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this indefinable new work by ian wilson met with resounding critical and public acclaim during the first performances in the project theatre in dublin in march 2010. a full-length theatrical and staged work for solo violin(ist), the work has been described as 'acoustic theatre' and highlights the life of composer, abbess and writer hildegard von bingen in a musical context, using visual and audio cues running in tandem with the live performance to create a complete sensory experience.
future performances are planned for early october 2010 as part of the dublin theatre festival, click here to be kept up-to-date directly via the dublin theatre festival's website.
... our beautiful little daughter nina, born on july 23rd 2009 in barcelona - most definitely an ongoing project!
first consecrated in 945AD, the atmospheric sant pere church in the heart of barcelona is the city's oldest church and is home to an exciting new series of concerts. in her dual role as violinist and director, ioana opened the series in june 2009 with a pair of solo violin recitals highlighting the music of bach and telemann and has since invited guests from ireland, spain and further afield to join her in performances of everything from the world premiere of 'the sun also rises' for violin and cello by benedict schlepper-connolly to quintets and sextets by brahms and schubert.
read more about the conciertos en sant pere programmes, performers and upcoming dates by clicking here.
ensemble avalon present their second winter chamber festival on the 5th and 6th of december 2009 in wexford following on from last year's very successful event. this year our guests are eamonn mulhall and cian o'duill and the emphasis is on haydn and mendelssohn with the added touch of a little latin flavour - a violin/viola duo by villa-lobos is on the cards, as is a piano trio by spanish composer turina, and the new work this year is the wonderful 'para lennie' written by the dublin-based argentinian composer and guitarist ariel hernandez. spread over three concerts, the festival features something for everyone and ensemble avalon are hugely grateful to the combined and continued support of rte lyric fm, music for wexford and failte ireland.
'...the dynamism and sensitive colouring these players bring to the beethoven is in the front rank of modern versions on disc...'
classical music magazine
ensemble avalon spent several days in st. peter's church in drogheda recording their debut cd of beethoven, bax and bernstein with producer jonathan allen of emi. the cd is on general release on the lyric label to critical acclaim with glowing reviews from such illustrious publications as the strad and classical music magazines. click on the image of the cd on the right to buy the disc and visit www.ensembleavalon.net for news of the trio and www.myspace.com/ensembleavalon for up-to-date concert and programme information.
alongside violinists carolyn widmann and daniel hope, ioana is delighted to have been invited to edit a universal edition publication of accessible solo violin pieces by eminent contemporary composers. featuring specially written and arranged short works by arvo pärt, ennio morricone and others, the compilation is intended primarily for younger players and those new to contemporary music and is the latest in a successful line already encompassing similar publications for piano and for flute. the violin project goes to print in october 2009.
the louth contemporary music society is one of the most influential and forward-thinking music organisations in ireland, presenting concerts and festivals highlighting the music of some of the world's greatest living composers, commissioning new works and at the same time offering performance opportunities to young irish and international performers. since ioana's first performances of arvo pärt's works for the louth contemporary music society in february 2008 with the composer himself in attendance, she has maintained strong relations with the society leading to her sharing the stage with philip glass in july and performing sir john tavener's dhyana as soloist with the ulster orchestra in october. the most recent project is the release of the widely critically acclaimed 'a place between' debut cd, click on the image below right to read reviews and for more information about the cd.
'...the evening opened with glass taking a side seat to enjoy a bravura performance by romanian violinist ioana petcu colan of the technically imposing 'knee play #2'. and she was even more captivating when subsequently duetting with the maestro himself, demonstrating a deep connection...'
sophie gorman, the irish independent on the performance with philip glass
meanwhile the irish times wrote of the arvo pärt performance that :
'...every phrase, every curve, every caress, every outburst, was shown as if it were the most treasurable of precious stones....in the terrifyingly exposed challenges that pärt provides for violinists, petcu-colan even managed to capture the spirit of an earlier era of virtuoso writing while remaining true to the spirit of the music....'
lunfardia's debut cd picada pa'cinco was released in march amid much hype and excitement. officially launched in the sugar club in dublin on march 19th, the cd has already enjoyed extensive airplay and is available to buy from the lunfardia website. the accompanying national tour took place on either side of the sugar club date covering the length and breadth of the country in venues from cork to belfast.
to buy the cd, listen to clips and see what lunfardia's up to, visit the official site at www.lunfardia.com, also www.myspace.com/lunfardia
" ...a valuable addition to the limited solo violin repertoire..." (irish examiner)
ronan is a "renowned jazz bassist and composer with a deliciously free understanding of rhythm and wonderful improvisatory gifts" (irish examiner) whom ioana first met through working towards a collaborative performance of ronan's own composition. a mutual friendship and respect quickly developed which led ioana to approach ronan to write a solo violin work.
the world premiere took place in the triskel arts centre in cork with a programme which also featured eimear foristal o'grady performing her own poetry before joining ioana in a rendition of ferdinand the bull for violin and narrator. subsequent performances took place while on tour in japan in late october and early november 2007 with the most recent performances in the hugh lane gallery, dublin, during which ioana was also joined by izumi kimura for the world premiere of ronan's violin and piano sonata no. 2, and in london during a solo violin recital.
ioana spent a few days with ronan, jazz guitarist john abercrombie and others in the studio recording renaissance man - a septet written by ronan for string quartet, bass, drums and guitar and the world premiere of a little blues by ronan took place during the avalon winter chamber festival in wexford on the 28th of november 2008 - a little blues was commissioned by ensemble avalon specially for the festival with generous funds from the arts council of ireland.