Hotter than July is an annual celebration of the cultural diversity within our city through music and dance from around the world, supported by Dublin City Council.
A full programme of upbeat music and dance, it is high quality event that is accessible to all, offering a kaleidoscope of joyful music from around the world, for an event that everyone can enjoy.
Hotter Than July 2020 Online
For its 7th year in 2020, Hotter than July moved to an online space, celebrating inclusivity and diversity with music, story-telling, and creativity that is accessible to everyone from home!
Proudly presented by Improvised Music Company in association with Dublin City Council, Hotter than July has become a staple of the Dublin summer calendar, celebrating the cultural diversity of Dublin city through music and dance from around the world. 2020 saw 10 days of events on Facebook and YouTube, which you can still enjoy including short performances of everything from Cuban dance music to Indonesian gamelan, songs and story-telling for young audiences, and chances to participate through instrument-making workshops and an online choir!
As Ireland’s leading exponents of authentic Cuban music, Conor Guilfoyle’s Havana ‘che kicked our online performances on 17th July, bringing the high-energy music that says ‘Hotter than July’, from Dublin’s Camden Studios straight into your living room! Also coming to your screen, and uniting the best of many musical traditions, are Irish percussionist Éamonn Cagney and Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu performing in their critically-acclaimed duo.
From the tranquil setting of The Space Between yoga studio, techniques of binaural recording bring you into an immersive musical experience, featuring sets from acclaimed young musicians Navá, who explore the relationship between the ancient musical cultures of Ireland and Persia, and a special audio experience for you to enjoy at home from the National Concert Hall Gamelan Orchestra, performing the ancient traditional music of Indonesia.
As well as our performance series, there’s always room to get creative yourself at Hotter than July, and 2020 is no exception!
For those who want to get even more involved in music-making, composer and inventor Ed Devane showed us how to build a percussion instrument from and a string instrument from household materials.
For families and younger audiences, you can also enjoy learning songs and stories from different cultures through our 2020 Hotter Than July storytelling series.
Irish vocalist, composer and songwriter, Ríona Sally Hartman creates a musical story-telling experience for younger listeners around the mythical figure of Lú from the Tuatha Dé Danann. A favourite of Hotter than July audiences, guitarist Niwel Tsumbu introduces us to stories and songs from the Congolese tradition. Turkish storyteller Senem Donatan Mohan brings us into The Friendship Forest, to hear stories and learn songs in English, Turkish and Tamil.
Watch Hotter Than July live sessions on IMC’s YouTube channel