Thanks to everyone involved in this year’s festival - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
2011 was again a very successful and enjoyable festival. Planning for next year’s programme is well advanced and we will be working hard over the coming months to bring you the best of Irish and international visual and performing artists next August. We are also looking forward to 2013 when we will be celebrating our 40th Anniversary.
Thanks to everyone involved in this year’s festival, from the staff & crew, to our curators, our volunteers, our sponsors and funders and everyone else who made a contribution, for all their hard work and dedication throughout the entire year. Roll on 2012! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.
Make sure that you take note of next year’s dates and put them in your diary now: 10th-19th August 2012!
Gift Vouchers:
Looking for a Christmas idea for your nearest and dearest? Why not give them a 2012 festival voucher. You can purchase them online.
BUY A GIFT FESTIVAL VOUCHER
Become a Member:
Join us as a member, or purchase the membership for a friend or loved one. Becoming a member you will enjoy a host of benefits during festival time and throughout the year. Your support will genuinely make a difference, helping bridge the gap between government grants, sponsorship and box office revenue and will help us to continue to bring you a festival of wonder and distinction, now and for years to come.
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We look forward to seeing you in August!
The festival team
New Director/CEO for Kilkenny Arts Festival
We are delighted to announce Rosemary Collier as our new Director/CEO.
Rosemary has worked with the National Chamber Choir and Opera Ireland as a professional singer. She worked as an Arts officer with Louth Local Authorites and was responsible for establishing the Drogheda Arts Festival. She is coming to Kilkenny Arts Festival from her position as Head of Music and Opera at the Arts Council. Rosemary is a native of Stamullen, Co. Meath.
Rosemary takes over from Damian Downes and will begin working with the festival in mid-November.
Review: Paul Muldoon and Michael Longley
Paul Muldoon appeared at the very first Kilkenny Arts Festival so it was quite nice to have him back 38 years later. He was joined this time by the great Michael Longley, his fellow Northern Irish poet and fellow award winner.
Both men were introduced by the always elegant Olivia O'Leary with the splendid backdrop of St. Canice's Cathedral behind them as they read poems both old and new, with the new work being Muldoon's collection Maggot and Longley's most recent collection of work A Hundred Doors.
The readings were all quite short with both men talking at the length about the background to the various poems and their own personal experiences that fed into them. Having spent many a school hour studying the poetry of Michael Longley, it was particularly interesting to listen to him contextualise his work and approach. It was all very illuminating stuff and was well received by the crowd in St. Canice's Cathedral. The intimacy of the reading was at odds with the scope of the building and its a testament to the poets that as readers they were able to evoke this feeling. Everyone in attendance was appreciative of both men, no doubt aware what a rarity it is to have two giants of Irish poetry in the same building.
Hopefully it won't be 38 years before either man decides to return to Kilkenny to read again.
John
Review: Francisco Goldman
American novelist Francisco Goldman joined Colm Toibín in The Parade Tower on Saturday 13th August to talk about and read from his latest book, Say Her Name. In the summer of 2007 Francisco’s much loved young wife Aura was killed in a surfing accident on a beach in Mexico while they were on holidays. Naturally devastated and heartbroken with grief he found it difficult to move on with his life. Three years later he was still thinking about her obsessively every day and was unable to move away from this. Then came the book, Say Her Name. As a way to remember her and ensure she was never forgotten (something which troubled him greatly), he decided to write down everything. Everything about when they met, how he felt, how their relationship happened, how it progressed, right down to things like missed dates or that time she was stuck in an elevator.
read more...
Review: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
This was without doubt the most buzzed about gig of the entire festival. The demand for tickets was crazy with Facebook and Twitter ablaze with queries and demands about any remaining tickets.
The queues on the door Friday night were a testament to how hot this ticket was. And no matter where they play Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are always a hot ticket.
Any kind of balanced description of this gig is only going to drown in a sea of superlatives. Insane. Powerful. Ear shattering. Energising. Sweaty. Room shaking. This was a hand waving, body shaking, fist pumping, floor hopping set that never once outstayed its welcome. A tight one hour set, this was as must see as the buzz had indicated. The sweaty heaving throng spilled out onto Ormonde Street entirely satisfied and quite frankly, hungry for more of the same. The love affair between Irish audiences and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble shows no sign of ending.
Gig of the festival? Yes. But you already knew that.
John
James Vincent McMorrow sings Mark Kozelek
Last Sunday James Vincent McMorrow wowed all those in attendance in St. Canice's Cathedral with an understated yet powerful set.
This week, it's the turn of one of McMorrow's musical heroes as former Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters frontman Mark Kozelek to take to the very same stage.
read more...
Review: Mari Kvien Brunvoll
Mari Kvien Brunvoll arrived from Bergen in Norway to Kilkenny to the 2011 Arts Festival as a something of a mystery proposition. She has an arresting live presence, cross-legged surrounded by acoustic and electronic equipment.
Her performance is high wire; any mistakes in loop preparation will literally come back to haunt you (and there were none). It would be a mistake to think that Mari's music is gimmicky or electronics-led. This work is arranged to as fine a detail as well as any group composition.
read more...
Review: Drums Off Chaos
German percussionists Drums Off Chaos came to the Set Theatre last Friday night with renowned artist and composer, Philip Jeck. While the rest of the population were listening to Hypnotic Brass Ensemble across town, a full house gathered in the Set to hear these guys make some unique sounds.
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Recapping The Festival Through Video
The 2011 Kilkenny Arts Festival kicked off on Friday last, August 5th and finishes tonight, 10 days and countless shows, installations, exhibitions and more later. We still have one night to go but I thought we'd have a look back at the past nine days through some of the video highlights we've been posting to YouTube and including in other blog posts. The last two days have seen a flurry of activity on our YouTube channel, where you can currently catch (at time of writing) 117 videos crossing this year and last year's festival. Here's a few clips from each of the days so far.
Read on for more...
read more...
Review: Gemma Hayes
What better way to spend a slightly sunny Saturday afternoon than by watching the radiant Miss Gemma Hayes play to a capacity crowd in St. John’s Priory? And that’s just what I did.
I haven’t seen Gemma Hayes live for a couple of years so I was looking forward to seeing how her live performance might have changed and also getting to see her in a different environment. The last time I saw her she had a full band and was definitely rocking out a lot more. The harder sound that typified her earlier work has been replacement by a simpler stripped back style on her last two albums particularly so it was only fitting that she play a much more stripped back set. The only accompaniment came from the lovely Ann Scott, who also provided support.
Gemma Hayes made a most talkative host and told stories and witty anecdotes in between songs, the best of which was her tale of a recent meeting she has with Louis Walsh where he told her that she needs to stop writing her own songs. Suffice to say, it was clear that Hayes won’t be joining the Louis Walsh stable any time soon. And more power to her.
Her set was a mix of material from the new album Let It Break, like the wonderful Shock To My System and Keep Running (formerly Tokyo) whilst also mixing it up with older material like Happy Sad, Ran For Miles and the all time classic Back Of My Hand from Night On My Side. There was also a fantastic rendition of Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting for good measure.
It was a tight, energetic and elegant performance and really underlined why Gemma Hayes is one of our pre-eminent female artists. Also, if you can see her in any kind of church setting, do. As she noted herself, she sounds so different without the clinking of glasses in the background. No better way to spend a slightly sunny afternoon indeed.
John
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