Great Women was commissioned by the Great Music in Irish Houses Festival to mark its 50th anniversary in 2020 with funds from the Arts Council / An Comhairle Ealaíon.
This piece is a celebration of the strong, remarkable Irish women who have helped shape the social and political landscape through their striving for equality and liberation. Among those whose wordsare set are pioneering patriots such as Countess Markievicz and Rosie Hackett, alongside such equally inspiring contemporary figures as our former Presidents Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese,extracts from whose inaugural speeches are embedded in the textures of the live and tape parts.
The aim is to integrate the recorded sounds and live voice into a single continuum, giving the work a sense of unity reflecting the shared vision, aspiration—and, above all, struggle—of generations of Irishwomen through the last century.
