Acallam na Senórach, a major new choral work by Tarik O’Regan, receives its world premiere in Dublin on November 25 in a performance by the National Chamber Choir of Ireland under its Artistic Director Paul Hillier.
Sung in English and Middle Irish, the piece takes its title from the 12/13th century narrative (‘Tales of the Elders’) and follows the story of two legendary heroes, Caílte and Oisín, and their travels around Ireland with Saint Patrick. Over the course of sixty minutes O’Regan’s piece presents six stories from the text using a choir of sixteen voices punctuated by interludes from a solo guitar played by Stewart French. Two singers are also called upon to play the traditional Irish frame drum, the bodhráin.
Commissioned by the National Chamber Choir, Acallam na Senórach builds on O’Regan’s earlier The Spring, which was premiered at the Cork International Choral Festival in 2008. Following performances in Dublin and Belfast, Acallam na Senórach
will be performed around the USA in 2011
and recorded for release on the Harmonia
Mundi USA label.
Tarik O’Regan
Acallam na Senórach (WORLD PREMIERE)
National Chamber Choir of Ireland
Stewart French, guitar
Paul Hillier, conductor
St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street, Dublin – 25 November 2010
Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast – 26 November 2010