For centuries, Ireland has been rich in myth, natural beauty and history. With her multidisciplinary project Terrarium, Irish composer Ann Cleare pays tribute to the colorful, cultural-historical landscape of her homeland. A sonic and visual immersive experience highlighting the changing geological terrain at Lough Boora, Ireland, Terrarium was conceived during Ann Cleare’s time as composer-in-residence with Crash Ensemble. Created in collaboration with site-responsive artists Lay of the Land and videographer and director Laura Sheehan for Crash to perform, the work transports audiences through the specific yet universal touchstones of the Irish boglands to a vanished Mesolithic lake in Lough Boora, County Offaly. These lands are thought to be one of the earliest sites of human activity in Ireland, dated to somewhere between 6800 and 6500 BC.
Terrarium is presented in a multi-layered configuration, generating an experiential environment recalling Boora’s shifting geological terrain, with the accomplished musicians of Crash Ensemble evoking the complex role water has played – and continues to play – in the Irish Midlands. This dynamic setting will situate audiences in a landscape of time, where they can hear, see, and feel the strata of this earth transforming.
More information at November Music