Panel Discussion: Why make art about anything else?

Free event

A dialogue interrogating the impact that music both makes and could make on the climate crisis, with members of Dublin-based new music group Kirkos, Hear & Found’s CEO Sirosar Boonmar and classical soprano Mimi Doulton.

Chaired by composer, performer and hcmf// Board Environmental Champion Laura Bowler.

Hear & Found
As a music publisher and creative cultural agency, we make it possible for people to access and connect with the distinctive regional music and sounds of Southeast Asia. The world and its people are losing indigenous and folk cultures. Our mission is to make cultural treasures accessible through online and in-person experiences. We aim not only to sustain the culture but also to support the ethnic communities to grow and prolong.
https://hearandfound.com/

Kirkos
Kirkos is a new music group from Dublin, Ireland, as well as the operator of Unit 44, a DIY venue in Stoneybatter with a radically open approach to programming. We focus on high-concept performances and on trying to develop the ecosystem that thrives at the fringes of Irish new music. Threading the line between experimental music and contemporary classical music, we rarely do straightforward concerts, preferring to incorporate every part of the audience’s experience into our thinking about music. Work devised collaboratively and influences from theatre, visual art and performance art are a big part of what we do. Based on a core group of musicians who met while at college in the Royal Irish Academy of Music a decade ago, we also collaborate widely. By starting Unit 44, we are trying to make up for the appalling lack of affordable cultural space available in our city, and trying to open it to as many artists and audience members as possible.
https://www.kirkosensemble.com/

Mimi Doulton
Mimi Doulton is a soprano of British-Pakistani heritage, based in Stuttgart, Germany. In March 2023 she started the podcast high-flier, documenting her attempts to cut down on flights as a freelance musician, and interviewing colleagues working in the opera, music and theatre professions about sustainable practices. As a performer, she has a particular interest in creating new theatrical work, recently premiering operas by Oliver Leith, Jasmin Kent Rodgman, Jasmine Morris, Bernhard Gander and Giorgio Battistelli. In concert, she has worked with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Galvanize Ensemble and Ensemble Ascolta, and performed at London Contemporary Music Festival, Café Oto, Spitalfields Festival, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Southbank Centre, Wigmore Hall, Sommer in Stuttgart, and Ny Musik I Birkerod. A keen collaborator, she has created new works with Jonathan Higgins, Neil Luck and Rasmus Zwicki, and has held residencies at Fondation Royaumont and Wild Plum Arts. She is a Trustee of Eye Music Trust and volunteers with Freelancers Make Theatre Work.
https://mimidoulton.com/

Produced by hcmf// as part of The Current Climate

Photo: © Graham Hardy