The music that changed my life

It's National Music Day, so ARMINTA WALLACEasks some of those taking part about the music they make and the music they love

TODAY IS Ireland’s first National Music Day, and the plan is that we’ll all get out and celebrate all kinds of music in all kinds of places, from the National Concert Hall to Tallaght Hospital, from barbershop quartets in Sligo to a “music in nature” trail at Airfield Park in Dublin.

Most events are free, but some are ticketed – check the website lovelivemusic.ie for final details.

CAOIMHÍN Ó RAGHALLAIGH

TRAD FIDDLER

What's the first piece of music which made a big impression on you?"When I was about four years old, my dad used to put on Rod Stewart and we'd dance around the sitting room. Do you remember the Bord na Móna ad, with the guy playing the fiddle? That's the one, apparently, that got mewanting to play the fiddle."

Is there a piece of music you wish you'd written?"One would be Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegeland the other would be An Draigheann, by Peadar Ó Riada. The Ó Riada piece is a slow air – he plays it on the piano first and then comes in on a whistle. There's a fire in the background, and the piano is slightly out of tune, because it's his father's piano and he hadn't tuned it. But the music just speaks to you. You know how there's times when you need music? When certain things happen in your life, or whatever? That's the piece I'd go to."

Do you have an all-time favourite piece of music – or what's your favourite just now?"I've favourite pieces for different moods. some of Seamus Begley's tunes, for when you just need to put headphones on and dance around like a lunatic. A song I'm listening to just now is by Antony, of Antony and the Johnsons. It's a Bob Dylan song called I Was Young When I Left Home."

Which gig are you involved in today?"It's at the Button Factory in Dublin at 8pm, and there's a couple of different acts, including Slide. I'm playing with Brendan Begley, who's an accordion player from Kerry."

MARY COUGHLAN

JAZZ SINGER

First piece of music which made an impression?"The first piece that drove me wild, and made me cry and all the rest of it, was I'd Rather Go Blind, by Christine Perfect and her band Chicken Shack. I still sing it."

Wish you'd written?"Mahler's Fifth Symphony – it's one of the most brilliant pieces of music ever. Or Samuel Barber's Adagio, or the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, by Górecki."

Favourite piece of music?"My favourite music of all time is Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. The album is always in the car, along with Barber and Mahler."

Which gig?"We're playing at the Cherrytree in Walkinstown and also doing a series of gigs around the country to celebrate 25 years on the road. It doesn't feel like 25 years, but there you go . . ."

AISLING ROCHE

ACTING HEAD OF MUSIC NETWORK, WHICH ORGANISES NATIONAL MUSIC DAY

First piece of music which made an impression?"My first musical encounter was with my mother singing round the house. She was in a choir, and she sang everything from ballads to Brahms."

Wish you'd written?"Steve Reich's Different Trains. He takes stories from people's lives, about the importance of the trains in the States during the war, and uses the rhythmic patterns from the narratives to generate the score, which is played by a string quartet."

Favourite piece of music?"At the moment, Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel. It means 'Mirror in the Mirror', and when it's played well it can stop people in their tracks. The first time I heard it, in St Peter's Church in Drogheda at the big Arvo Pärt celebration, it stopped me in my tracks."

Which gig?"I'm looking forward to all the gigs on the day, but if I had to pick just one it would be the harpers on the new Samuel Beckett Bridge. The design of the bridge was actually inspired by the harp, and they're going to have harpers playing right across it at lunchtime – a really fun visual and musical idea."

IAN WILSON

COMPOSER

First piece of music which made an impression?"The Fifth Symphony by Shostakovich. I was given an LP when I was a teenager. I still remember the cover – it was gold with a red sunset on it – and I just loved that piece. It was dark and it was emotional and I was really taken with it. I still love it."

Wish you'd written?"One would be a piece by György Kurtág, Grabstein für Stephan, which means 'Gravestone for Stephan'. It's for guitar and small orchestra, and it's just beautiful. It opens with the guitar strumming on open strings, and it's incredibly atmospheric – and then at one point everything goes wild. Some of the players in the orchestra have air horns and rattles. Terrific."

Favourite piece of music?"There's just too much music I love listening to, to just narrow it down to one. What I'm listening to just now are a couple of albums by a jazz bass player called Mark Dresser. He has pickups and microphones all over his instrument, so he gets the most amazing effects and colours and things that you don't normally hear."

Which gig?"I'm directing the Sligo New Music Festival, which this year is featuring the early music of Gavin Bryars. Our opening concert on National Music Day will be a performance of his work, The Sinking of the Titanic, at The Model, The Mall, Sligo at 8.30pm."

EVELYN GRANT

PIANIST, FLAUTIST, LYRIC FM PRESENTER AND FOUNDER OF CORK MUSIC WORKS

First piece of music which made an impression?"My mother used to tell a story about me picking out the notes of Elvis Presley's Wooden Hearton the piano at the age of three, while she was giving birth to my younger sister. I don't think it was a particularly happy musical memory for her, mind you."

Wish you'd written?"Bach's St Matthew Passion– that would be my desert island piece. I can't imagine living in a world without Bach actually."

Favourite piece of music?"At the moment I'm rehearsing a show called Side by Sideby Sondheim, and I've got right back into music theatre and I'm loving it. If I had to pick one song above the others, it would be I'm Still Here, from Follies. It's about survival and hanging on in there."

Which gig?"We're doing Lunch on the Double, a performance of two projects that highlight some of the social inclusion and community music work that goes on in Cork. Cork Music Works provides music-making opportunities for people with learning disabilities and the Cork Academy of Music runs projects for people who haven't had opportunities to engage in music education. We're in the Vision Centre in Cork at 1.10pm."

JOE BYRNE

PROMOTER

First piece of music which made an impression?"It was a number called You Really Got Me, by The Kinks. I would have been at home at the time, at my parent's house, in my early teens, just starting to get into music."

Wish you'd written?"Well, the one that comes to mind is Us and Them, by Pink Floyd. It's mainly instrumental – classic rock, really."

Favourite piece of music?"In recent times, a track by Bob Dylan. It's called To Make You Feel My Love. It's a great ballad."

Which gig?"At Hi-Hat Promotions we've been running a monthly gig since 1997. It's blues, roots and jazz, and we focus on local bands. It's a small, intimate venue and it has a speakeasy feel about it – you have to ring the bell, and they let you in from downstairs at the bar. The band on National Music Day is Hollywood Slim and the Fat Cats. It's at the DCC, Camden Row, Dublin 8, at 9pm."

PHIL UDELL

MUSIC WRITER WITH STATEMAGAZINE

First piece of music which made an impression?"I grew up in Hertfordshire in England. My mum and dad didn't have a huge amount of music in the house, but I remember listening to the radio a fair bit. I remember hearing Abba's Waterlooand The Carpenters."

Wish you'd written?"I'm trying to think of a particular song, but I can't because I've never actually wanted to write music. I'd rather tell people about great music than write it myself."

Favourite piece of music?"Right now I really love the new Kate Nash album. The records that make me feel good tend to be pop records – The Spice Girls or anything like that. My Best Friend is Youis a great pop record, but it has something extra as well, a ramshackle quality which I really like."

Which gig?"We're going to be doing a monthly Statenight at the Mercantile on Dame Street, and for this first one we've put a good little bill together, with Super Extra Bonus Party, The Cast of Cheers and Take The Money Run. It starts at 9pm."

MARION SMITH

JAZZ GUITARIST AND SINGER

First piece of music which made an impression?"I sang Would You Like to Swing on a Star?, by Perry Como, at my very first talent contest – and I won a Crunchie bar!"

Wish you'd written?"I'd like to have written MacArthur Park. There's a bit of everything in it."

Favourite piece of music?"My favourite song is Corcovado, by Astrud Gilberto: "Quiet nights of quiet stars, quiet chords from my guitar . . ."

Which gig?"Blue Moon will be playing at the Ilac Centre in Dublin at 5pm."

lovelivemusic.ie

National Music Day: Six to catch

1 Boogie with your baby: Sounds like an RB song, but it's actually a chance for little kids to have a go at singing and drumming in a series of workshops run by Walton's New School of Music. Draíocht Arts Centre, Blanchardstown, 11am to 2pm.

2 Music on the hour in New Ross: Starting at 11 am, there'll be live music on the hour at St Michael's Theatre in South Street. All flavours available, including the Menapia String Quartet, a céilí, a bit of Les Misérablesand a female choir.

3 Free gigs from top ensembles: the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet will play Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven and Barber on the top floor of Cork's County Hall at 1.05pm. Get a ticket and get there early, or you won't get in.

4 Open trad session: Put on your red shoes and dance – or bring your fiddle and play – at an open trad session at Clare County Council headquarters, New Road, Ennis, at 1.30pm.

5 California comes to the concert hall: American chamber choir The Main Street Singers will perform music by Byrd, Britten and others in the National Concert Hall foyer at 11.20am. Be punctual, as they'll only be on for 20 minutes.

6 Opera for a song: You don't often get to see a fully staged opera for just €20, so don't miss Mozart's Così Fan Tutteat the Royal Irish Academy of Music on Dublin's Westland Row, 7.30pm. The cream of young Irish singing talent, directed by Annilese Miskimmon of Opera Ireland and conducted by David Adams.