Two Fairies and a Jar of Summer Lights

9 Dec 2016 - 7:00pm
James Joyce Centre

Two Fairies and a Jar of Summer Lights

a multimedia fairytale for children by The Iride Project with Bernard Clarke

9 December, 7pm

+ special schools-only performance, 2pm

Presenting a unique event of contemporary music especially created for children by The Iride Project, a duo of musician and composer Massimo Davi and poet and performer Monica Miuccio. Part of the Association of Irish Composers Other Directions concert series, exploring the many facets of contemporary music in Ireland, supported by Arts Council Ireland. 

This electroacoustic fairytale is written by Monica Miuccio, narrated by Bernard Clarke and supported by live electronics. The performance is aimed at children (in particular ages 7–12) and families, created after original Fairytales by Monica Miuccio. Words are revealed through sound as an innovative way of telling a story that introduces the children to electroacoustic music.

The reading by Bernard Clarke is accompanied by enchanting music created in real time by Monica Miuccio who will play custom made percussions such as a fly-fishing reel, bubbling water, a stainless steel cake lifter and a violin. These unusual instruments will represent another element of interest for the audience and will be hooked to a laptop via piezoelectric transducers, then manipulated by live electronics as to produce the ethereal music that will develop throughout the stories striking images.

A winter Fairy (the Holly Fairy) oversleeps and wakes up in high summer: “Once upon a time, a holly fairy woke up knocking her head against a strawberry...”

The Holly Fairy now has to find the way to reach the cold winter and her journey through the dark is helped by a summer Fairy (the Lily Fairy) and a shining swarm of Fireflies. “The Lily fairy, a foxglove as a hat, gathers all the fireflies she knows in a jar. Perhaps once belonged to a human being...” and humans indeed invade the forest and scare the Holly Fairy. But the magical realm is so far from men’s material world that it remains invisible to the human blind eye “...dazzled by their artificial lights, blind to the fragments of Summer in the Winter heart” 

Finally “The fireflies dance all over the snowed firs, joyful silence of little stars”
“Good –sighs the Holly fairy- I always get confused when giving explanations to those who have not the imagination to understand.” 

Tickets to the performance cost €12 for adults, €8 for children under 12 or €30 for a family group (two adults and two children). Tickets are available from https://aic-fairytale.eventbrite.ie 

There will also be a special schools-only event in the afternoon. For more information and to book a school group, contact [email protected].

About the Iride Project

Massimo Daví is a Pianist, Composer, Sound Artist. He holds a Master's Degree in Music, a Teaching Certification in Music Education and has extensive experience as secondary school teacher.

Monica Miuccio is a Poet and Performer. Her works were awarded top prizes at several Literary competition between 1993 and 1998 and were featured in prestigious publications.

In 2013 they launched "IRIDE PROJECT" with the purpose of investigating non-deterministic electro-acoustic music and sound-emphasis poetry by making use of conventional and unconventional instruments, piezoelectric transducers, field recordings, electronics, spoken word, and a Doepfer A100 modular analogue synthesizer.

Their works, both Instrumental and Electroacoustic, were performed in Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Finland, Germany, Mexico, Macedonia, UK, Czech Republic and Spain and are regularly featured on RTÉ Lyric FM. The Duo participated at festivals and convocations such as Irish Sound, Science and Technology Convocations and “Prague Quadrennial Of Sound Design and Space” in Czech Republic.

https://irideproject.bandcamp.com/