Kilkenny Arts Festival announces ‘The More Beautiful World’

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Perkin is no stranger to Kilkenny Arts Festival, with performances of his music by Irish Chamber Orchestra, Finghin Collins and as one of the six composers for Róisín Reimagined with Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh in recent years.

Commissioned by the Festival especially for The Fews Ensemble and Ciarán Hinds, this new work is a striking setting of text from an inspirational book by the American activist Charles Eisenstein, that asks; what, in a time of social and ecological crisis can we do to make the world a better place. Straddling classical and experimental music, Perkin’s numinous score distils the essence of Eisenstein’s remarkable book.

Tickets on sale now.

Ciarán Hinds returns to Kilkenny Arts Festival for a third time having wowed audiences in 2019 in collaboration with The Fews Ensemble for two memorable performances of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale, and alongside the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Iarla Ó Lionáird in ‘Sweeney’ by Neil Martin– a song cycle based on Seamus Heaney’s Sweeney Astray in 2023.

With Stage Direction from Tom Creed, The More Beautiful World also features acclaimed Irish Mezzo-Soprano Sharon Carty- with a stellar career in opera and recital, Sharon is also no stranger to Kilkenny audiences, most recently performing the premiere of Deirdre Gribbin's song-cycle, The Stones of Life with the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

“Numinous, alluring and hypnotic, ‘The More Beautiful World’ (For Chamber Ensemble & Spoken Word) aims to serve as an empowering antidote to the cynicism, frustration, paralysis, and overwhelm so many of us are feeling.” - Sam Perkin, Composer

“Sam Perkin’s breathtaking new piece invites us to imagine new ways of relating to the world around us, gently provoking new kinds of thinking though the interaction of music and text. It’s an enormous privilege for me to return to Kilkenny Arts Festival this year to help bring it to the stage for the first time, with the extraordinary Ciarán Hinds and Fews Ensemble.” - Tom Creed, Stage Director

“We are thrilled to be once again performing at Kilkenny Festival with our long standing friend and frequent collaborator, Ciarán Hinds. It is also a huge honour for The Fews Ensemble to work with Sam Perkin on his magnificent new work which was commissioned by the Festival for the ensemble and Ciarán. We are also excited to collaborate with leading Irish director Tom Creed on this project. From initial rehearsals it is clear to me that this is a profoundly beautiful and thought provoking work and we are very much looking forward to performing it in the splendid surroundings of St Canice’s Cathedral.” – Joanne Quigley McParland, The Fews Ensemble

The More Beautiful World
Composer: Sam Perkin
Stage Director: Tom Creed
Actor: Ciarán Hinds
Mezzo-Soprano: Sharon Carty
The Few Ensemble, with leader Joanne Quigley McParland

St Canice’s Cathedral, Sunday 10th August, 8:30PM