Sacred Chants

Seán Mac Erlaine Solo
clarinet | bass clarinet | alto saxophone | live electronics

Sacred Chants is a solo performance piece for woodwinds and electronics drawing on the beautiful repertoire of Hildegard von Bingen, G.I. Gurdjieff, sacred Irish music and original composition. The centuries-old tradition of church and sacred music provides a rich seam of atmospheric melodies and mesmeric improvisations. The sources chosen here represent the adorned melodies of Gregorian chant, Seán’s own compositions and melodies from Asia Minor and the fringes of Europe

Winner of 'Best Young Irish Artist Award' at Cork Jazz Festival 2008 and recently nominated for ‘Best Sound Design’ by The Irish Times Theatre Awards 2010, saxophonist Seán Mac Erlaine is firmly placed as one of the country's most interesting and engaging musicians. Having developed a very personal voice on reeds as well as an expressive command of live electronics, he has plotted a unique path with his groups Trihornophone, Morla and This is How we Fly. Although highly active with a number of projects as leader and sideman as well as a raft of interdisciplinary work, solo performance remains at the core of Seán's work. In 2006 he was awarded a multi-annual bursary from The Arts Council of Ireland to continue his studies of non-idiomatic woodwind solo improvisation and is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD in this field. He has performed solo at the i & e festival of free improvisation, The Fold at St. Audeon's Church, Dublin, The Dublin Electronic Arts Festival, National Concert Hall, Kaleidoscope, The Sligo New Music Festival, The Bray Jazz Festival and The Venice Biennale.

"Adventurous [and] dynamic... undeniably powerful and at times beautiful improvisation.”
- All About Jazz

"An encouraging example of the spirit of innovation current in Irish contemporary music"
- The Journal of Music

“One of the most original voices on the Dublin scene”
– Sunday Tribune

"[His] pieces are highly original, creative, packed with incident and show a determination to avoid any hint of the clichéd or the safe."
- The Irish Times

“Reed-player Seán Mac Erlaine, who is involved in quite an array of creative projects in Dublin, has only recently taken to solo improvisation. This performance confirmed what had become clear even on his first public outing in that role: that he has the confidence to pursue his own purposes without feeling the need to show everything he can do in every piece or to indulge in flash display.”
- Signal To Noise Magazine

“A surprisingly welcome interlude of direct human expression.”
- Paris Transatlantic Magazine