O’Regan, Tarik - Acallam na Senorach / Tales of the Elders - Hillier, Paul

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Stewart French, guitar
National Chamber Choir of Ireland / Paul Hillier

Acallam na Senórach, a major new choral work by Tarik O'Regan, received its world premiere in Dublin on November 25th 2010 in a performance by the National Chamber Choir of Ireland under its Artistic Director Paul Hillier.

Sung in English and Middle Irish, the piece takes its title from the c12th century narrative ('Tales of the Elders') and follows the story of two legendary heroes, Caílte and Oisín, and their travels around Ireland with Saint Patrick. Over the course of 60 minutes O'Regan's piece presents six stories from the text using a choir of 16 voices punctuated by interludes from a solo guitar played by Stewart French. Two singers are also called upon to play the traditional Irish frame drum, the bodhráin.

Commissioned by the National Chamber Choir, Acallam na Senórach builds on O'Regan's earlier The Spring, which was premiered at the Cork International Choral Festival in 2008.

"TO SAY THAT Tarik O'Regan's career is on an upward arc is something of an understatement. Following two Grammy nominations last year for his gorgeous choral album Threshold of Night , 2010 has been a bit of an annus mirabilis for the young English composer. Last month saw the premiere of his Bach-inspired BBC Proms piece, Latent Manifest . He has been nominated for a British Composer Award, which will be presented in London next week. And Heart of Darkness , his opera based on Joseph Conrad's novel, will open at the Royal Opera House in London next autumn." [few seats left]
Irish Times, November 23 2010