Composing The Picture

Irish composers don't tend to enter Dublin airport to the tune of clicking cameras, but they, too, are working at a high level abroad, writes Michael Dervan. Donnacha Dennehy's Swerve for flute and tape was premiered last week at Saarbrucken's Music in the 20th Century Festival by Camilla Hoitinga. Deirdre Gribbin's new opera, Hey Persephone! with a libretto by Sharman Macdonald, will be premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival on June 26th. The work is being seen in an Almeida Opera/Aldeburgh Festival co-production, with four further performances (July 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th) at the Almeida Theatre in London.