ж The Buffer Zone ж

ж The Buffer Zone ж

Sunday, 8 December 2019, 7.00pm

Kirkos Ensemble are delighted to present the Irish premiere of The Buffer Zone, an opera by Cypriot composer Yannis Kyriakides. The culmination of Kirkos’ residency in the intimate DCC Incubation space on James Joyce Street, the piece will run for 3 nights from Friday December 6th to Sunday December 8th. Exploring boundaries of separation, this landmark audiovisual work is inspired by the Buffer Zone in Cyprus that divides the island’s Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, but can be read as a meditation on borders anywhere.

Reflecting this, the space and the audience will be split in half by hanging video screens. On each side is a musician who plays imaginary duets with a ghost instrument on the other side. The central character is a UN soldier who guards the buffer zone and crosses it freely. This brand new production is devised by Kirkos and stars Tom Roseingrave (singer/actor), Yseult Cooper Stockdale (cello) and Billy O’Brien (piano).

No simple work, The Buffer Zone explores the tension between the desolate terrain of no man’s land and the inner state of the soldier guarding it, while simultaneously highlighting (through stunning field recordings) the fact that this place which is so inhospitable to civilisation has become a biodiverse Eden as a result. The audience will be immersed in a multisensory experience while taken on a journey through this mental and physical limbo.

YANNIS KYRIAKIDES
Yannis Kyriakides is a major figure in new music internationally, notable for his hybridising of media and genres. He was born in Limassol, Cyprus in 1969, emigrated to Britain in 1975 and has been living in the Netherlands since 1992. Yannis has written over a hundred compositions, comprising mostly of music theatre, multimedia and electroacoustic works for chamber groups and large ensembles. His work has been performed worldwide at many of the prominent music festivals, and by many leading contemporary music ensembles..

The question as to what music is actually communicating is a recurring theme in Yannis’ work and he is often drawn to the relation between perception, emotion and language and how that defines our experience of sound. In a time where the fate of our own border is unknown, The Buffer Zone may affect our own perception, emotion and language in how we think and feel about what lies ahead.

Tickets:
Pay it Forward: €20*
Regular: €10
Feeling the Pinch: €5**

*This option is for passionate arts lovers who are financially comfortable and so would like to subsidise the price of entry for others. Additional Pinch tickets will be made available for every Pay It Forward ticket.

**limited number, available online only.
Tiered ticketing structure inspired by our friends at A4 Sounds Dublin.

Unit 3 / Kirkos DCC Incubation Space ж Fri 6th-Sun 8th December
Doors 6.45pm ж Performance 7pm
Tickets €5 [Pinch *limited] €10 [Regular] €20 [Pay It Forward]

Directions ж 5 James Joyce Street, Dublin
On O’Connell Street coming from the Liffey, turn right at the Spire on to North Earl Street. Continue onto Talbot Street, straight past Marlborough Street and Gardiner Street. Turn left onto James Joyce Street (just in front of Supervalu) and Unit 3 is on street level on the right-hand side, halfway down the second block.

Artwork by the brilliant Éna Brennan

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Published by Clare.Kirkos on 5 November 2019

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