MUSIC CURRENT is back, bigger and better for 2019. Returning to Smock Alley Theatre this April. Dublin’s annual contemporary music festival showcases the best of new Irish and international contemporary electronic music

The four-day festival of concerts, panel discussions, composer talks, and a music commission runs from 10–13 April.

Produced in collaboration with the Contemporary Music Centre and supported by the Arts Council and Dublin City Council, MUSIC CURRENT is now established in its fourth year, and the festival offers a unique blend of electronic performance and provides a much-needed platform for the newest contemporary electronic music rarely seen in Ireland.

This year’s festival has a decidedly theatrical flavour featuring Steven Takasugi’s hilarious and unnerving ‘Sideshow’, a concert-length masterwork for ensemble and electronics, in which the players, Ensemble Tzara from Switzerland, ‘perform’ in a decidedly giddy theatrical sense. Sideshow is a humorousand eerie meditation on virtuosity, freak shows, entertainment, and spectacle, and after sold-out shows and critical acclaim across America and Europe, Music Current is delighted to present the Irish premiere of what will surely become one the defining works of early 21st century music. The theatrical theme continues with Swiss trio Retro Disco who take inspiration from Dadaist aesthetics and create absurdist performances, and perform a new commission by Irish composer Karen Power.

The festival opens with a double-bill programme: Sweeney Lives! featuring three major ‘radiophonic’ work by Irish electronic music pioneer Frank Corcoran; and German music collective Stock11, one of the most thought provoking music groups performing today.

Retro Disco will also perform a new commission by Argentinian composer Patricia Martinez in a special concert of new international works developed during the festival by participating composers, one of whom will receive this year’s Music Current Commission of €2,500.

Welcoming many new international artists who will perform in Ireland for the first time, and curating this exciting experimental mix of new music, Dublin Sound Lab is delighted to host another cutting edge MUSIC CURRENT for 2019.

MUSIC CURRENT 2019 introduces a new audience engagement event called Music Current Connects, which runs in conjunction with each concert at this year’s festival. Music Current Connects is an informal networking event aimed at audiences, composers, and musicians who are invited to join the festival team for discussions after each concert. If you’re a composer, you can pitch ideas to Dublin Sound Lab; if you’re a performer, you can find collaborators; if you’re a concert-goer, you can discuss the evening’s music with the festival composers. Everyone is invited to come along and meet up with the festival team after the show – no ticket required, just come along and introduce yourself or email info@dublinsoundlab.ie.

LISTING INFORMATION

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CENTRE, 19 Fishamble Street, Temple Bar, Dublin

FRANK CORCORAN, In Conversation: Wednesday 10 April | 6pm | Free
WHOSE MUSIC?, Panel Discussion: Friday 12 April | 6pm | Free

SMOCK ALLEY THEATRE, Exchange Street Lower, Temple Bar, Dublin

SWEENEY LIVES!: Wednesday 10 April | 7pm | €15/10
SHERIFFS LOVE SONGS: Wednesday 10 April | 8pm | €15/10
SIDESHOW: Thursday 11 April | 8pm | €15/10
RETRO DISCO: Friday 12 April | 8pm | €15/10
CURRENTS: Saturday 13 April | 8pm | €15/10

Box Office – Tel: 01 677 0014 / smockalley.com