BANGERS & CRASH
PERCUSSION SEXTET
SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER
7pm – 8pm
GLÓR, MAIN THEATRE
CAUSEWAY LINK, ENNIS
Concert: €14/€10 conc.
Practice Workshop: free ticketed event
BANGERS & CRASH
PERCUSSION SEXTET
Interactive Concert
Experience an evening of percussion virtuosity with Bangers and Crash, a collective of Ireland’s finest percussionists, featuring Alex Petcu-Colan, Emma King, Caitríona Frost, Brian Dungan, Patrick Lynch and John Rousseau-Parlane.
For PIMA! FEST ’22, the six members will collaborate on a unique immersive concert that invites the audience to participate in their music, adding an atmospheric ‘surround sound’ to the concert.
“We are inviting audiences to enhance the music experience, to join in at various high points and transitions, adding drama, dynamics, colour and atmosphere to the repertoire. But the concert is not only for the adventurous, its equally for those who wish to sit back and absorb the textural surround sound.” Alex Petcu-Colan
Known for their global palette of rhythmic influences, from Afro-Cuban and Japanese taiko to Spanish flamenco and Javanese gamelan, Bangers and Crash are veritable percussion adventurers. Witness a spectacular array of percussion instrumentation with marimbas, vibraphone, tubular bells, wind chimes, crotales, tambourines and all manner of drums including bass drum, tom-toms and congas. However, what makes Bangers and Crash so extraordinary is their fascinating array of ad hoc materials such scrap metal, marbles and smashed plates. Exploring the sonic potential of various shapes and substances is a Bangers and Crash trade mark, so it’s no wonder that founding member Petcu-Colan has a background in physics.
The concert repertoire will journey through the textures and colours of contemporary percussion from Petcu-Colan’s own compositions ‘Sextet No.1’ and ‘Cross | Paths’ to composers including Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Thierry De Mey.
Audiences who are interested in participating in the interactive elements are welcome to attend a 30 minute workshop with Bangers and Crash at 4.30pm on the day of the concert, Sunday 16th October. No skills required. Please book HERE through the glór website.
Alex Petcu-Colan
Irish musician of Romanian origin, Alex is quickly establishing himself both nationally and internationally as a percussionist of the finest calibre. A graduate of both CIT Cork School of Music and University College Cork, he has been a National Concert Hall Rising Star recitalist, artist in residence for the Cork School of Music and had success in major national and international competitions such as the Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year, Tromp and A.R.D. International competitions. Alex has performed as a soloist with both RTÉ orchestras and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, as well as with the Irish Baroque and Ulster orchestras. He has performed music for theatre including Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ at the Abbey Theatre and ‘A Most Peculiar Wintry Thing’ at The Ark and is a regular performer with the Crash and Hard Rain ensembles.
Emma King
Originally from Northern Ireland Emma trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Her reputation grew rapidly on the UK scene after she joined the West End/Broadway smash hit show ‘STOMP’ in 2014, with whom she continues to tour extensively throughout the world. Emma’s performance credits include National Theatre of Scotland’s ‘Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour’, John O’Brien’s opera ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’, Live at the London Palladium, Glasgow and London Drum Shows and in 2019 she performed the soundtrack of the movie JOUD in Saudi Arabia with the London Contemporary Orchestra.
Caitriona Frost
Caitríona studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She performs regularly with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and is a current member of Wexford Festival Orchestra. She has also performed with Ulster Orchestra, Irish Chamber Ensemble, Dublin City Jazz Orchestra, Dublin Brass, WASBE International Youth Wind Ensemble and Chamber Choir Ireland. She has been involved in two theatre productions ‘Alice in Funderland‘ (Abbey Theatre) and Pagliacci (Everyman Theatre). She has toured the world Celtic Woman and performed with Declan O’Rourke, Hayley Westenra and Rebecca Storm.
John Rousseau-Parlane
John is a graduate of TU Dublin Conservatoire who regularly performs with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Dublin Concert Orchestra, Orchestra of Ireland, Irish National Opera Orchestra, and in 2019 with the Wexford Festival Opera orchestra. In 2021 John received the Nick Jack financial award from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London to study an ‘Orchestral Artistry’ Masters given in conjunction with the London Symphony Orchestra. Often featured on RTÉ lyric fm, both in solo and ensemble performances he was named one of the University Concert Hall’s Rising Stars in 2021.
Patrick Lynch
Patrick holds a BA in Music Performance from the CIT Cork School of Music. His versatility spans a range of genres, using both drum kit and percussion instrumentation. As an orchestral percussionist he has played with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestras, Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra and Cork Pops. As a jazz musician, he co-founded a new big band called the Cork City Jazz Orchestra and has had the opportunity to play with many greats such as Scott Hamilton, Dick Oatts, Grace Kelly, Bruce Barth, Ryan Quigley and many more.
Brian Dungan
Brian studied at Trinity College, Royal Irish Academy of Music and Kodály Institute of the Liszt Academy in Budapest. As an orchestral percussionist he works with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and the Ulster Orchestra. He is also timpanist and a founding member of Fishamble Sinfonia as well as assistant to the RIAM Percussion Ensemble. Brian has performed in Irish premieres: Adès’ ‘Powder Her Face’ by Northern Ireland Opera, ‘Totentanz’ by the RTÉ NSO and Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians in a joint performance with Crash Ensemble, Bang on a Can Allstars and Sō Percussion.
“From the resonant chime of bells to the hissy rattle of shakers to the meditative hum of gongs, percussion instruments bring to our ears a vast region of sonic space. In this way, a percussion ensemble can at times be like a miniature orchestra in itself.” Liam Cagney RTE Culture
“witty, melodic ideas, with shifting patterns and cross-rhythms.” Goldenplec
Event Partners
SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER
7pm – 8pm
GLÓR, MAIN THEATRE
CAUSEWAY LINK, ENNIS
Concert: €14/€10 conc.
Practice Workshop: free ticketed event
