The Walled City Music Festival is just around the corner and as part of this year’s event a major new piece has been commissioned by the Festival, with support from Arts Council Northern Ireland, from Derry-born composer Christopher Norby.
The piece is entitled ‘Some Day: A Piece about Civil Rights’ and will be premiered in The Glassworks on Saturday 7 March by international chamber ensemble Trio Festivale (Sabrina Hu, flute; Gerald Peregrine, cello: Cathal Breslin, piano).
‘Some Day’ presents civil rights movements as an ongoing struggle for equity over time. Within this larger context is the story of the civil rights movement in Derry – the precursor to it, how it was influenced by movements in the Southern States of the USA, and how it was eventually overshadowed by a violent Nationalist struggle. The piece also examines the changing role of communications in the modern world – from connecting people in the past to its capacity to divide, polarize and influence political discourse in the present.
In addition to the music, the performance of ‘Some Day’ will featurea film montage of incredible photography and footage from iconic figures such as Eamon Melaugh and Barney McMonagle in Derry, Spider Martin in Selma, Alabama, and contemporary TV footage from local news journalist Leona O’Neill. All of these historic materials have been crafted by motion designer and illustrator Michael Boddy into a visual accompaniment to the newly-composed music that will be shown in The Glassworks on 7 March.
Matthew Greenall, Executive Director of Walled City Music, commented “Commissioning has become a regular feature of Walled City Music Festival’s programme in recent years, and we are delighted to present Some Day, our most ambitious commission to date. Chris Norby has revisited and made fresh the live issue of civil rights in our society, and his striking new work will encapsulate both the ongoing importance of civil rights and the relevance of contemporary art works to that struggle.”
Tickets are now available for all concerts via the Millennium Forum Box Office or online at www.millenniumforum.co.uk. For more information visit www.walledcitymusic.com.