Ciaran Hope's visit home for premiere of 'Solstice'

Dunboyne composer Ciaran Hope's world premiere of 'Solstice', a new piece of music specially commissioned by Meath County Council for the Solstice Arts Centre, took place at a gala concert in Navan last week. It was unveiled as part of the inaugural Solstice Festival at the centre and will be played prior to performances there. Hope won an international competition to compose the music. Hope himself was present at the premiere, having flown in from Los Angeles, where he is based. He comes from a well established musical family background. Having travelled to America as a Fulbright Scholar, he established himself on the film music scene orchestrating the Golden Globe nominated score for Michael Mann's 'The Insider' as well as writing music for 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'It's a Guy Thing'. Possessing a unique background in computers and electrical engineering, Hope continues to innovate in new fields of technologically based composition, and is currently starting a ground breaking research project into the sonic stimulation of cell cultures at the world famous Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Meath County Council cathaoirleach, Cllr William Carey explained that 'Solstice' is the Meath County Council Per Cent for Art Scheme music commission attached to the Solstice Arts Centre's ACCESS Capital Programme. The cathaoirleach outlined the current innovative public art programme which Meath County Council is currently engaged in which will see a number of new works across a variety of disciplines being commissioned in the coming months. County Manager, Tom Dowling, welcomed Ciarán Hope on his return home for his premiere. "Since opening its doors in 2006 Solstice has established a firm reputation for its commitment to high quality artistic endeavour and the development and delivery of new works. Tonight's concert continues that tradition and we are proud to present this evening's concert," he said. The concert also featured music by Elaine Agnew - 'Maisy Daly's Rainbow' with narration written and performed by Deirdre Kinehan of Tall Tales Theatre Company and Shay Carry. Conductor on the night was Fergus Shiel.