From:
Journal of Music in Ireland [info_at_thejmi_dot_com]
Sent: 14 November 2007
00:19
Subject: JMI
shortlisted for Golden Spider / Nov-Dec JMI out now!
thejmi.com shortlisted for a Golden Spider
award
We are delighted to announce that the new
JMI
website has been shortlisted for a Golden Spider Award, Ireland's premier
internet and digital media awards. Out of over one hundred nominees, thejmi.com
is one of six finalists in the "Best News and
Digital Media Website" category and the only
magazine to be shortlisted.
The site was designed by Simon Doyle and
was unveiled in May 2007. The minimalist front-end was dreamed up by Simon
O'Connor, Art Director for the print edition and PPAI 'Designer of the Year' in
2006. There are now over 650 articles on Irish musical life online and we
continue to add new, creative features as we explore the potential of the
website. The JMI Gig
Guide, which can be emailed from the website at
the touch of a button, is proving to be a terrific resource for those interested
in live traditional, jazz, classical and contemporary music.
The Golden Spider winner will be announced
at a ceremony on November 22nd. Visit www.goldenspiders.ie
---
Small Country, Think Big - Nov-Dec JMI available now!
The November-December issue of the
JMI: The Journal of Music in
Ireland is now available by subscription,
online and in shops nationwide.
In our lead article, John McLachlan looks
at the first ten years of the Crash Ensemble, the maverick contemporary music
group spearheaded by composer Donnacha Dennehy. As McLachlan writes, "Their
programmes always reflect the messy reality of music today...." and
significantly, "They have pushed the contemporary music
culture in Ireland in a direction that it simply wasn’t going
heretofore". In his editorial, Toner Quinn suggest why the
country's size may have helped the Crash Ensemble to
thrive: "It allows us to be flexible, to change fast and move quickly, it forces
us to confront and adapt to ideas from other musics, and it can, on occasion,
mean good ideas travel fast."
Elsewhere, Fintan Vallely argues that there
is now an urgent necessity to teach traditional singing. He describes as absurd
the notion that singing 'can't be taught' and he points out that the traditional
singing community is both dwindling and increasing in average age. On the other
hand, Breandán Ó hÉaghra, writing in Irish, questions the idea of a new
Irish language music station
for young people. Successful pop
artists don’t need another radio station, he argues. What is needed
is a multi-cultural context for contemporary songwriting in Irish. Can a new
station provide that?
Also in this issue, Kevin Stevens remembers
Jazz legend John Coltrane who died forty years ago, Christopher Fox considers
the legacy of American composer Morton Feldman and Séamas de Barra reads a
history of music publishing firm Boosey & Hawkes, commenting
that "The Irish composer’s reaction to this book
is likely to be wistful envy as he reads of the extent to which a dynamic and
resourceful publisher can shape a compositional career." Plus extensive CD and live reviews (see
below), a two-month guide to music across the nation and much, much
more...
For the bigger picture in traditional, jazz
and contemporary music in Ireland, check out the JMI
---
CD Reviews
ConTempo Quartet, Máirtín O’Connor, Garry
O’Briain, Cathal Hayden
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
Slide
Eliot Grasso
The Smith Quartet
Ciarán Farrell
Live Reviews
Niwel Tsumbu and Clear Sky
Ensemble
Concorde
Tomasz Stanko Quartet
Masters of Tradition
Music 21
Piperlink
Opera Theatre Company
Lakker
Ryoji Ikeda
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber
Choir