Church & General - Celebration Concert

A unique concert intended to celebrate the work of Irish song writers and composers will take place in the National Concert Hall on Tuesday November 23rd at 8pm. This ambitious event is sponsored by Church & General in association with IMRO (Irish Music Rights Organisation) and RTE who will broadcast the concert the following Sunday on RTE 1 television and simultaneously on Radio 1.

An impressive array of Irish talent will be on display in a line-up that covers a wide spectrum of musical genres, from rock to pop, folk, country and classical.

The full Church & General bill is as follows: Something Happens, Hothouse Flowers, Paul Brady, Mick Hanly, Eleanor McEvoy, Frances Black, Johnny Logan, Niamh Kavanagh, Jimmy MacCarthy, An Nua Nos, Anuna and classical composer Gerald Barry.

In addition, pianist John O’Conor will perform works specially written by Bill Whelan while the legendary American pop composer Jimmy Webb will be the only non-Irish writer featured. Bill Whelan, who has earned production credits with U2, is Musical Director for the project. Gearoid Grant will conduct the National Chamber Orchestra and John McColgan and Tyrone Productions will produce and direct the television programme. Mike Murphy acts as Compere.

At the reception to launch the event, Brendan Graham, Chairman of co-sponsors IMRO, said: “We at IMRO, who represent the interests of songwriters and composers in Ireland, applaud the initiative of Church & General in so fulsomely supporting this unique celebration. Through television this celebration concert affords the entire country the opportunity to appreciate the diverse musical force that is at work on this island.”

Damien O’Neill, Group Marketing Manager with Church & General, arguably the most respected insurance company operating in this country, explained to Hot Press the thinking behind the process that turned this project from an idea into a real celebration of Irish creative talent.

“To date Church & General music sponsorship has concentrated on music in the classroom, such as our sponsorship of the National Youth Choir with our friends in IMRO over several years. That project enables about ten different schools to compose their own works and have them performed in the National Concert Hall.

“The idea of sponsoring the Celebration Concert came about because we were looking for a project through which to expose Church & General to the mass consumer market through an appropriate sponsored event. The Group of which we are an integral part is already involved in major sponsorships in Rugby and Gaelic games, for example. Music was apparent to us as another channel through which the mass market could be reached.

“When we came to consider using Ravel’s Bolero as part of our television advertising campaign for the coming months we began to wonder whether there was some way we could present an Irish-style adaptation of that beautiful piece of music. The soundtrack for that new television commercial is Sean Davey’s superb adaptation of Ravel’s Bolero, and it was in the course of bringing all that to fruition that we hit on the idea of hosting a concert focussing very specifically on the best of Irish songwriting and composing talent.

“After all, you cannot avoid being constantly aware of the continual parade of successes by Irish artists on the international scene, whether it’s U2, Sinead O’Connor, Mick Hanly or any one of numerous others.

“So once we had formulated the idea we went to our friends in IMRO, who immediately gave us their full backing and then we spoke to John McColgan at Tyrone Productions and RTE and we knew from the all-round positive response that we were onto something very special indeed. Consequently it is rather fitting that we have elected to use Ravel’s Bolero as the overture for the concert.

“I think one of the core strengths of the concert is the diverse musical genres featured on the bill and that is very much in accord with Church & General’s policy of endeavouring to reach the broad, mass market. Although this event is a considerable departure for us, the tremendous reaction we have received for it suggests that it could quite conceiveably become an annual event.

“In the meantime I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation of all the performers who have been so enthusiastic in their support of this, the first Church & General Celebration Concert, and for making it such a unique event in the Irish music calendar.”

• SOMETHING HAPPENS

Something Happens have consistently been among the country’s premier live acts, which is hardly surprising really given the breadth and quality of their repertoire.

Rumours of the Happens’ demise were greatly exaggerated some months ago when they were dropped by Virgin after releasing three albums on the label. Characteristically, however, the quartet bounced back and came up with the best Irish single of the summer, in the shape of the marvellous ‘CC Incidentally’. Their showstopping performance on the Hot Press stage at this year’s Féile provided further proof, to those who still needed it, that the band were still alive and very much kicking.

At the moment, Tom, Ray, Alan and Ted are hard at work on new material and more recorded product should be available before long. However, with a back catalogue that includes such crowd pleasers as ‘Parachute’, ‘Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello (Petrol)?’, ‘What Now?’ and ‘Kill The Roses’ among others, Something Happens will have no fears about being upstaged on the night.

The NCH roof should prepare for lift-off.

• GERALD BARRY

Contemporary classical composer, Gerald Barry, was born in Clare in 1952. He studied composition with Stockhausen and Kagel, and organ with Piet Kee, and then quickly established his own reputation as an exciting and resourceful artist.

His works include the operas The Intelligence Park (for the 1990 Almeida Festival in London) and The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit (for Channel 4). In 1988, the BBC commissioned an orchestral piece, Chevaux de Frise, for that year’s Promenade Circus. He has also worked with many leading ensembles, especially in London, New York, Toronto, Amsterdam and Paris.

One of his more recent pieces, Hard D, was commissioned by the BBC for Amsterdam’s Orkest de Volharding. Future projects include a string quartet for the Rotterdam Confrontations Festival. Meanwhile, a CD of his piano and chamber music is scheduled for release early next year.

For his NCH appearance, he will perform an excerpt from a 1989 work called Bob. The title is an acronym for Bower of Buss, a mythical place in Spenser’s Faerie Queen where young men are lured and seduced.

• ALTAN

Altan are one of the finest Irish traditional acts ever to toot a flute or twiddle a fiddle.

Their music is an exciting marriage combining Donegal-style ensemble lashing with the more graceful flute-playing sensibilities of Frankie Kennedy, but the group’s real heart belongs to the magical vocals of Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh. Her singing has a smooth, sensuous majesty that breathes new life into even the oldest and most obscure traditional material.

Their four albums to date (Altan, The Red Crow, Harvest Storm and Island Angel) have all been hailed as classics and the band’s reputation has spread far beyond these shores. In particular, they are building up a huge following among American folk fans and their label, Connecticut-based Green Linnet Records, promise big things over the coming months.

In the ongoing musical battle for hearts, minds and dancing shoes, Altan are Ireland’s consummate spin doctors.

• MICK HANLY

For years, Mick Hanly was one of Ireland’s most admired and respected songwriters. However, it is only in very recent times that he has achieved the kind of worldwide commercial success that he has so long deserved.

From his work with Moving Hearts to Rusty Old Halo to a number of solo projects, Hanly’s songwriting has always been marked by a sense of intelligence and wit and a canny ear for a good melody. His big break came with ‘Past The Point Of Rescue’, a track that was a huge hit on this side of the world for Mary Black, but was then picked up by U.S. country star, Hal Ketchum, whose version became a music industry phenomenon.

Earlier this year, Hanly was presented with an award citing ‘Past The Point Of Rescue’ as The Most Played Country Song on American Radio. This kind of mainstream barricade-storming naturally brings with it a considerable degree of financial success but, more importantly for Hanly, it establishes him as a songwriting force to be reckoned with.

Mick Hanly’s current single, ‘Blessed’, is already garnering considerable airplay and insinuating its way into the mind of the nation, and a new album Happy Like This is due for release shortly.

• ANUNA

Anúna are a vocal and instrumental troupe with a membership numbering from seven to sixteen, depending on the job in hand, who specialise in the performance and development of Medieval Celtic music.

Their director, the Dublin-born composer Michael McGlynn, has, through years of research, unearthed a vast and neglected repertoire, ranging from the chants of twelfth century Irish monks to ballads, lullabies and laments from later eras.

While all members of the group are skilled vocalists, Anúna cannot be classed simply as a choir, as many of them are also accomplished traditional instrumentalists. To date, they have recorded a number of soundtracks for television, drama and film. They have also worked with both Irish National Orchestras, and other performers ranging from Liam O’Flynn to Máire Brennan to Altan’s Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh.

Anúna’s eponymous debut album was released earlier this year and a follow-up, Invocation, will be available in early 1994.

• JIMMY WEBB

Jimmy Webb may not be a household name but as the author of such major international hits as ‘Up, Up And Away’, ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ and ‘MacArthur Park’, the American singer-songwriter has earnt himself a distinguished place in rock ‘n’ roll history.

A millionaire by the time he was 21, Webb has had his material covered by, among others, Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell, Donna Summer, Art Garfunkel, Richard Harris, Arlo Guthrie, Johnny Cash and Judy Collins and has also done stints behind the mixing desk as producer of albums by Cher and The Supremes.

His National Concert Hall appearance will offer a rare opportunity to hear some of pop’s finest moments performed by the person who actually created them.

• JIMMY McCARTHY

As the man responsible for such gems as ‘Ride On’ and ‘No Frontiers’, Jimmy McCarthy has established himself as one of Ireland’s foremost contemporary songwriters but what’s often overlooked is that he’s an accomplished performer in his own right with a wonderfully warm, intimate style that has endeared him to audiences all over the country.

Glancing down the bill, one tantalising possibility is that Jimmy might be joined by Liam Ó Maonlai for a rendition of ‘The Bright Blue Rose’, the track they recorded together for his Song Of The Singing Horseman album. Whatever happens, though, the Leesider’s set promises to be among the night’s numerous highlights.

• JOHN O'CONOR

Born in Dublin, John O’Conor studied at the capital’s College of Music before transferring to the Honhachule fur Musik in Vienna where he graduated in 1975 with first prize for piano. Since then, he’s given recitals all over the world accompanied by such distinguished orchestras as the Vienna Symphony, the Czech Philharmonic, L’Orchestre National de France and the Royal Philharmonic.

Despite his constant travels, John retains a special affinity for home and is a co-founder and director of the GPA Dublin International Piano Company which has done so much to put the city on the international musical map. Delighted to be returning to the National Concert Hall, the piece he’s selected to play is Children of Our Time by Limerick composer Bill Whelan.

• ELEANOR McEVOY

When Eleanor McEvoy joined Mary Black, Dolores Keane and Maura O’Connell for the recording of A Woman’s Heart, little did she realise that she was participating in what was to become the best selling Irish album of all time – the U2s, Chris de Burghs and Van Morrisons of this world included!

While thoroughly enjoying the experience, Eleanor’s personal tastes have always veered towards the rockier end of the spectrum and now signed to American giant Geffen Records, she’s produced a stunning debut LP which finds her right on the contemporary cutting edge.

With a recent New York showcase eliciting rave reviews and major players like the VH-1 video network picking up on the album, 1994 should see Eleanor McEvoy’s trans-Atlantic profile beginning to rival her popularity at home.

• Micheal O Súilleabháin

Few people have done as much as Micheál O Súilleabháin to take Traditional music beyond established boundaries and introduce it to outside influences, in the process adding considerably to its popularisation.

Born in Clonmel in 1950, Micheál studied music in U.C.C. under the legendary Séan O’Riada before returning to the college as a lecturer in ethnomusicology, a role which has enabled him to perform extensively on all five continents.

A superb pianist and composer, and one of the country’s most respected academic voices on Irish culture, O’Súilleabháin is currently scripting a new series for RTE/Hummingbird on Irish music. On the night, Micheál will be presenting selections from a recorded repertoire that now spans three decades and seven critically acclaimed albums.

• Hothouse Flowers

Once, the venue Hothouse Flowers were most likely to be found playing was a stretch of paving on Grafton Street. All that changed when the band signed to London records and had ‘Don’t Go’ aired during prime Eurovision time, and in the years that followed, Liam Ó Maonlai and the lads have established themselves as one of the country’s most successful acts in foreign territories, with No. 1 status for their second album Home in Australasia among their achievements.

This year they released their third album, Songs From The Rain, produced by Stewart Levine, which went gold in this country and prompted their reappearance in the UK charts with the single ‘An Emotional Time’.

The most recent vinyl release from the Flowers’ camp was Liam’s contribution to the Peace Together compilation album; a somewhat, eh, different version of ‘Two Little Boys’, adding further to Rolf Harris’ rock’n’roll kudos. This summer has been taken up principally by touring, particularly in the US, and the Church & General concert will be an opportunity for fans to see one of our best loved bands before they embark on a nationwide tour.

• Paul Brady

Singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Paul Brady has enjoyed a hugely successful career spanning more than twenty years.

First coming to national recognition during a spell with the successful ballad group The Johnstons, he re-emerged with Planxty in ’74, when he replaced Christy Moore, Paul subsequently released a string of albums, both as a solo artist and working with musicians like Andy Irvine, Matt Molloy and Arty McGlynn, which gained him a reputation as one of the foremost interpreters of traditional material in the country.

His career as a solo singer/songwriter began in the early eighties in spectacular fashion with ‘Crazy Dreams’, which reached No. 1 in the Irish singles charts. Since then, Paul Brady’s songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Santana, Dave Edmunds, and most famously, Tina Turner and Bonnie Raitt. A new Brady composition featured on ex-Byrd David Crosby’s recently released album.

One of Paul Brady’s last appearances before a home crowd was at this year’s Féile, and the rapt response confirmed that, while his reputation as a songwriter is outstanding, he is also one of our best-loved solo artists, and has had the honour of being named as one of Bob Dylan’s five favourite artists!

• Johnny Logan

Back in the days before Irish people made a habit of winning Booker Prizes, scaling Everest and otherwise getting themselves in the headlines, we had a different kind of hero. A Euro-hero, if you will.

Regardless of all this ‘one big European Community’ business, one of the most pleasurable experiences around involves hearing the words “Irlande, douze points!” pronounced by the foreign equivalent of Pat Kenny/Fionnula Sweeney, and knowing that Ireland has once again knocked the opposition into the proverbial cocked hat (whatever a ‘cocked hat’ may be).

Johnny Logan is the man largely responsible for Irish Eurovision glory, on not one, not two, but three unforgettable occasions. The first success came in 1980, with ‘What’s Another Year’. This was followed with the self-penned ‘Hold Me Now’, and the final instalment came last year when Linda Martin’s rendition of ‘Why Me?’ scooped the top award.

Meanwhile, Johnny continues to have substantial success as a solo performer, with fully-fledged star status throughout Europe. His recent more rock-orientated releases, indicate that he is still maturing as a songwriter and performer.

• Niamh Kavanagh

Niamh Kavanagh was first nibbled by the showbiz bug as a result of her contribution to the multi-million selling Commitments soundtrack in 1991. She subsequently returned to her job with the AIB, but those bright lights were to prove somewhat more appealing than bank-telling.

Niamh was chosen to perform a classic love-song called ‘In Your Eyes’, at the 1993 Eurovision. The venue itself, Millstreet in Country Cork, had already made this particular song contest a special occasion, and the sight of our Niamh snatching last-minute victory from diminutive Liverpool songstress Sonia was definitely the icing on the cake.

Following the number one success of that single, Niamh has been busy on the live circuit, and played a very well-received late night show at the Olympia theatre this summer. She seems determined to avoid the cabaret trap that has befallen many other Eurovision winners and is intent on marking out a career for herself as a contemporary soul singer rather than trading on past glories.

• Frances Black

A member of Ireland’s most illustrious musical family, Frances Black has performed in a number of guises over the years.

She has worked extensively with the Black Family, alongside her ubiquitous sister Mary, and had also recorded material with the traditional band Arcady.

Her most recent collaboration was with Kieran Goss, who had established himself as a notable singer and songwriter with the release of his debut solo album Brand New Star. Together they recorded an album, Frances Black and Kieran Goss, that contained Goss originals juxtaposed with some interesting cover versions. The self-produced album was subsequently released in territories as far afield as Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan, and the duo also managed to keep up a busy gigging schedule, including a stint with the A Woman’s Heart tour.

Both parties have now relaunched their solo careers, and while her fans await new recorded material, the Church & General concert offers a welcome opportunity to hear one of the country’s most gifted singers in performance.