25 June 2017 at 20:00

Kirkos Ensemble

David Adams, organ

In association with Pipeworks Festival

KIRKOS (Miriam Kaczor, flute, Hannah Miller, horn, Sebastian Adams, viola, Yseult Cooper Stockdale, cello) is a new music ensemble made up of a group of Ireland's finest young musicians, directed by Sebastian Adams and Robert Coleman. Its members combine high-concept programming with superb playing, and regard every element of the audience as an integral part of a concert. They hope that their offbeat take on serious new music can be a game-changer for the uninitiated. Current projects include Kirkoskammer, an ongoing concert series, and collaborations with the Experimental Film Society and Pipeworks Organ Festival. Past highlights include 'Fluxfest', an intermedia happening incorporating over 30 works, and 'Blackout', highly theatrical concerts in almost complete darkness. On the 100th anniversary of the 'Rite of Spring''s premiere, Kirkos unveiled a new version reimagined for string trio and live electronic ballet, written by 14 Irish composers. Since 2012, Kirkos has given 130 premieres, encompassing most of Ireland's leading composers.

DAVID ADAMS is a former organ scholar of St Patrick's Cathedral and Trinity College Dublin, and studied in Freiburg (with Ludwig Doerr) and Amsterdam (with Piet Kee and Ewald Kooiman), winning prizes at international competitions in Speyer, Lüneburg, Dublin and Bruges. Since his debut recital at St Paul's Cathedral, London, at the age of 16 he has performed throughout Ireland, the UK and Europe, and is a regular guest at major international festivals. As a conductor he has worked with the Ulster Orchestra, English Touring Opera, Opera Theatre Company, the Orchestra of St Cecilia and the Irish Baroque Orchestra. He has premièred many new works and recorded for Naxos, Black Box and Wergo. He has taught at conservatories in Freiburg, Berlin and The Hague, and at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and Trinity College Dublin, and now lectures at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He gives masterclasses and lectures at home and abroad, and has been a juror for many national and international competitions. In 2007 he was awarded a PhD from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam for his work on Max Reger and Karl Straube. David is organist of Christ Church Taney and St Nahi's in Dublin and an associate artist with Pipeworks.