The 2011 Sligo New Music Festival has been announced for the weekend of April 15-17 and will be Ian Wilson's 8th as director. The festival will feature solo concerts from two acclaimed Australian musicians, electric guitarist and soundscape artist extraordinaire Oren Ambarchi and one of the world’s leading recorder players, Genevieve Lacey. The two will perform solo and the festival’s highlight will be a collaborative performance featuring both artists playing together in public for the first time.

The festival will also present the world première of Ian Wilson’s new collaborative improvisatory work with saxophonist Cathal Roche and the Vanbrugh Quartet, The Book of Ways, which will open the festival as part of a concert which will also feature the 2nd performance of Wilson’s work re:play for improvising saxophonist, piano, string quartet and double bass.

Continuing the festival’s Improvisation theme, a new improvising duo called crOw (Cathal Roche, saxophones and Ian Wilson, live electronics) will make its debut in the Atrium space of the Model.