MUSIC COMPOSITIONS & MUSICAL INVENTIONS
2025
Multisensory Graphic Studies 1 - 3 3 studies in multisensory scoring using graphic notation funded by Arts Council Ireland
Balloon Studies 1 - 3 3 studies using balloons as vibrotactile aids for music -funded by Arts Council Ireland
2024
The Black Potatoes 3 minutes Composition based on the poem Amhrán na bPrátaí Dubha (Song of the Black Potatoes) for voice, mandolin and percussion. -funded by Artlinks Waterford Bursary
2023
The Onion Drum 9’52”
Multisensory piece for tape and live performers for The Body that Breathes; a Silent Concert Experience -commissioned by Jane Hackett
5 Slient Poems 5 multisensory compositions for body language, piano, trombone and double bass. -commissioned by New Music Dublin
2022
Small Wonders: Songs for a Puppet Show 11’45”
INCLUDES:
1)Fly with Me 2'30"
2)Worm Song 4'
3)Won't You Dance with Me? 2'45"
4)Lullaby for Me 2'50"
Commissioned by Púca Puppets
Funded by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
2021
The Sense Ensemble (album) 35’52”
INCLUDES:
1)The Sense Ensemble,Study 1 4'56"
2)Glass of Milk 3'39"
3)Murder in the Tin Shed 2'59"
4)Marshall Bridge Road 3'32"
5)The Sense Ensemble,Study 2 4'26"
6)Her Lonely Musical Nose 3'13"
7)The Eek Shall Inherit the Mirth 2'53"
8)Snail on a Knife Blade 2'45"
9)Eye Am an Ear 2'22"
10)The Sense Ensemble,Study 3 2'29"
11)Ballet for Six Blind Butchers 2'33"
© 2021 2879257 Records DK
Music for Modern Animals (album) 30’11”
INCLUDES:
1)The Great Salty Island 3'
2)Mindlessness 2'38"
3)Covid Mutation no 1 4'09"
4)Lullaby for Bertha Bye 3'18"
5)Janet Dreams of Juniper 2'36"
6)Covid Mutation no2 2'35"
7)The Song My Dad Never Heard 2'32"
8)Covid Mutation no 3 3'54"
9)The One and Only Magnifico 3'01"
10)Abandoned Zoo at Night 2'09"
© 2021 2879257 Records DK
The Dream of the Knockabock 50’ -a twelve-minute ‘mobile composition for multisensory voices’ created was a rich pageant of sound, movement and was a spatial performance to remember.
2020
Music within a 2Km Radius 4’52”
based on recordings
made within a 2 km
radius of my home
while on lockdown
during the Covid-19 pandemic
-funded by an Arts Council Covid Response Fund 2020
2019
Harmonic Jello 16’47”
for cello and
diatonic harmonica
in 4 movements
-funded by an Arts Council Music Bursary Award
White Swans, Black Water 10’
for guitar quartet
based on the calls
of whooper swans
on the River Blackwater, County Waterford
-commissioned by Waterford Arlinks 2019
2018
WORKSONGS #4, The Hospital Song 4’
A song written for
choir and piano for
performance by
Tallaght University Hospital Choir
-funded by South County Dublin INCONTEXT4
WORKSONGS #3, Hear Us Amongst the Fungus 4’
A song written for
3 voices and guitar for
performance
while picking mushrooms
-funded by South County Dublin INCONTEXT4
WORKSONGS #2, Yesterday and Tomorrow Meet Today 10’
A song written for
voices and guitar for
performance
by Platform 1 Writer’s Group
-funded by South County Dublin INCONTEXT4
WORKSONGS #1, First Earlies 4’
A song written for
3 voices and ukulele for
performance
while planting potatoes
-funded by South County Dublin INCONTEXT4
2017
The Sense Ensemble, Study #3 4’
An multi sensory composition for
flashes, beeps and pulses
as part of PhD research
for Trinity College Dublin
-funded by The Irish Research Council and
The Trinity College Visual and Performing Arts Fund
2016
The Sense Ensemble, Study #2 8’
An experimental study for
string quartet, smoke ring cannons and sign language
as part of PhD research
for Trinity College Dublin
-funded by the Irish Research Council
The Sense Ensemble, Study #1 15'
An experimental study for
string quartet, smoke ring cannons and sign language
as part of PhD research
for Trinity College Dublin
-funded by The Irish Research Council and
The Trinity College Visual and Performing Arts Fund
Music for Small Ears 12'
Songs composed for babies
to be performed in public health clinics
across Ireland
-funded by an Arts Council Project Award
Produced by George Higgs, Helium Arts Trust, W.H.A.T
2015
Great War Signal Corps 90’
A choral theatre performance for
choir, piano, bass and telegraph keys
to commemorate
the First World War
-commissioned by The National Museum and Dublin City Council
AFLOAT 15'
A composition for alto trombone
tenor trombones (2), baritone horn, bass trombone
and bass tuba
for performance on the Avoca River
by Blown Identity and the composer (on trombone)
-commissioned by an Artist in the Community Award,
CREATE Ireland (The Arts Council)
in collaboration with the Arklow Rowing Club
2014
Up the Downbeat 15'
A symphony written for strings
woodwind, brass and percussion
for performance by
young musicians in Arklow
-commissioned by Wicklow County Council
and produced by the Contemporary Music Centre
under the per cent for art scheme on behalf of
Music Generation
2013
The Lost and Found Sound Assembly 70'
6 song machinists assemble and perform on
a large musical instrument
of the composer's invention
all materials being sourced from
recycling centres
commissioned by Dublin City Public Arts Programme
The Syntonic Street Experiment 40’
6 song machinists maneuver and perform on
a mobile musical instrument comprising a tone-wheel generator, keyboard, modular synthesizer and baritone guitar.
commissioned by Arts Council Ireland
2012
DOOR 15'
2 musicians push a musical door around
a city, stopping periodically
to perform a musical composition
commissioned by The Arts Council
2011
The Jimmy Rig Slip Jig 50'
6 song machinists assemble and perform on
a large musical instrument
of the composer's invention
commissioned by The Arts Council
The Machine of Song 15'
A composition for an instrument
invented specifically for performance
by deaf ensemble
commissioned by The Arts Council's
Artist in the Community Scheme
2010
The Poor Man’s Ball 14’38”
5 pieces of musique concrète
to be played in 8 channel presentation
during an interactive theatre event
based on the short story entitled The Poor Man’s Ball
written by George Higgs
commissioned by an Arts Council
Music Commissions Award 2010
The Electro Acoustic Journey of the Joculator 15'
for Joculator (an electro acoustic vehicle),
brass trio and the general public
commissioned by Temple Bar Cultural Trust
2009
The Evolvaphone 21'
a booth which generates a composition
according to the laws of natural selection
Programmed using Pure Data
commissioned by the WELLCOME TRUST
and the Arts Council
Head of Hamlet 20'
an installation for music, light and vibrations
Programmed using Pure Data
funded by an Arts Council Project New Work Award
Music for Modern Animals 8'
3 hand cranked outdoor sculptures which
play a composition for telegraph and livestock orchestra
-funded by the Arts Council through Airfield Trust
The Idiot Box 21'
music for boxes, lights and dancers
2008
Bed of Macbeth 25'
a tragedy for music cinema in 5 scenes
a=aght 2'44
tape piece using street sounds and young people's voices
commissioned by Jackie Summell
2007
The Electro Acoustic Exchange 25'
for 4 cellos, 8 speakers, 4 commodities and sine waves
The Voyage of Particle H 12'
- the musical diary of a journey through a carbon atom
for orchestra and bass soloist
Music for Six-Legged Percussionists 10'42
for houseflies and dungbeetles
(in lamps and cigar boxes respectively and respectfully)
Edible Music Recipe #1 4'10
for tape, speakers and rice
Who's There? 16'40
for amplified door, two knockers, double bass,
electric guitar, clarinet, oboe, trombone and trumpet
2006
W.V.H . 10'18
for string orchestra,
commissioned by Kremlin Chamber Ensemble
Storm in a Teacup 17'
sonata in three movements for piano,
electronics and teacup speakers
The Rainbow Death of Roy G Biv 8'40
for chamber ensemble
(vn,vc,fl,cl,pn)
Fatimaphone Suite 8'30
for homemade dulcimer, samples
and trash cans on pulleys
The Callan Workhouse 7'20
for amplified table,
wooden blocks, sewage pipes, homemade dulcimer
and live electronics
Commissioned by the Butler Gallery
Scenes from an Invisible Play 1'
short piece for solo double bass
Music for an Invisible Play in 9 scenes 21'58
for string quartet
The Dragonfly Dreams It's a Moose 8'40
for saxophone ensemble
(sopranino,soprano,alto,tenor,baritone,contrabass)
Symphony of Invisible Sound 22'50
in 10 movements for full orchestra
(transcribed for wind ensemble)
The Famine Dance 4'
for string orchestra
winner of the Director's Prize Mozart 250
2005
The Shelfless Sonata 16'
for piano in four movements
Brass Picnic 18'
for mobile outdoor brass ensemble
4 quartets (hn, tpt, tr, tb)
The Workhouse Sonata 19'52
for string trio (vn,vla,vc) and three voices (S,A,B)
2003
Hongongalongalo; an opera without words 90'
for female choir and orchestra
4 stars from the Irish Times
2002
Dreaming Dog 4'02
tape piece
Baghdad Rag 4'18
tape piece for B4 organ
2001
Suicide of Miss Understood;a guerrilla opera with 3 commercials 80' for choir, soloists and rock band
(gtr,bs,pn,drums)
1999
Kahoogaphone; a guerrilla opera in 2 acts 90'
for 3 singers and small ensemble
(gtr,banjo,bs,acc.,drums)
1998
3 pieces 7'
for cello and guitar