A day of celebration honouring past colleagues from the Irish World Academy and Irish Chamber Orchestra

‘House of Light’ was the original description given to the Irish World Academy building by architect Daniel Cordier to describe his vision of a building that interacts with the world around it – the River Shannon, the Clare hills, the ‘Living Bridge’ – and encourages creative collaboration and vision. For many years, the Academy has curated a House of Light event at the beginning of February, the time of Imbolc and the coming of the light. These events have included an all-night ritual based around the traditions of the Indian and Irish goddesses of wisdom, Saraswati and Sionna, as well as a Nepalese/Irish event that explores shared bronze age instrumental traditions. This year’s House of Light event, Calling the Clans, celebrates the legacy of past colleagues from the Irish World Academy and Irish Chamber Orchestra(ICO). The day-long celebration featured three special events, the first of which celebrated the conferring of an honorary doctorate on Professor Jörg Widmann, composer, clarinettist and former principal conductor of ICO. The conferring ceremony included a live performance of Professor Widmann’s work by ICO as well as the presentation of scholarships to the first recipients of a new scholarship initiative by ICO for Academy students of the Master of Arts in Classical String Performance programme, who also performed. The second event, the Tower interviews, featured a series of public interviews with past colleagues, including Carl Corcoran, Dr Catherine Foley, Dr Mary Nunan and Dr Colin Quigley. The day culminated in The Three Forges concert, curated by Professor Mel Mercier for the Irish Gamelan Orchestra and guests. The concert marks Professor Mercier’s rich contribution throughout his career to Irish higher education, including his seminal role as first Chair of Performing Arts at the Irish World Academy.