Print Media Articles/Reviews
27th Oct 2015 The Irish Memory Orchestra - breaking down musical boundaries
RTÉ Irish Times - 4th Nov 2017 High Trad - by Siobhán Long Journal of Music - Oct 2017 Dave Flynn's Irish Memory Orchestra to Develop Symphony for Blind Musicians in Clare by Anna Murray Connaught Tribune - Oct 26th 2017 Memory Orchestra to hit the right note in Athenry by Judy Murphy Clare Echo - 2nd Nov 2017 Dave Flynn Orchestrates success for Clare's young musicians Paul O'Connor - Tradreview.com (Last Night's Fun) 9th Nov 2013
'Picture a game of polo. Now picture hurling. Picture an orchestra playing a concerto. Now picture the Clare Memory Orchestra playing The Clare Concerto.' Academic Article by Susan Monagan, Manager of Audience Development & Special Projects, Ithaca College, New York
The Clare Memory Orchestra began as a gleam in the eye of Composer/Guitarist Dave Flynn. His dream has grown to an orchestra of musicians who can play and help develop a new Irish orchestral repertoire that draws on Irish “trad” and classical traditions equally.....Click here to read more. The Corkman 5th December 2013
'Siobhán part of Clare Concerto world premier' by John Tarrant 'Two Cork musicians - Niamh Varian-Barry and Rathcoole native Siobhán Buckley - joined forces with the Clare Memory Orchestra to perform the world premiere of the 'Clare Concerto' at a sell-out concert in Glór Tíre, Ennis...Click here to read more The Clare Champion 7th November 2013
A Memorable Night with Dave's Orchestra by Carol Byrne An audience of 600 already have their tickets for what will be one of the most unique experiences for traditional and classical music lovers on the Clare stage.....Click here to read more The Clare Champion 29th November 2012
Memories are made from this By Lorraine Battersby A PIECE of musical history was made in Glór on Culture Night last September when The Clare Memory Orchestra performed for the first time. Drawn from a talented pool of musicians equally at ease playing classical and traditional music, the orchestra works from memory, performing without sheet music, unlike the typical setup of a chamber or symphony orchestra......Click here to read more |
Radio/TV Features
'Memorize This' Lyric FM Culture File Feature Podcast with IMO Artistic Director Dave Flynn
Download by clicking here Listen in iTunes by clicking here https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rte-lyric-fm-culture-file/id266570163# Culture File: Live from Studio 1 feature with Dave Flynn and Niamh Varian-Barry
https://soundcloud.com/soundsdoable/culture-file-live-from Reviews
Fergus Finlay, The Irish Examiner, July 8th 2014
My missus and I, among hundreds of others, had the rare privilege of watching and listening to the Clare Memory Orchestra in a cave. They made astonishing music. Composed by their founder Dave Flynn, their long piece ‘Music for the Departed’ was simply unforgettable. Haunting (and yes, mournful in places), vibrant, and elemental towards the end. I’ve never seen musicians work together so brilliantly together and with such intensity. Their“artists in association” Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill are simply world- class. If you ever get a chance to see them together, pay any price you can afford! ________________________________________________________ Pat O’Kelly, Irish Independent, August 5th 2014 The remainder of the concert is devoted to new versions of Flynn’s substantial Music for the Departed and Aontacht. The seven movements of the former echo various facets of grieving with the duo joined impressively by Aoife Ní Bhriain, leader of the Clare Memory Orchestra with its members subsumed into the broader RTECO context. Flynn’s virtuosic fiddle writing finds Hayes and Ní Bhriain undaunted by its powerful sweep. Its style may be minimalist but this heightens, rather than lessens, the soloists’ burden with Cahill also engaging an extended cadenza. Hayes prominently features in the three-movement Aontacht. Its sepulchral brass opening has a touch of Richard Strauss with a later rasping American ring to it. A lengthy fiddle solo visits an atmospheric landscape, which Martin Hayes depicts with impassioned sincerity. Flynn’s score then bursts with energising force before reaching its electrifying conclusion. ____________________________________________________________ Siobhán Long, The Irish Times, July 16th 2015 Audiences seeing the Clare Memory Orchestra for the first time may be astounded at the informality and communication between the musicians. Feet tapping, vibrato is nowhere to be heard and the absence of sheet music means musicians connect with one another on the fly. Then there’s the appearance of Irish instruments such as the pipes, concertina, whistle and bodhrán, alongside the oboe and silver flute. ____________________________________________________________ Toner Quinn, The Journal of Music, 30th January 2014 The precision of Flynn’s writing displayed years of studying the music of Hayes: his style, rhythm, technical ability and aesthetic. At the same time, the composer moved the fiddle-player into unfamiliar territory, compelling him to climb through shifting, plated orchestral accompaniment. Each time Hayes arrived at a plateau, Flynn had spun the map, but Hayes was undeterred, ascending and chasing even harder. It was thrilling, heady and explosive. ____________________________________________________________ |