In this RTÉ lyric fm radio and podcast series, I meet twenty women: composers and sound artists connected to the island of Ireland. They share their stories, their inspirations, creativity and challenges as they connect the listener to their work.

Listen to Episode 2 above.

In the series I explore the wonderfully alive and energised ecosystem of music in Ireland today, talking to women from diverse backgrounds: both academic and non-academic, including an astrophysicist, a computer programmer, artists coming from different places, cultures and countries and reflecting an age range from twenties to seventies, but who are all connected through their music on the island of Ireland. In the eight part series listeners are introduced to their music, ranging from piano trio to orchestral, from games music to improvisation.

In this episode of How The World Begins Again singer I meet with composers and sound artists, Rhona Clarke, Una Lee and Jennifer Walshe and find out how they found the imposed solitary life that we all experienced in the pandemic. I learn how this was a time for focussed creativity and work, for discovering new ways of creating music, and it allowed time to reflect on how, as artists, we are all individuals on our own journeys. 

The series title – How the World Begins Again – is taken from a line in Eavan Boland’s poem CODE, about how women; artists, scientists, poets and composers alike, become visible and heard through their work and make the world anew.

 CODE – by Eavan Boland ends with these lines:

“I am writing at a screen as blue,

as any hill, as any lake, composing this

to show you how the world begins again:

One word at a time.

Music heard in this episode includes Rhona Clarke, Piano Trio No 3, Una Lee, Nocturne for Voices One & Two, Jennifer Walshe, Becher.

The theme music for the series is from Phonology Garden by composer Gráinne Mulvey from my album Sea to the West. The series is researched and written by Elizabeth Hilliard, the producer is Helen Shaw and the audio mix is by John Howard.

How The World Begins Again, RTÉ lyric fm, Fridays at 7pm – listen during the interval of The Lyric Concert, and find out more here