CONCERT Inventions: the harpsichord across time and borders

Dr Yonit Kosovske performed a solo concert of new, contemporary harpsichord at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin in affiliation with Trinity College Dublin. This concert was part of the transnational project 'Inventions: Harpsichord Music Across Time and Borders', directed by Dr Janet Oates, who was in attendance from the UK, as was Dr Evangelia Rigaki, a key collaborator on the project, a composer, and a professor at Trinity. The project spans 4 nations (Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales) and is comprised of 4 female composers and 4 female harpsichordists from each country where they present performances and educational workshops or seminars investigating contemporary music for harpsichord through performative, compositional, and pedagogical perspectives.

In each concert, the commissions are performed alongside other works, both new and old, celebrating lesser-known music by regional composers, with a focus on female composers. Thus, each concert is comprised of the commissioned works and their historical counterparts alongside other pieces individually curated by each harpsichordist. Yonit's performance included works by the Inventions project's composers Janet Oates, Evangelia Rigaki, and Lisa Robertson, in addition to works by French Baroque composers Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, and three Irish composers: Ailís Ní Ríain, Fiona Linnane, and Meadhbh Hayes.

The project included several months of research collaboration and workshopping amongst harpsichords and composers, as well as amongst the harpsichordists.

The project was made possible with funding from: Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Sound Festival (Scotland), The Marchus Trust, The Hope Scott Trust, Mary Cooke, and The Francis Louth Trust.