Kirkos Ensemble, Ensemble Music, and Gruel Guerilla proudly present:
BLACKOUT Concert #1 :: Quatour pour la fin du temps by Olivier Messiaen
10.30pm, Friday–Saturday 8–9 May 2015
The Royal Irish Academy of Music, Westland Row, Dublin 2

B L A C K O U T # 1

Kirkos Ensemble and friends are proud to present BLACKOUT, a concert series of contemporary music and food in complete darkness.

For the first concert in the series, we’re serving up Olivier Messiaen’s seminal Quartet For The End of Time, performed by a quartet of Kirkos members: Róisín Walters - Violinist [violin], Yseult Cooper Stockdale [cello], Leonie Bluett [clarinet] and Máire Carroll [piano].

Written while imprisoned in Stalag VIIIA, the work is a devout celebration of the composer's beloved God, summoning the entire spectrum of human suffering as it reaches for the heavens. This music cries out for the embrace of darkness.

Kevin Volans, Roger Doyle, Ed Bennett, and Robert Coleman have written solo works in response to Messiaen’s seminal work – one for each musician.

Meanwhile, Kevin Powell [Gruel Guerrilla] and Vania Ling will be serving up a delicious plate of culinary delights to compliment and heighten these great pieces.

The experience will be enhanced with superb French wines provided with the support of the French Embassy in Ireland.