & further info fromThe Book Centre,Kilkenny (056) 7762117

Mingus Dynasty (US)

When Charles Mingus passed away,he left a unique body of work and a legacy of compositions that embraces bebop,the blues,gospel and the avant garde,in itself a kaleidoscopic road trip through American music of the 20th century. Controversial and outspoken to the last,his passionate views on civil rights were an ever present theme and they’re still resonating today,largely through the work of Sue Mingus and her projects dedicated to Charles’ music.

Of these, The Mingus Dynasty is perhaps closest to the late bassist’s own conception on landmark recordings like Blues & Roots and Mingus Ah Um. Since its first performance shortly after Mingus’ death in 1979,The Dynasty has had a rolling roster of New York’s finest musicians gathered to pay tribute to his genius,and this latest inception is no different,with saxophonists Donny McCaslin and Abraham Burton,the extrovert trombone of Kuumba Frank Lacy and incendiary trumpet of Alex Sipiagin,and a hard swinging rhythm section of bassist Joe Martin,drummer Johnathan Blake and pianist George Colligan.Together,they provide compelling evidence that Mingus still moves people,his music as relevant today as when first conceived in his own turbulent times.Better get it in your soul.

Friday 10 August 8.30pm

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

Admission €22/€20

MICHAEL DERVAN, IRISH TIMES

Saturday 11 August 1.10pm St Canice’s Cathedral Admission €15/€13

Vyvienne Long (IRELAND)

There’s something idiosyncratic and engaging about the music of Vyvienne Long,be it her three cello frontline,the intelligent arrangements,or her left of centre choice of material,and it’s all delivered in a voice that insinuates with every new airing.

It’s an approach honed during the lengthy hours on the road with Damien Rice,with whom she has toured the world and collaborated in the studio. With the release of her own debut EP Bird Talk,she has signalled a desire to be celebrated as a solo performer in her own right,and justly so.The momentum is building behind this very individual Irish musician,including performances at last year’s Electric Picnic and RTÉ’s Other Voices,filmed in St James’ Church in Dingle.

Our own St Canice’s Cathedral equally seems an apt location for Vyvienne’s gentle hybrid,where she’ll be heard with fellow cellists Mary Barnecut and Jane Hughes,and her empathic rhythm section of pianist Cian Boylan,bassist Charlie Foley and drummer Guy Rickarby

FRANKIE GAVIN’S Hibernian Rhapsody (IRELAND)

Is there a more prodigious talent in the world of Irish music than Frankie Gavin? Certainly,there are few creative summits that remain unconquered for this fiddler extraordinaire.

From his first TV appearance as a precocious seven year old with a tin whistle and the many fiddle and flute prizes that followed,then on into adulthood and sixteen albums with Dé Danann,his seven solo albums, and the collaborations with everyone from Yehudi Menuhin to The Rolling Stones,Frankie Gavin has been to the top of the mountain and carved his name into the rock face of traditional music.

His reputation has been built on a foundation of innate musicality,an uncompromising commitment to the purity of the fiddle,a meticulous attention to tone and pacing,an easy way with an audience and a palpable joy in music making that burns brightly yet.

It’s a reputation that’s set to be further enhanced with Hibernian Rhapsody, Gavin’s latest vehicle,featuring guitarist Tim Edey,pianist Carl Hession, accordionist Derek Hickey and singer Michelle Lally.

Saturday 11 August 10.30pm

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

Admission €20/€18

Sunday 12 August 10.30pm

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

Admission €20/€18

Please note this is a standing only performance

Silverio Pessoa (BRAZIL)

When it comes to music,Brazil is more than a vast country.It is a state of mind,a magical place,where music courses through the veins of its citizens without impedance,insinuating itself into every facet of life.Nowhere is this more apparent than in Pernambuco in the northeast,where they play a powerful roots music called Forró,the region’s feisty riposte to the genteel bossa of Rio and Sao Paulo.

It’s enjoying a revival,too,and Silverio Pessoa is the man driving it onward. A veteran of Recife’s invigorating Mangue scene of the early 90’s,which fused the region’s powerful traditional maracatu rhythms with hip hop,he has carried that aesthetic into Forró,the music of his childhood.Pessoa grew up in the zona da mata,Pernambuco’s extensive sugar plantations,and Forró is the music of the hardworking men and women who cut the cane.

In that sense,it’s a first cousin of the blues.This is music of protest about life’s travails but also of celebration when the day is done,with some addictive Brazilian rhythms thrown in,of course!

Tord Gustavsen Trio (NORWAY)

It’s apposite that Tord Gustavsen hails from The Land of the Midnight Sun, for this jazz pianist has fashioned a musical concept that radiates the character of Norway’s enigmatic landscape.This is graceful,persuasive music,at once gentle and robust,performed by a seamless group that captures the essence of the acoustic piano trio.

Gustavsen’s songs are hymnal meditations,coloured with the ephemera of the blues and that yearning melancholia that typifies the Nordic sound. Bassist Harald Johnsen and drummer Jarle Vespestad,who are distinguished Norwegian musicians in their own right and veterans of groups like Supersilent and Bugge Wesseltoft’s New Conception,provide an impressionistic pulse for Gustavsen’s wash of seductive hues from the piano, in a three-way dialogue that is masterful in its discipline and economy. With Being There,their third ECM release,they have further refined their sense of purpose and conceptual rigour,without sacrificing the intense lyricism that is already the trio’s hallmark.

Monday 13 August 8pm

St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €20/€18

Tuesday 14 August 10pm

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

Admission €20/€18

Eivør

Pálsdóttir

(FAROE ISLANDS)

You’re likely encountering Eivør for the first time.If so,you’re about to meet a remarkable young singer who demonstrates that the world and its music still has the capacity to surprise and stimulate our aural sensibilities.

Her part of the world is certainly enigmatic.Born and reared in The Faroes, the hardy island community of just 48,000 souls nestled equidistantly between Iceland and The Shetlands,its splendid isolation has left a deep impression on this striking artist.From her childhood grounding in unaccompanied Faroese hymns and song,Eivør has developed a style that’s anything but insular,aided by a glorious vocal instrument that eclipses the range and dynamics of even her famous Icelandic neighbour Bjork.Still in her early 20’s,she’s already a household name in The Nordic countries,with a resumé that includes jazz and opera,as well as a brace of gorgeous folk inflected CDs with Canada’s Bill Bourne.

Human Child is her latest,produced by Donal Lunny and recorded in Dublin with the cream of Irish musicians.The eminent bouzouki player is back to support her in performance,along with Anto Drennan (guitar), Graham Henderson (keys), Chris Herzberger (violin) and Jason Duffy (drums).

Patrick Street (IRELAND)

It’s twenty one years since Patrick Street first convened,during that seminal mid-80s period for Irish music.Initial plans were for a one-off tour to the US,but the chemistry was undeniable and Patrick Street went on to create a significant body of work both on stage and in the studio,and their place in the annals of Irish music seems assured.

The band’s original members all brought something individual to the table,from Sliabh Luacra polkas to Quebecois reels,and that stylistic approach is inspiring young musicians still.Today,the original masters are back,augmented by fiddler John Carty,a previous recipient of TG4 Musician of the Year,and guitarist Ged Foley,ex of The Battlefield Band and now filling the chair previously occupied by Arty McGlynn. They join Jackie Daly, Kevin Burke and Andy Irvine,the stellar trio from which Patrick Street was conceived,for a night of memorable music that reels back the years.With special guests Dul Amú.

Thursday 16 August 9.30pm

Hotel Kilkenny

Admission €20/€18

Thursday 16 August 9pm Cleere’s,Parliament Street

Admission €18/€16

Nanko (NETHERLANDS) Vs Zoid (IRELAND)

Kilkenny’s favourite room for intimate acoustic music gets a digital makeover in this fascinating encounter between leading electronic musicians from Ireland and The Netherlands.

Appropriately,Rotterdam’s Nanko Huisman and Dublin’s Dan Jacobsen,aka Zoid,met on MySpace,where fertile common ground was much in evidence. Both play guitar and electronics,both are influenced by a broad span of music from improv,contemporary and electronica spheres,and both are exploring new techniques for the organic performance of electronic music.

Between them,they’ve already amassed a considerable reputation within this thriving musical sub culture,and Zoid,whose debut album gets a D1/Diatribe release in September,has just returned from Melbourne’s Red Bull DJ Academy,while Nanko is already a mainstay of leading festivals like Amsterdam’s Sonic Acts,the Rotterdam Electronic Music Festival and The Hague's State-X New Forms.

Respectively they’re representative of the musician’s new breed,straddling acoustic and electronic music without impediment,and the result is a musical terra incognita of exhilarating beats,guitar psychedelia and atmospheric soundscapes.

Back to Balkan! (EUROPE)

Last year’s world music knees-up was all things Asian and in 2007 we’re also looking East,but this time to some of Europe’s most vivacious traditional music and dance.

It starts with Yurodny,featuring the bravura gypsy violin of Oleg Pomanerov,and bringing you dance tunes from Bulgaria,Macedonia,Serbia,Hungary,Transylvania, Greece and Romania.Along with North Strand Klezmer Band and The Polska Dots,Yurodny have been fairly lighting up the Irish music scene with their individual take on the rich musical traditions of Eastern Europe’s gypsy and Jewish diasporas.

Friday 17 August 8pm

Hotel Kilkenny

Admission €20/€18

From Newcastle come The Baghdaddies,exploring similar terrain but with some Arabic spices thrown in,plus a liberal sprinkling of mischievous northern humour.Not men to take themselves overly seriously,these Tyneside rogues nonetheless have a reputation for leaving audiences in a cold sweat with a high octane set that also flirts dangerously with ska grooves,and they’re UK festival regulars,including Glastonbury.

Sapping your last few calories on the dancefloor is Belgium’s Gaetano Fabri,resident DJ at Divan Du Monde (Paris) and Crammed Discs,the influential Brussels label that’s home to iconic Balkan acts like Kocani Orkestar and Taraf De Haidouks, both of whom he has remixed.If it’s all too much,let yourself be seduced by The Habibi Babes,shimmying you into the night with tribal and traditional belly dance styles that wind their way down The Black Sea.Consider yourself Balkanized!

Saturday 18 August 10pm Kilkenny River Court Hotel

Admission €22/€20

Fay Claassen (THE NETHERLANDS)

The great jazz saxophonists of the past,men like Lester Young and Dexter Gordon who knew a thing or two about lyricism,often referred to singers as a source of inspiration. If they were playing today,they’d be mightily taken by Holland’s Fay Claassen.

The comparison seems apt,for this is a singer who swings as hard as any saxophonist,with the bell-like tone for which a trumpet player might yearn.She has repaid the compliment and her 2005 release Two Sides of Chet Baker,a deeply personal homage to that late jazz icon,has seen her star firmly in the ascendant on both sides of the Atlantic.

She is defiantly,unashamedly,a singer of standards,the immortal Broadway show tunes of Gershwin,Porter,Berlin et al,but this is no exercise in nostalgia.When Claassen brings her elegant vocal instrument to bear on these old songs,it’s as if the ink has just dried on the manuscript.Celebrating the songs with her are Paul Heller,tenor saxophonist with Cologne’s feted WDR Big Band,joined by pianist Francesco Turrisi,bassist Damien Evans and drummer Kevin Brady.

The Bulgarian Voices Angelite (BULGARIA)

Drawing on a tradition of sacred and vernacular music that pre-dates the Middle Ages, The Bulgarian Voices Angelite will envelop you in the plaintive melody and close harmonies that are so richly evocative of life in The Balkans.It’s an affecting sound,replete with delicate timbres,subtle dissonance,asymmetric rhythms and the signature vibrato that characterises Bulgaria’s unique choral music.

The Bulgarian people prize their songs as the highest pinnacle of human expression,and the nineteen women of Angelite have elevated the tradition to unparalleled heights of vocal artistry.This tradition has its roots in the ancient civilization of The Thracians,and draws its nourishment from folk music handed down through countless generations.From the shores of The Black Sea to the mountain ranges of Macedonia and Rhodopes,the choir draws on the region’s many dialects and faiths to create music of a deeply spiritual and universal resonance.

Bringing the festival’s music programme to an uplifting close,these daughters of Orpheus sing songs of love and sorrow,of toil and sweet recreation,of feasts and mourning,of faith and deliverance.

Sunday 19 August 7pm St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €22/€20

Koninkrijk der Nederlanden

The festival film programme is sponsored by MacDonagh Junction

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN

Friday 10 August

7.30pm

Watergate Theatre

Admission €15/€13

METROPOLIS

Saturday 11 August

5pm

Watergate Theatre

Admission €15/€13

keyboards/organ

Richard McCullough cello

Lioba Petrie drums

James Macken

viola

Karen Dervan bass guitar

Laurence Macken

electric guitar

Cameron Doyle

Matthew Nolan

3epkano (Ireland) LIVE MUSIC ACCOMPANIMENT TO CLASSIC FILMS

Eclectic music ensemble 3epkano present original and innovative live music accompaniment to two groundbreaking movies from the silent film era. Following their sell-out performances over the last two festivals,this year’s screenings take place at the bigger venue of The Watergate Theatre,an entirely appropriate move,given the theatre’s original role as Kilkenny’s main cinema.

Battleship Potemkin

(1925) DIR. SERGEI EISENSTEIN

Hurling at the Movies

ALL-IRELAND DOUBLE-BILL

It’s summertime in Kilkenny,home of the reigning All-Ireland champions.How could the festival not include,in some way, the national pastime and local religion of hurling?

All-Ireland Hurling Championship Final 1957

KILKENNY VS WATERFORD

In this fascinating footage from the 1957 final,with commentary by the legendary Mícheál Ó hEithir,we see how the Black and Amber,under the leadership of team captain Mickey Kelly,had to draw on all their resources to match their southern neighbours in one of the most fiercely contested finals of the 1950s.

Wednesday 15 August

8pm

Langton House Hotel, John Street

Admission €12/€10

Hugely influential in the history of cinema, Battleship Potemkin brought its director Sergei Eisenstein to world attention,being banned as subversive in England and receiving a restricted circulation in the US.Conceived as part of a cycle of mythmaking films intended to tell the story of the Russian Revolution, the entire film,and the Odessa Steps massacre in particular,contain some of the most powerful,best known and often emulated images of political violence realised in film.

This performance is the world première of 3epkano’s new score for Battleship Potemkin.

Metropolis

(1927) DIR. FRITZ LANG

THE IRISH TIMES

A monument to director Fritz Lang’s artistic vision and film craftsmanship,this German futuristic film,inspired by the towering Manhattan skyline,presents an apparently utopian society of wealthy inhabitants living a palatial existence, supported from underground by armies of a subhuman species of slaves. Lang’s recurring themes of psychological conflict,paranoia,fate and moral ambiguity contributed significantly to the emergence and evolution of the film noir genre in American cinema.

From the pre-match parade with the Artane Boys Band and the Black Raven Pipers,to the lifting of the McCarthy Cup, this special archive screening will engage hurlers and historians alike.A wonderful opportunity to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this historic match.

Rooney (1958) DIR. GEORGE POLLOCK

Dustman and All-Ireland hurler James Ignatius Rooney moves into new digs in the snobbish lower-middle class O’Flynn household,where he soon falls for the unassuming Máire, much to the chagrin of Mrs O’Flynn.Things take a turn for the worse when he unwittingly gives her a necklace which turns out to have been stolen…

A comic classic,the domestic squabbles,the misunderstandings and the hilarious scenes with Rooney and his fellow dustmen are all played out against the backdrop of the build up to the All-Ireland.The film uses authentic footage of the 1957 Kilkenny-Waterford final for the All-Ireland scenes,with “Dublin”playing in Black and Amber!

Programme presented by Kilkenny Arts Festival in association with the Irish Film Archive of the Irish Film Institute.

“3epkano offer cineastes a rare and unmissable treat”

FRIDAY 10

3epkano 7.30pm

SATURDAY 11

3epkano 5pm

SUNDAY 12

Nouvelles Folies 7pm

MONDAY 13

Nouvelles Folies 7pm

TUESDAY 14

Nouvelles Folies 6.30pm

A Prelude to a Death in Venice 9pm

Buí Bolg

Buí Bolg

The Lost Ones

12 noon,1pm & 2pm

Medieval Room

Interview Lee Breuer & Jimmy Fay 3pm

A Prelude to a Death in Venice 6pm & 9pm

Claire Keegan & Jonathan Coe 1pm

The Lost Ones

12 noon,2pm & 3pm

Medieval Room

A Prelude to a Death in Venice 8.30pm

Edmund White 6pm

A Prelude to a Death in Venice 9pm

Colm Tóibín & Eavan Boland 6pm

Mingus Dynasty 8.30pm

Vyvienne Long 1.10pm

Ulster Orchestra 8pm

Hibernian Rhapsody 10.30pm

The Art of Sound

10.30am - 5pm

Ailish Tynan & Julius Drake 8pm

Tord Gustavsen Trio 8pm

Daniel,Julius

& Carducci String

WEDNESDAY 15 Samantha Power 6pm A Musical Crescendo

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Meet the Visual Artists 1 11am

Silverio Pessoa 10.30pm

The Art of Sound 12 noon - 5pm

The Ark 9.45pm

The Hub at Cillín Hill

VISUAL ART VENUES ST JOHN’S PRIORYBill Viola

ST FRANCIS ABBEY BREWERYFactotum

CILLÍN HILL CENTREJesper Just,Amar Kanwar,Mark Orange

GRENNAN MILL CRAFT SCHOOLEithne Jordan

CASTLECOMER DEMESNEMarie Hanlon

BUTLER HOUSECerith Wyn Evans,Maud Cotter,Antonio Riello

STRAND 2 NATIONAL CRAFT GALLERYSCULPTURE AT KELLS

BUTLER GALLERYGRENNAN MILL CRAFT SCHOOL

KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCILTHE WORKHOUSE,CALLAN

KCAT AT THE FRIARY,CALLANTHE OLD MART

CALLAN 800 AT KCAT

COLOUR GUIDE Street Spectacle

Theatre/Dance

Classical Music Music Film Literature Visual Art Children

VERGE CASTLECOMER DEMESNE

BOSTON BAR & STEAKHOUSE

THE WATERGATE THEATRE

Saturday 18 August

From 11am Watergate Theatre

Admission €15/€13 (full day) €10/€8 (2 films)

The Rockingham Shoot

(1987) DIR. KIERAN HICKEY

59 MINS

Set in rural Ireland in the 1950s,the central character of this original work for screen by John McGahern is an intensely nationalistic teacher with an entrenched loathing for British society.

John McGahern on Screen

One of Ireland’s greatest writers, John McGahern was the author of six highly acclaimed novels and four collections of short stories.He was the recipient of many awards and honours,including the Society of Authors,the American-Irish Award,the Prix Etrangère Ecureuil,the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and was short-listed for the Booker Prize.

This season of John McGahern films has been selected by Colm Tóibín,as an homage to his fellow Irish writer whose untimely death occurred last year.

A Private World

(2005) DIR. PAT COLLINS

59 MINS

In this intimate documentary,John McGahern speaks of the family events that inspired his 1974 novel The Leavetaking and brings us to the landscape of his County Leitrim farm, where he lived and wrote until his death.

De Valera - Statesman SYMPOSIUM

The legacy of Eamon de Valera,who dominated Irish politics for more than four decades,remains complex and controversial.While his domestic policies have been subject to serious scrutiny,his role as a statesman,establishing Ireland’s position in the outside world as an independent state,and his contribution to Ireland’s foreign policy in the 1930s,remain subjects which are only now beginning to be fully understood,mainly through the work of a new generation of Irish historians.The festival is delighted to welcome a leading group of these historians to discuss de Valera’s role as statesman in an emerging Ireland.

Wheels

(1976) DIR. CATHAL BLACK

21 MINS

Adapted from a short story, Wheels tells the story of a farmer’s son who has a difficult and disappointing visit home to the midlands from the city.

Korea

(1996) DIR. CATHAL BLACK

80 MINS

This feature-length drama of a short story adaptation follows the relationship of a fisherman and his son when the father tries to force him to leave the rural lakelands and emigrate to America.

Dr.Diarmaid Ferriter:Historian,broadcaster and commentator; Author of best-selling The Transformation of Ireland,1900-2000; Presenter of RTÉ radio programme What If?

Professor Eunan O’Halpin:Professor of Contemporary History,Trinity College,Dublin; Author of Defending Ireland:The Irish State and its Enemies since 1922; Co-editor of Documents on Irish Foreign Policy.

Dr.Deirdre McMahon:Lecturer in History at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick; Author of Republicans and Imperialists:Anglo-Irish Relations in the 1930s

Dr.Michael Kennedy:Executive Editor of Documents on Irish Foreign Policy; Author of Ireland and the League of Nations,1919-46; Co-editor (with Deirdre McMahon) of Obligations and Responsibilities:Ireland and the United Nations, 1955-2005

(Chair) Catriona Crowe:Senior Archivist at the National Archives of Ireland; Co-editor of Documents on Irish Foreign Policy, President of Women’s History Association of Ireland.

Thursday 16 August

6pm

The Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle

Admission €12/€10

Eamon de Valera at League of Nations,1932. UCD Archives Dept.

Programme presented by Kilkenny Arts Festival in association with the Irish Film Archive of the Irish Film Institute.

Friday 10 August 6pm

St Canice’s Cathedral

Admission €12/€10

Claire Keegan (IRELAND)

REVIEWS FOR COLM TÓIBÍN’S

THE MASTER:

“audacious, profound and wonderfully intelligent”

THE GUARDIAN

“artful, moving and very beautiful novel”

NEW YORK TIMES

Colm Tóibín (IRELAND)

Eavan Boland (IRELAND)

EAVAN BOLAND:

“this imagery stuns with intellectual as well as sensory clarity… she is our pre-eminent poet of experience…”

THE IRISH TIMES

Colm Tóibín is the Curator of the literature and film programme of Kilkenny Arts Festival 2007.

A native of Enniscorthy,Co.Wexford, Colm Tóibín lived in Spain for many years.He has been a fellow at the Center for Scholars and Writers at New York Public Library,Stein Visiting Writer at Stanford University and a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin.His novels include The South (1991), The Heather Blazing (1992), The Story of the Night (1996), The Blackwater Lightship (1999) and The Master, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2005 and won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award last year.A collection of short stories, Mothers and Sons,was published in 2006.He is a member of Aosdána and lives in Dublin.

Eavan Boland studied in Ireland, London and New York.She has taught at Trinity College and University College Dublin,at the University of Iowa and is currently Mabury Knapp Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University, California.A pioneering figure in Irish poetry,Boland’s previous works include The Journey and other poems (1987), Night Feed (1994), The Lost Land (1998), Code (2001) and her latest collection Domestic Violence (2007). Her poems and essays have appeared in magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic,Kenyon Review and American Poetry Review.She divides her time between California and Dublin where she lives with her husband, the novelist Kevin Casey.

Raised on a farm in County Wicklow, Claire Keegan lives in rural Ireland. Her first collection of stories, Antarctica,won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year.Her stories have won the Olive Cook Award,the Kilkenny Prize,the Martin Healy Prize, the Macaulay Fellowship,the William Trevor Prize and the Francis McManus Award.She was also a Wingate Scholar. Walk the Blue Fields,her long-awaited second collection of stories,was published this year to widespread critical acclaim.

Jonathan Coe (UK)

Jonathan Coe is the author of eight novels,including What a Carve Up!, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys prize,and The Rotter’s Club,which was adapted as a series for BBC television.He has also written a biography of the experimental novelist BS Johnson, Like a Fiery Elephant, which won the 2005 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction.His forthcoming novel, The Rain Before It Falls,marks a departure from the topical and comic nature of his previous work.

Sunday 12 August 1pm

The Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle

Admission €12/€10

CLAIRE KEEGAN: “a writer already touched by greatness”

DECLAN KIBERD “shrewd and penetrating observation… bracingly unsentimental”

THE IRISH TIMES

JONATHAN COE: “brilliant, funny, apposite, informed and unflaggingly truth-seeking”

THE EVENING STANDARD “a pleasure to read”

THE GUARDIAN

Monday 13 August 6pm

The Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle Admission €12/€10

Edmund White (US)

Born in Cincinatti,Ohio, Edmund White grew up in Chicago,worked as a journalist in New York and spent many years living in France.

His best-known work, A Boy’s Own Story,was the first volume of an autobiographical-fiction series that continued with The Beautiful Room is Empty and The Farewell Symphony,describing stages in the life of a gay man from boyhood to middle age.

Other novels include Forgetting Elena (1973), Nocturnes for the King of Naples (1978), Caracole (1985), The Married Man (2000) and Fanny:A Fiction (2003),a historical novel about Frances Trollope and Frances Wright.His 2006 play Terre Haute portrays discussions that take place when a prisoner based on Timothy McVeigh is visited by a writer based on Gore Vidal.

A BOY’S OWN STORY: “American literature is larger by one classic novel.”

THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD

THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY: “gives voice to a life of uncompromising individuation and reaches a depth of compassionate tolerance rare in any writer”

THE TIMES

Influential as a literary and cultural critic,particularly on gay issues, Edmund White has received many awards and distinctions; among these,he is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

His latest novel, Hôtel de Dream,is published by Bloomsbury in August 2007.

THE INAUGURAL HUBERT BUTLER ANNUAL LECTURE

Samantha Power (IRELAND-US)

Samantha Power is The Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard’s John F.Kennedy School of Government.Her book, “A Problem from Hell”:America and the Age of Genocide,was awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction,the 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award for general non-fiction,and the Council on Foreign Relations’ Arthur Ross Prize for the best book in U.S.foreign policy.

Power’s New Yorker article on the horrors in Darfur,Sudan won the 2005 National Magazine Award for best reporting.She was the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy (1998-2002),and from 1993-1996,she covered the wars in the former Yugoslavia as a reporter for the US News and World Report,The Boston Globe,and The Economist.Power is the editor,with Graham Allison,of Realizing Human Rights:Moving from Inspiration to Impact.

She spent 2005-06 working in the office of Senator Barack Obama.Her political biography of the UN’s Sergio Vieira de Mello will be released in February 2008.

Samantha Power will be introduced by Fintan O’Toole,writer,political commentator,cultural critic and Assistant Editor of The Irish Times.

Wednesday 15 August 6pm

The Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle

Admission €12/€10

The Hubert Butler Annual Lecture has been established to honour the Kilkenny writer, historian and broadcaster whose remarkable consistency of vision and clarity of mind made him unique among Irish essayists and whose work evinced an unsurpassed moral, political and literary integrity.

Friday 10 - Sunday 19 August 10am-6pm

Various locations

Visual Art at Kilkenny Arts Festival 2007

HUGH MULHOLLAND, CURATOR

In programming the Visual Art element of the Kilkenny Arts Festival this year,I wanted to see if it were possible to bring to Kilkenny work which I felt could contribute something to the location in which it was exhibited,not site specific,but site sympathetic.Having said that,and even taking into consideration Kilkenny’s rich heritage with its wide range of historical buildings and landmarks,this has not always been possible.

In the end,I have reached a balance between those works which are located in spaces where the history,architecture or function of the venue contributes to our viewing of the work,and those works or projects which have been sited in a range of commercial and public buildings which,though not specific to the particular environment,have been just as carefully selected in order that the environment does not detract from our appreciation of the work,but offers the best physical space for its presentation.

Bill Viola (US)

Bill Viola is one of the world’s leading exponents of video art,whose work references diverse art and historical traditions,as well as the history of human societies and cultures.In his work Four Hands (2001),exhibited in the tranquil surroundings of St John’s Priory,he depicts four sets of hands – those of a young boy,two middle-aged people and an elderly woman –run through a gamut of gestures; some are familiar and others rhetorical, some are associated with prayer or supplication,while others resemble Hindu and Buddhist mudras.

Factotum (NORTHERN IRELAND)

An exhibition about the history of an experimental local choir with galactic ambition and varied talent.A journey through fifty years of musical adventure.

The original Factotum choir was nothing if not eclectic,embracing socialism,satanism,pagan ritualism,folk and psychedelic performance art. This exhibition features a behind-the-scenes film of rehearsals of their 1985 multimedia performance about Cúchulainn,original drawings from the folk opera No Joy for Henry and explosive footage of their infamous pagan actionist ritual, Die Orgiegeheimnisse,performed in London in 1971.

Friday 17 August 9.45pm

The revived Factotum choir will perform,at the St Francis Abbey Brewery,a series of songs from its repertoire, including its new songbook of national anthems. This event is free,but ticketed. Please collect your free tickets from the box office. Numbers strictly limited.

St Francis Abbey Brewery Parliament Street

St John’s Priory John Street

© Bill Viola.Courtesy Haunch of Venison.

Jesper Just (DENMARK)

Danish artist Jesper Just taps the universal power of music to create lushly filmed,seductive works that challenge the traditional notion that masculinity is incompatible with external displays of emotion. Just’s critically acclaimed mix of tenderness,humour,and tongue-incheek incongruity is exemplified by No Man is an Island II.In this video,the emotional walls between the denizens of a dimly-lit strip joint suddenly crumble when a young man unexpectedly breaks into a heartfelt rendition of Roy Orbison’s tear-jerker classic Crying

Amar Kanwar (INDIA)

Amar Kanwar is an independent film maker,living and working from New Delhi.His films respond to conditions in contemporary India and primarily concern issues relating to violence,politics, ecology and sexuality.Kanwar’s film A Night Of Prophecy (2002) explores poetry in contemporary India through multiple poetic journeys that seek to unravel history,time and the future.

Eithne Jordan (IRELAND)

Eithne Jordan’s recent paintings are explorations of landscape inhabited by the monumental forms of the contemporary world.Calling these paintings “monumental still lifes”,Jordan investigates the relationship between modern man-made structures and the natural environment in which they have been placed.The absence of the human figure in the work creates an atmosphere of stillness and emptiness.

Mark Orange (NORTHERN IRELAND)

Mark Orange’s Rise and Fall (2006) takes as its subject the Federal Office Building in Lower Manhattan.Built in 1967 and currently home to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service,it has been described as the “modern Ellis Island”and is synonymous with impenetrable bureaucracy and overbearing security.Since 9/11,the building has also gained a controversial reputation for on-the-spot deportations.

Grennan Mill Craft School

Cillín Hill Centre

Cillín Hill Centre

Cillín Hill Centre

KINDLY SUPPORTED BY ANNE O’DRISCOLL

Marie Hanlon (IRELAND)

Marie Hanlon’s abstract paintings have an austere quality which belies their refined and subtle beauty.In recent years,Marie’s interest in strict formal structures has given way to a new element of randomness,allowing the viewer to appreciate the sensual experience of paint.

Cerith Wyn Evans (UK)

Maud Cotter (IRELAND) Antonio Riello (ITALY)

Cerith Wyn Evans,

and

Riello all deal with the phenomenology of time, language and perception.Their work is at first glance in keeping with the architecture and social function of Butler House but on closer inspection there is something which is unsettling and at odds with the genteel environment.

Antonio Riello’s concerns shift between criticism and mockery of the ‘big’ concepts of popular culture:sex, religion and family.Speaking about the inspiration for his work Riello says “I find real artistic fascination in the popular forms of culture:in all its aspects,even the most inferior, modest,commonplace and morbid –actually,by these more than any of the so-called Low Culture”.

For Maud Cotter,our domestic spaces are charged spaces; charged by the simple fact of our having used them and the objects they contain,often unthinkingly,day in,day out.Maud’s piece draws on the history of Butler House and other grand houses,their occupants and the rules and etiquette by which they lived.

Maud Cotter

Antonio

Cerith Wyn Evans’sculptures evoke notions of otherworldliness.

CERITH WYN EVANS, MAUD COTTER & ANTONIO RIELLO Butler House

Castlecomer Demesne

© Cerith Wyn Evans.Photo:Stephen White.Courtesy Jay Jopling/White Cube (London)

NATIONAL CRAFT

GALLERY

Castle Yard,Kilkenny

Mon - Sat,10am-6pm Sun,11am-6pm

A Life in Colour

John ffrench, Irish Ceramic Artist

A Retrospective Exhibition 1951-2007

KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL

No.72 John Street

30 July - 31 August

KCAT

A Life in Colour

1 August - 7 October

GALLERY TALK:

John ffrench & Peter Lamb

Sunday 12 August,12.15pm

The Crafts Council of Ireland honours John ffrench - the pioneer of Irish contemporary ceramics - with their first ever lifetime achievement,solo exhibition.Works from 1951 to the present day will be gathered together from many distant locations including India,Ireland and America.Curated by Peter Lamb.

The Light Fantastic Irish Stained Glass Art

The Light Fantastic

11 August - 30 September

GALLERY TALK:

Mary Boydell & Audrey Whitty

Sunday 12 August,11.30am

Honouring Ireland’s proud tradition of stained glass art and today’s practitioners who continue to move it forward,this exhibition features stained,painted and etched glass for the domestic interior.Artists: Donna Coogan, Debbie Dawson, Nora Duggan, Eva Kelly, Peadar Lamb, Carin MacCana, Mary Mackey, Sandra Miley, Patrick Muldowney, Killian Schurmann, Peter Young, George Walsh and Elke Westen. Curated by Mary Boydell,President,the Glass Society of Ireland and Audrey Whitty,Curator of Applied Arts,National Museum of Ireland,Collins Barracks.

Mon - Fri,9am-1pm 2pm-5pm Sat & Sun,10am-6pm

Olmo/Leamhán/Elm Saturio Alonso/ Alan Counihan/ Derek Whitticase

Three sculptors from Spain, Ireland and England use the near disappearance of a tree species as an opportunity to engage in a reflection about death,space,myth, topography and ecology in an exhibition originally staged in Spain.

Exhibition supported by Kilkenny County Council Arts Office, Ayuntamiento de Soria (Spain) and Glasgow City Council.

Saturio Alonso

Saturio Alonso is a sculptor preoccupied with the mechanics of representation and the secret narratives that are generated by the undercurrents of the aesthetic experience.His work is characterised by a diversity of materials and concepts.

Alan Counihan

BUTLER GALLERY

Butler Gallery,Kilkenny Castle

11 August - 30 September 9.30am-6pm daily

Barry McGee

Acclaimed for his work in the street as a graffiti artist named Twist and for his painted installations in galleries,museums and art festivals around the world, Barry McGee crafts a unique visual language.Fusing together found and invented imagery,tags and assorted objects,McGee’s poetic works communicate the artist’s strong empathy with people who have been left behind by contemporary society.

A San Francisco native,Barry McGee is represented by Gallery Paule Anglim,San Francisco,Deitch Projects,New York,and Stuart Shave/Modern Art Inc.,London.This is his first exhibition in Ireland.

For twenty years Alan Counihan worked almost exclusively with stone in the making of large works. In more recent times he has been exploring other media creating pieces of more intimate dimensions. This exhibition,Olmo,marks his first engagement with wood.

Del Whitticase

This project developed from the artist’s interest in exploring the relationship between nature and art, in work which connected the land and the sky and which played with scale,deliberately seeking to confuse notions of use and decoration.

The Friary,Callan

10 - 19 August 10am-5pm daily

The Friary Revisited

Artists from the KCAT studio will return to the Friary in Callan for the duration of the festival with a group show featuring powerful works in a variety of media and dimensions.Don’t miss the opportunity to experience this visual feast.

KCAT Art & Study Centre,Mill Lane,Callan

10 - 19 August,10am-5pm daily

Tony

O’Malley & Jane O’Malley - A Union

Selected by Anna O’Sullivan,Director of the Butler Gallery

Tony O’Malley,the renowned Irish artist,was born in Callan in 1913.To celebrate Callan’s 800th anniversary,a selection of his work and that of his wife Jane O’Malley, also a highly regarded painter,will be seen together for the first time in Callan,a special place in the hearts of both artists.

Organised by Callan 800 in association with KCAT Art & Study Centre and the Butler Gallery.

GRENNAN MILL CRAFT SCHOOL

Grennan Mill Craft School

SCULPTURE AT KELLS

Kells Priory,Kells,Co Kilkenny

12 - 19 August

Endangered Open Studios The Workhouse,Callan,Co Kilkenny

10-19 August,10am-6pm

Peter Wenger

“The Javanese definition of batik:‘a point of light in the dark’,was virtually at the beginning of my interest in art. It had such a powerful impact on my imagination that subsequently all my work has derived directly from it. Throughout the years,my work has been a continuous investigation into the aesthetic properties unique to resistpainting methods.This concern provides me with endless inspiration,resulting in work which aims at representing the visual phenomena of resist-painting as clearly and as concisely as possible in all their varied forms”.

David Beattie (Ireland)

Karl Burke (Ireland)

Marie-Dorothee

Neugebauer (Austria)

David Hastie (Wales)

Nina McGowan (Ireland)

These exciting,young,contemporary artists,distinct in character,tone and form,prioritise innate levels of physical and metaphorical engagement with their materials.Each has adapted or developed new works specific to this particular location,using a number of mechanisms to engage with this beautiful and unusual setting.Dealing with a variety of conceptual concerns,from science fiction to elementary physics,these works cover a broad range of physical forms,including imposing sculptures,a billboard size photograph and a number of more subtle interventions within the site.

Mark Garry (Curator)

11 - 19 August,11am - 6pm daily

The studio is the environment of the artist and the chances for the public to access these spaces are few.In a rare opportunity to view practitioners at work and see the spaces in which artists develop and investigate their individual practice, the Endangered artists invite you into their space. Witness artists engaging with materials and processes both traditional and unique through painting,drawing,pigments, encaustic and found materials,and experience art in the making.

Artists: Patrick O’Connor, Helen Comerford, Etaoin Holahan, Steven Aylin, Alan Raggett, Jean Conroy and Richard Coghlan.

Re-Produced

Re-Produced presents wild alternative experiences of untamed,bizarre and curious art.Following the hugely popular “Re-Production” in 2006,the 2007 event will be an explosive mix of performance, contemporary dance,film,visual art,spoken word,whales and audio/visual DJs and features artists from Canada,Belgium,the UK and Ireland. Re-Produced is co-curated by Louise Allen and Mary Butler.

Further details: www.butlergallery.com

www.kilkennycoco.ie/eng/Services/Arts/

ARTISTS

Jason Oddy - Photographer

Alexis O’Hara - Performance Artist

Gwendoline Robin - Performance artist

Nicky Gogan - Darklight Film Festival

Maria Kerin - Choreographer/Dancer

Oscar Mascareñas - Chanter

Mary Wycherley - Dancer

Mary Nunan - Artist,Choreographer & Performer

Michael McLoughlin - Visual artist

Talking Birds - Theatre

Niamh McCann - Visual artist

Lookandlisten - Visual DJs

The Old Mart, Barrack Street

Sunday 12 August 12 noon - Midnight

GRENNAN MILL CRAFT SCHOOL

VERGE

A partnership between Kilkenny County Council Arts Office and Kilkenny Arts Festival,the VERGE initiative seeks to provide a platform for emerging visual artists and makers,born or living in Kilkenny,to exhibit their work as part of the festival. This is the fourth year of this highly successful initiative and we are delighted to include these artists in the 2007 programme.

Polly Minett, Paper Artist

Floating Forms

Inspired by Miro’s moving forms and a desire to construct pieces that could move freely and be viewed from different perspectives, the exhibition is made up of large three-dimensional moving pieces of handmade paper formed around cane armatures.The paper is created from plant and recycled rag fibres and,suspended from a height,the pieces give the impression of floating…

Polly began papermaking in Japan,going on to Glasgow School of Art,where she specialised in plant fibre paper,while more recently she has been creating wearable paper sculptures.

Gwen Stevenson

Out of their places (short film)

Meet the Artists

The informal setting of Morrisson’s Bar at the Hibernian Hotel is the ideal spot to meet some of the extraordinary artists taking part in this year’s festival. If you have ever wanted to know how a music performance,art exhibition or piece of theatre comes together,this is your chance to ask.Who can forget the packed and hugely entertaining Meet the Visual Artists last year!

Sat 11 August at 11am

artists

Upstairs Bar at Morrisson’s, Hibernian Hotel,Ormonde Street Admission free

POLLY MINETT

Castlecomer Demesne

10 - 19 August,10am - 6pm

“At the beginning of the 21st century,we are out of place all too often as we are culturally and economically rewarded for enduring the wrong place.But,what is a ‘wrong’ place as distinct from a ‘right’ place? Indeed,what is place?

‘Out of their places’ suggests our anxiety about a world where we are increasingly estranged from our sense of place,home and where we belong”.

Meet the Visual Artists 1

With artist Antonio Riello (see p.45) and Hugh Mulholland,Curator of Kilkenny Arts Festival’s Visual Art Programme and Director of The Third Space art gallery in Belfast.

Friday 17 August at 3pm

GWEN STEVENSON

The Boston Bar & Steakhouse

10 - 19 August,from 10am daily

ECLECTIC

The Watergate Theatre, Parliament Street

10 - 19 August

Mon - Fri,10am-7pm Sat,2pm-6pm

Born in Kilkenny,Gwen Stevenson studied Fine Art at the University of Ulster and Dun Laoghaire College of Art & Design.In 2006,she represented Ireland at Estudio Abierto,in Buenos Aires.

Eclectic

Kilkenny born artists Lena Bolger, Sheena Kelly and Amanda O’Dwyer are recent graduates of Limerick School of Art and Design.Working with very diverse subjects and media,they have created a show of visually exciting contrasts.Lena Bolger’s work attempts to expand and deconstruct the concept of “painting”,and aims to create intriguing and surprising work that will provoke a reconsideration of artistic conventions,display and material.Sheena Kelly’s work is about visual cacophony,explored through excessive and opulent/naïve imagery, while Amanda O’Dwyer’s work centres on the 1930’s-1950’s American sideshow,questioning such facets as humour,strangeness,violence, trickery and gullibility.

Meet the Visual Artists 2

With artist Maud Cotter (see p.45),members of the Factotum Choir (see p.41) and Hugh Mulholland

Friday 17 August at 1.10pm

Meet the Musicians 1

With the Carducci String Quartet (see p.13),cellist Ani Aznavoorian (see p.12),violist Jennifer Stumm (see p.12) and violinist Catherine Leonard,Curator of Kilkenny Arts Festival’s Classical Music Programme (see p.12).

Sat 18 August at 1.10pm

Meet the Musicians 2

With singer Fay Claassen (see p.28) and Gerry Godley,Curator of Kilkenny Arts Festival’s Music Programme and Director of the Improvised Music Company.

ADDITIONAL EVENT

Public interview with Lee Breuer, Director of A Prelude to a Death in Venice (Harvey’sVersion) (see p.5) and Jimmy Fay,Curator of Kilkenny Arts Festival’s Theatre Programme and Artistic Director of Bedrock Productions. Sat 11 August 3pm

The Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle

Admission €5

For children aged 5-11 yrs

Saturday 11 August 11am & 4.30pm

CBS Primary

Stephen St,Kilkenny

Admission €10

Lost and Found (IRELAND)

Lose yourself in wonderland and find yourself in an enchanted world of colour and pattern as dancer Megan Kennedy leads you in a quirky game of hide and seek.

Following last year’s sell-out performances of Jacare Jungle,textile artist Tara Carrigy and the Adaptive Information Cluster at UCD return to this year’s festival with their latest art and science collaboration.This performance uses sensor technology with visual projections to create a magical backdrop that promises to delight and intrigue.

Megan Kennedy trained at Alvin Ailey Dance,NYC and received a BA Honours from Queen Margaret University,Edinburgh.She has performed with Retina Dance (London),Bedrock Productions,CoisCéim Dance,Brokentalkers Theatre (IRL),and Cat in A Cup Theatre (Scotland).Megan co-founded junk ensemble dance theatre with her twin sister Jessica and their productions include Watch Her Disappear, Circus Freak, Drowning Memory in a Bowl and The Rain Party.

Niamh Sharkey (IRELAND)

Award-winning illustrator of children’s picture books Niamh Sharkey was the recipient of the prestigious Mother Goose Award as most exciting newcomer to British illustration for her first two books, The Gigantic Turnip and Tales of Wisdom and Wonder.Niamh also received the Bisto Book of the Year Award for Tales of Wisdom and Wonder.

Now writing and illustrating her own picture books with Walker Books, Niamh’s recent titles include I’m a Happy Hugglewug, The Ravenous Beast and Santasaurus.She has also designed stage sets and costumes for theatre. For this special festival event,Niamh will begin with a reading from some of her recent books,followed by an illustration workshop for all participants.

Catherine Aran (WALES)

From the wind beaten mountains of Snowdonia comes Catherine Aran,a Teller of Tales from Wales.She will take you on a journey to meet giants and fairies,and characters of myth and magic,through stories told in her unique and colourful style.Once the Official Storyteller of Wales,Catherine is the author of five books for children published in her mother tongue.

Kilkenny audiences may remember that Catherine was to perform at last year’s festival,but was unable to travel.She was determined to make up for this and Kilkenny Arts Festival is delighted to welcome Catherine back this year.

Abuelite

Prior to the performance of Lost and Found,there will be a screening of Abuelite, the award-winning short film by 11-year old Santana Hernandez-Power from Kilkenny. Abuelite,which tells the story of Santana’s grandmother in El Salvador, won the Radharc Documentary Award at the Fresh Film Festival 2007.

NIAMH SHARKEY

For children aged 4-7 yrs

Saturday 11 August 3pm

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

Admission €8

Reading and Workshop 60 mins in total

CATHERINE ARAN

For children aged 3-5 yrs (45 mins) and 6-8 yrs (60 mins).

Monday 13 August

12 noon - 12.45pm (3-5 yrs)

2.30pm - 3.30pm (6-8 yrs)

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

Admission €8

Tuesday 14 August

12 noon - 12.45pm (3-5 yrs)

2.30pm - 3.30pm (6-8 yrs)

Callan Parish Hall

Admission €8

Wednesday 15 August

12 noon - 12.45pm (3-5 yrs)

2.30pm - 3.30pm (6-8 yrs)

Graiguenamanagh Library

Admission €8

CLELIA MURPHY

Sunday 12 August

Workshop 1:(7-9 yrs)

11.30am - 1pm

Workshop 2:(10-12 yrs)

2.30pm - 4.30pm

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

16 participants in each

Admission €12

Clelia Murphy (IRELAND) ACTING FOR CAMERA WORKSHOP

Well-known Irish actress Clelia Murphy (Fair City) leads this acting workshop for children,which aims for the participants to learn a little bit about acting while having bucket loads of fun.Clelia will be teaching the children through theatre games and improvisation,as well as pieces-to-camera,to show the children what it is like to act on screen*.

Bring a drink and a snack,and wear old comfortable clothing as rolling, running and jumping is the order of the day.No acting experience is required – just your imagination!

*Please note that this will be an in-class exercise only; footage filmed in class will not be shown publicly.

Dervish (IRELAND)

The trad musician’s trad band, Dervish is arguably Ireland’s top trad/roots group whose colourful career has taken them to every corner of the globe and has seen them share centre stage with such names as James Brown,The Buena Vista Social Club,Oasis,Sting,REM,Beck…

A Dervish performance is a myriad of tones and moods ranging from high energy tunes,played with fluidity and intuitiveness,to beautifully measured songs,from charming lyrics of life and love,to inspiring melodies that lift audiences from their seats.Cathy Jordan’s masterful stage presence brings all the elements together,her stories to the songs and her interaction with the audience drawing people into the music in a way other performers can only aspire to…

For all the family

Saturday 18 August 4.30pm

Kilkenny River Court Hotel

Admission €12/€10

Family Music Package €35

(See booking info p.62)

Duration 60 mins

A CLOUD’S JOURNEY

For children aged 3-7 yrs

Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 August

3pm

CBS Primary,Stephen Street

Admission €10

Duration 50 mins

Director

Annette D Weber

Stage & Costume Design

Sibylle Gädecke

Music

Benjamin Rinnert

Performer

Jan Single

A Cloud’s Journey

BY ROBERTO FRABETTI (GERMANY)

Cirrus is a big fluffy cloud,whose favourite thing is to let the wind blow her across the oceans and forests,the people and the animals of our world. One day,Cirrus meets a child who is curious to know more about that world and so their journey begins…

A theatrical feast for the senses,packed with magical transformations,colours,secrets and the flavour of the whole wide world!

“enchanting production… an unforgettable event”

DIE RHEINPFALZ

Dervish brings to the world the joy and excitement of traditional Irish music.Don’t miss your chance to experience this amazing group in this once-off family gig,created especially for Kilkenny Arts Festival.

vocals, bodhrán & bones

Cathy Jordan

mandola

Brian McDonagh

flute & whistles

Liam Kelly

fiddle

Tom Morrow

accordion

Shane Mitchell

bouzouki

Michael Holmes

MUSICAL WORKSHOPS

For the very young

Tuesday 14 August

Workshop 1:(0-3yrs)

11am - 12 noon

Workshop 2:(3-5yrs)

2pm - 3pm

Workshop 3:(3-5yrs)

4pm - 5pm

CBS Primary,Stephen Street

Admission €10

Wed 15 August

Workshop 1:(0-3yrs)

11am - 12 noon

Workshop 2:(3-5yrs)

2pm - 3pm Workshop 3:(3-5yrs)

4pm - 5pm

Callan Parish Hall,Co Kilkenny

Admission €10

SEASHORESHOW

For families with children under 12 yrs

Thursday 16 August

12 noon - 1pm

CBS Primary,Stephen Street

Admission €10

INSTANT ORCHESTRA

For families with children aged from 3 yrs

Thursday 16 August 3pm - 4pm

CBS Primary,Stephen Street

Admission €10

Musical Workshops FOR THE VERY YOUNG

Musical games,imaginative soundplay,unusual instruments and gentle energy are the components of these sessions for children,and their parents/guardians, tailored to the needs of groups of all ages.There will be original and familiar songs and an opportunity for all to play,regardless of musical experience.

Seashoreshow

Sound travels faster underwater! Nico Brown and Martin Brunsden invite families with children aged up to 12 to dive into the sea with them for a gently participatory hour.There will be musical instruments both strange and familiar, songs,games,stories… and quite possibly pirates! Seashoreshow has been a hit at children’s festivals from Fair Head to Mizen Head and in schools nationwide.

Instant Orchestra

The angklung is a tuned bamboo rattle from Indonesia with an exciting and melodious sound.In this fun hour for families with children aged 3 and up,we will spend a little time mastering the simple technique of playing the angklung and then invent our own original compositions.No musical experience is required. The more players the better!

Instant Orchestras have been formed and acclaimed by people of all ages nationwide and abroad.Previous participants include entire schools,actors at The Abbey Theatre, Morbegs, Tellytubbies,theatre festival audiences and Mrs Mary Robinson.

Visual Art Workshops

WITH GENEVIEVE HARDEN & DEIRDRE O’REILLY

Insects and creepy crawlies, butterflies and bugs

Using a range of materials including paper,paint and pastels,participants will create their very own personal colouredy fantastical creatures and send them on their wild journeys! What will yours look like? What’s its name and more importantly… where will it go?

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Here’s an opportunity to take a really close look at yourself… and then, using oil pastels and mirrors,create your very own self-portrait! Will it be multi-coloured,monochrome… you decide.Then,to finish it off,we’ll be using elaborate textured backgrounds as your backdrop - Good enough to put on your wall!

All participants should wear old clothes… just in case. All materials supplied. 15 participants in each workshop

INSECTS AND CREEPY CRAWLIES, BUTTERFLIES AND BUGS

Age 4-6 years

Monday 13 August

Workshop 1: 2pm - 3pm

Workshop 2: 4pm - 5pm

VEC Arts Space

Admission €10

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL

Age 7-10 years

Tuesday 14 August

Workshop 1: 11am - 1pm

Workshop 2: 3pm - 5pm

VEC Arts Space

Admission €10

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Nico Brown was musician-in-residence at The Ark,a Cultural Centre for Children,from its opening in 1995 to 2000.He now regularly runs workshops for parents and children at The National Concert Hall,Dublin.

Martin Brunsden (double bass)often performs with Kíla and has performed in many shows for children at The Ark and elsewhere.He currently tours with Pauline Scanlon,he has duetted with Julia Roberts and nobody else can play a saw,or indeed a stepladder,as melodiously.

Festival Magic Mural

Hundreds of entries were received for the Festival Magic art competition held earlier this year.Three prize-winners were selected (see above) and their works of art will form the basis for the Festival Magic Mural,which will be brought to life at the Market Cross Shopping Centre by the artists themselves and other selected entrants.Come and see!

FESTIVAL MAGIC MURAL

Monday 13 - Friday 17 August

Market Cross Shopping Centre

KIM KAVANAGH (11 YRS),ST COLMAN’S NS,CONAHYNICOLA CARROLL (10 YRS),SCOIL MHUIRE,CALLANEIMEAR STAPLETON (11 YRS),SCOIL BHRÍDE,BALLYRAGGETT

events

For children aged 8-12 yrs

Wednesday 15,Thursday 16 & Friday 17 August

10am - 2pm

VEC Arts Space,New Street

Admission €10

Note:30 participants in each workshop.Different group of children each day.

All materials supplied. Children are encouraged to bring a small snack.

Inklings

Inklings is a story-making,illustration and bookbinding workshop led by artists Liz Smith and Laura De Búrca.This four-hour workshop will explore all the elements of making stories and books,starting with the blank page and following it through to the finished product.Participants will be inspired to create their own characters, storyline and artwork on the themes of imagination and experimentation,making their very own,beautifully produced book to keep forever.

The Ark is Ireland’s only purpose-built,dedicated Children’s Cultural Centre.The Inklings touring project has been specially devised as one of The Ark’s flagship projects for The Year of Childhood 2007,which marks their 12th birthday.

Kilkenny People Friends

People are the lifeblood of Kilkenny Arts Festival

You are our inspiration and our strength.People whose interest, enthusiasm and commitment match ours.People whose participation at events - on the streets,at a concert,theatre show, reading or gig - make it special.

Theatre/Readings/Acting/Visual ArtMusic Workshops/ Dance/Visual ArtStorytellingWorkshopsPerformance

Lost and Found 5-11 yrs

11am & 4.30pm

CBS Primary School

Niamh Sharkey 4-7 yrs

Reading & workshop 3pm

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

Clelia Murphy - Acting for Camera

Workshop 1 (7-9 yrs) 11.30am-1pm

Workshop 2 (10-12 yrs) 2.30pm-4.30pm

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

Festival Magic Mural Market Cross Shopping Centre Come and see!

Festival Magic Mural Market Cross Shopping Centre Come and see!

Catherine Aran

12 noon-12.45pm (3-5 yrs)

2.30pm-3.30pm (6-8 yrs)

Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel

Catherine Aran

12 noon-12.45pm (3-5 yrs)

2.30pm-3.30pm (6-8 yrs)

Callan Parish Hall

Insects and creepy crawlies, butterflies and bugs 4-6 years

Workshop 1:2pm-3pm Workshop 2:4pm-5pm

VEC Arts Space

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

7-10 years

Workshop 1:11am-1pm Workshop 2:3pm-5pm

VEC Arts Space

Musical Workshop - for the very young Workshop 1 (0-3yrs) 11am-12 noon

Workshop 2 (3-5yrs) 2pm-3pm

Workshop 3 (3-5yrs) 4pm-5pm

CBS Primary School

16

Festival Magic Mural Market Cross Shopping Centre Come and see!

Festival Magic Mural Market Cross Shopping Centre Come and see!

We would like you to become one of our Kilkenny People Friends. We do hope that you will consider joining our scheme which helps us to bridge the gap between government grants,sponsorship and box office revenue.Please note that the Kilkenny Arts Festival is a non-profit organisation.

Join us and you will enjoy a host of benefits during festival time and throughout the year.Your support will genuinely make a difference, helping us continue to bring you a festival of wonder and distinction, now and for years to come.

Further info tel 056 776 3663, email info@kilkennyarts.ie

our the people of kilkenny Our friends

18

19

Festival Magic Mural Market Cross Shopping Centre Come and see!

A Cloud’s Journey 3pm

CBS Primary School

A Cloud’s Journey 3pm

CBS Primary School

Catherine Aran

12 noon-12.45pm (3-5 yrs)

2.30pm-3.30pm (6-8 yrs)

Graiguenamanagh Library

Inklings 8-12 yrs

Story-making,illustration & bookbinding 10am-2pm

VEC Arts Space

Inklings 8-12 yrs

Story-making,illustration & bookbinding 10am-2pm

VEC Arts Space Inklings 8-12 yrs

Story-making,illustration & bookbinding 10am-2pm

VEC Arts Space

Musical Workshop - for the very young Workshop 1 (0-3yrs) 11am-12 noon

Workshop 2 (3-5yrs) 2pm-3pm

Workshop 3 (3-5yrs) 4pm-5pm

Callan Parish Hall,Co Kilkenny

Seashoreshow under 12 yrs

12 noon-1pm

CBS Primary School

Instant Orchestra 3+ yrs 3pm - 4pm

CBS Primary School

Dervish 4.30pm

Kilkenny River Court Hotel

CHILDREN UNDER 12 YEARS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT AT ALL PERFORMANCE EVENTS.

Business Friends of Kilkenny Arts Festival

Every year for ten days in August,Kilkenny comes alive with a feast of artistic entertainment for all,taking full advantage of the city’s stunning historic buildings and easily accessible trails.

As a non-profit organisation,you,our friends,are our lifeline, allowing us to present a festival of distinction that continues to inspire and delight.Your valuable contribution helps us bridge the gap between government grants,sponsorship and box office sales.

A cost effective,highly visible sponsorship partnership with ourselves raises your company profile,fosters goodwill with all markets and strengthens your cultural ties in the local community.

Thank you to:

FESTIVAL PARTNERS

Bluett & O’Donoghue Architects

FESTIVAL ASSOCIATES

Bank Of Ireland

Carroll’s Bar,Thomastown

John C.Minogue

Lacken House Guest Accommodation

Lautrecs

Le Caveau,The Specialist Wine Merchants

Lemonsoul Restaurant

McDonald’s Restaurant

Meubles

O’Connell’s Chemist,High St & Rose Inn St

Paris Texas

Patterson Bannon & Associates Architects Ltd (Kilkenny & Carlow)

PJT Insurance Services Ltd

Pordylo’s Restaurant

Reidy & Foley Solicitors

Restaurant Café Sol

Ripley’s Steak House

Zuni Restaurant & Townhouse

BUSINESS PATRONS

AIB Kilkenny

Butler Court Guest Accommodation

Chesneau Leathers,Bennettsbridge

(Kilkenny) & Wicklow Street (Dublin)

Club House Hotel

Crotty’s Coffee House

Days Hotel Kilkenny

DNG Ella Dunphy

Dr Colm F.Costello,Patrick St Med Centre

Duggan Steel Group

Erinstone

Finlay Hydrascreens

Fléva Restaurant

H Hair Studio

Jeff Howes Golf Design

John’s Green Medical Centre

Kilkenny Project Engineering (Architectural Practices)

Murphy Jewellers

Padmore & Barnes

Springhill Court Hotel

State Street International

The Boston Bar & Steakhouse

Uisce Technology Limited

WhazOn

Whites Pharmacy

Further info tel 056 776 3663,email info@kilkennyarts.ie Your City… Your Festival… Your Point of Difference the arts for all our friends

Festival Box Office: St Francis Abbey Brewery, Parliament Street (opposite Rothe House)

Telephone & Credit Card Hotline 056 775 2175

Online Booking www.kilkennyarts.ie

Box Office open Mon-Fri,10am-6pm

Concessions are available and apply to students,senior citizens and the unwaged.Evidence will be requested at point of purchase.

Concessions are not available for online bookings.

Booking opens Wednesday 4 July

Student standby tickets available on the door,subject to availability.

25% discount on the production of a valid student card,15 minutes before start time.

Festival Club Membership is available through the Friends/Patrons Scheme.Details from the Box Office.

Ticket Packages 10% discount if you buy tickets for three events or more at the same time

10% discount for bookings of ten or more people.

•3epkano Film Package:Two performances for €25 (p.30)

•Classical Lunch Time Package:All three lunchtime classical concerts €40

Applies toA Musical Crescendo (p.12),Carducci String Quartet (p.13) and Michael McHale (p.16)

•Family Music Package: €35 for family of four. Applies to Dervish (p.55)

Booking Form

Postal Bookings to:Kilkenny Arts Festival Administration Office,9/10 Abbey Business Centre,Abbey St,Kilkenny Tel +353 56 775 2175,Fax +353 56 775 1704,www.kilkennyarts.ie

Ticket prices include booking fee.

Tickets purchased at outlets outside of Kilkenny are subject to a €2 agents fee.

Tickets purchased online and over the phone by credit card are subject to a credit card booking fee.

Tickets purchased directly from the Festival Box Office are not subject to any additional charges, unless payment is made using a credit card.

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Please enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope with order.Cheques/POs should be made payable to Kilkenny Arts Festival Ltd.Please read the booking information carefully and check totals to avoid delays.Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the advertised programme,Kilkenny Arts Festival reserves the right to alter the programme.Please note that latecomers may only be admitted at the discretion of Management.

Funding Bodies

Programme Sponsors

Media Partners

General Sponsors

Hotel Sponsors

Embassies and Cultural Institutions

THE KILKENNY ORMONDE HOTEL IS THE OFFICIAL ACCOMMODATION PROVIDER TO KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL.

VOLUNTEERS SUPPORTED BY CITYMART.

KILKENNY CITROËN CENTRE IS THE OFFICIAL TRANSPORT PROVIDER TO THE KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL.

McCAWLEY AND EITHNE JORDAN KINDLY SUPPORTED BY ANNE O’DRISCOLL Festival information,reviews,artists interviews,and ticket give-aways broadcast each day of the Festival on KCLR 96fm.