Per Cent for Art Commission June 2008
HARBOURING by Ian Wilson

Harbouring is a nine movement 50-minute choral and orchestral work, which was premiered in Wexford on June 5th & 6th.

This commission is part of Wexford County Council’s Per Cent for Art programme and is being funded from public art monies generated from Rosslare Harbour and Carcur Main Drainage Schemes. The idea for this commission was linked to Wexford County Council marking ten years of investment in choral music within the county, particularly through the work of the County Wexford Children’s Choir [CWCC] since 1997.

The brief set for this commission was the composition of a 50 minute choral and instrumental work with a distinctive Irish choral sound which bridges singing and choral traditions, celebrates choral music in Co. Wexford and marks the achievements of ten years of development arising out of the CWCC project.

Through a process of open national competition, Leitrim based composer, Ian Wilson, was awarded the commission.  He commented, ‘Harbouring is based on nine poems from both Irish and international writers, which all have the subject of harbour in common, inspired by the link between the music and its source of funding. Some poems approach the theme literally, some more tangentially, but it is what holds the work together. I have endeavoured to write choral music which is at the same time modern and accessible, challenging to a degree yet rewarding to sing and which, ultimately, is written in a language and idiom which will be easily recognisable by anyone who hears it. The music for the traditional singers has been written in such a way as to allow them to sing in their idiomatic style, yet within a context that brings their parts of the work into the same musical arena as the music which the choirs will sing. The final poem, The Harbour, was written by an Irish poet, Winifred Letts, and speaks of the Wexford coastline; it is the ideal finish to the work.’

The performances, conducted by one of Ireland’s most distinguished conductors and no stranger to Wexford audiences, Fergus Sheil, brought together local and national performers – including the Irish Chamber Orchestra, renowned accordion player Dermot Dunne, over one hundred choristers from Wexford Festival Singers, Gorey Choral Group and Enniscorthy Choral Society and local sean nós singers from the Co. Wexford’s Whisht Traditional Irish singing group.

To see and hear what the critics had to say about Harbouring please see the following links;

RTE Radio 1 for the coverage of Harbouring on the Arts Show:  http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0609/theartsshow.html

To see photos of the performance, please go to our online Gallery and the Harbouring folder.

Pre-performance announcement in New Ross Standard  http://www.newrossstandard.ie/news/harbouring-premiere-performance-1403014.html     

Critical Review of Harbouring, by Dr. Grainne Mulvey  http://www.wexford.ie/wex/Departments/Arts/PressRelease/Name,6659,en.html