Ensemble Eriu :: The Stargazer Suite

Improvised Music Company are proud to present Ensemble Eriu at The Freemason’s Hall, Dublin on the 3rd of October, as part of their nationwide tour for the newly devised suite of music "The Stargazer", inspired by the paintings of Jack B. Yeats, presented by Ensemble Music and supported by The Arts Council of Ireland.

The suite, commissioned by the Model in Sligo with the assistance of the Arts Council of Ireland's Traditional Commissions Award, is a one ­hour work of original music composed by Neil O'Loghlen and Jack Talty of Ensemble Ériu in response to selected paintings by Irish artist Jack. B Yeats.

The tour will also offer insights into how the compositional approaches adopted were influenced by the selected works of Yeats, taking the 7 piece contemporary traditional Irish ensemble on a five date tour of Ireland.

In showcasing both the suite and the works that has inspired it, the winners of the 2015 Gradam Comharcheoil TG4 will be bringing both their music and the works of Jack B. Yeats to a new audience.

It marks a significant development for Ensemble Ériu since releasing their self-­titled debut album to critical acclaim in 2013, described by The Irish Times as; “a fine-toned set of intriguing passages which showed just how much magic could be created by putting trad, classical, jazz and ambient minimalism together.”

This new suite is based purely around original composition as opposed to the arrangement of pre-­existing repertoire in the Irish traditional music canon. As well as performing the suite in its entirety, the band will also draw upon older material and preview some new works from their forthcoming second album, which will be released in 2016.

Full details on the tour can be found at www.ensembleeriu.com/stargazer