Dunboyne composer"s 'sig tune" chosen for Solstice

Ciaran Hope, a Dunboyne composer currently based in Los Angeles, has been selected as the winning composer in the Solstice Arts Centre"s 'Solstice Music Commission" competition. The piece, entitled 'Solstice", will be the new signature tune for the centre. It is intended that this piece be played in the arts centre before performances, at launches, exhibition openings and other publicity events. An innovative use of the Per Cent for Art Scheme, the commission invited composers worldwide to submit proposals of pieces of music three to four minutes long. It will be premiered in Navan later this year. 'I am excited and honoured to have been chosen.' said Ciarán, whose work has included music for 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer". 'It has been a lot of fun to write the commission and hopefully I"ve created a piece of magic that stands the tests of time.' In preparation for writing the piece, Ciaran carried out a lot of reading on an array of topics including Tara, Newgrange and the Battle of the Boyne among others. He wanted to connect the commissioned work to the heart of County Meath. His inspiration for the piece inevitably arrives with the shifting times of daylight and nightfall, and with the juxtaposition of the seasons. 'When it dawned on me that the name of the arts centre right in front of me summed up what I seemed to love most about my relationship with Meath, I realised then that the work just had to be called 'Solstice". Thus, began the evolution of the piece. I decided to use the title as one of the more significant aspects of the form of the music. The piece would evolve from a simple genesis and along the way evoke change and possibility as it irrevocably marched towards its climax, reminiscent of the sun"s rise on those fateful days of solstice, with which our county and ancestors are so irrefutably intertwined,' he added. After arriving in Hollywood on a Fulbright Scholarship, Ciaran wasted no time in making his mark by writing music for film and TV in the US, working with major entertainment companies including Disney, Trimark Pictures and Alcon Entertainment. He orchestrated the Golden Globe-nominated score for Michael Mann"s 'The Insider" as well as writing music for TV"s 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and 'It"s A Guy Thing". He has also set up his own all-in-one post production facility, Pangea Music Inc. Eighteen submissions for the competition were received from prominent composers worldwide, including Ireland, Japan, Bulgaria, America, Canada, Italy and Taiwan. The independent panel comprising of Seamus Crimmins, executive director, RTÉ Performing Groups; Rosemary Collier, head of music and opera, the Arts Council, and Gerry O"Connor, traditional musician and lecturer, were greatly impressed by the calibre of the composers and their proposals.