The Goo 1
words: Adhamh O’Caoimh NEW MUSIC DUBLIN I have a
rule, when it comes to festivals. There needs to be five acts, per day, that I have an interest in seeing. It’s a high bar. I don’t go to a lot of festivals. New Music Dublin 2025 is utterly unprecedented. I want to drag my protesting and desiccating body to everything, every day. From the legend in waiting that is Berginald Rash to Caiman Gilmore’s DX7 toting ensemble, premieres from the winners of the BAN BAM 2025 commissions from the Improvised Music Company, new work from the iconic Thurston Moore and ‘Nocturne’ from the soon-to-be-iconic Ann Cleare. I could write out the program exhaustively, and that would handily make up my allotted word count for this article, but you’d be best visiting the New Music Dublin website and poring over the myriad of jewels that the organisers have gathered. We spoke with programme director John Harris on collaboration and versatility, and to Joanna Mattrey and Christine Tobin, the recipients of the BAN BAM Commission & Development Award, about their new works coming to The Complex on the 3rd of April. John Harris Can you tell me how it’s been working with the Improvised Music Company for this year’s performance? The IMC collaboration has been wonderful, actually. I have to admit, improvised music has almost been a blind spot, and it hasn’t been a massive feature of New Music Dublin, and yet the whole scene is so vibrant, right now, it would feel criminal not to include it. There’s such interesting stuff coming forward. And the people in the IMC, I really admire their enthusiasm, and their attitude. They’re extremely can-do people. It’s just wonderful to work with people and go, “Yep. We’ll do that.” 4 You’ve also split the festival between the National Concert Hall and The Complex and Cooler, in Smithfield. I’m absolutely delighted with that, actually. I really like the shifted venue, the move to a different side of Dublin and the different crowd it will attract , all those kinds of things. And The Cooler is the best named venue in Dublin. I think it’s ideal, actually. Part of me wishes it was bigger, but that they would have had an even bigger fridge is a really weird idea. There’s such a wealth of things to see on this year’s programme, and such a variety of genres and interests represented. How do you go about putting a programme like this together? A lot of people, particularly continental journalists and radio broadcasters tell me: John, you know, there’s no way you could do this programme in France. They just wouldn’t get it. They just wouldn’t understand it. We’ve got a children’s choir right up against Berginald Rash’s ‘BOMBAST!’, a site specific work in the observatory, as well as Cayman Gilmore with the DX7. But that mad variety reflects what’s going on here in Ireland, it’s always unexpected. You can’t know what to expect for the next gig. Can you talk to us about Thurston Moore’s involvement? We said, “Hey, Thurston. You wanna come play?” And he said, “yeah, alright.” I just didn’t realize