Welcome to the Wicklow Piano Concerto Blog!

Hello!

This blog has come into existence to document the composition of a new piano concerto by me (Cheryl Frances-Hoad). I've been lucky enough to win the Music Commission from Wicklow County Council, funded by the Per Cent for Arts Scheme, and as a result will compose the new work, to be premiered by Bobby Chen and the Greystones Orchestra in c. May 2009. As part of the project Bobby Chen and I will also take a series of workshops in schools in County Wicklow in the Autumn of 2008.

The aim of the project is to compose a new piano concerto that is inspired by North East Co. Wicklow (principally the towns of Bray, Greystones and Wicklow) , using local people's ideas, stories, poems, paintings, photos (and anything else!) as the basis for the work. One of the most important reasons for this blog is for people to contribute, so please post any ideas and comments you may have!

This blog will document the entire project, detailing everything from the day to day writing of the piano concerto to the planning and admin (of which there has been a lot so far and I'm sure there will be a lot more!). Please don't expect to read about any innovative compositional techniques: those wishing for great musical insights should perhaps look elsewhere, as in this blog I'll simply be documenting my thoughts about the new piece and detailing how it is progressing.

I shall start the piano concerto in the autumn of 2007, so that's when this blog will really get going: until then I'm keen to hear as many people's ideas as possible, so please post away!

Thanks, Cheryl :)