cathal roche's profile

My Posts

Final Summary

LINES CROSSING
The Lines Crossing Project was an eight week sound installation/performance event which took place at St. Edwards National School, Ballytivnan, Sligo. The participants involved were composer-performer, Cathal Roche, teacher, Sinead Grimes and the pupils of 4th and 5th class.

This project began with historical research into the used and disused railways of Co. Sligo. As collaborators, students and artist looked with wide eyes over late 19thC and early 20thC maps of the local railway network which was then far more extensive. This survey led to discussion on a range of issues such as decentralisation, local authority planning, sustainable models of transport and local geography which was variably artist, teacher and student led.

THE `TRAS` RAILWAY NETWORK
Given the high level of computer skills and equipment in the classroom, the artist showed students how to plot pathways in Google Earth so that a more detailed and contemporary survey of surviving railways lines from Belcoo, Charlestown and Carrick-on-Shannon to Sligo could be achieved. Where former sections of the two disused lines were built upon, `rerouting` was favored over `compulsory demolition`. Once the complete virtual network was constructed in Google Earth, students used the programme to simulate virtual journeys on a modern Red, Green and Blue network called `TRAS`. In all, 24 station to station journeys were projected on the whiteboard and used as a musical score for 17 consecutive performers. Each line was given it`s own tonality or `group of notes`.

PERFORMANCE AND INSTALLATION
Acting as driver, each performer followed the left to right movement of their journey with the timpani mallet on the quarter-tone instrument featured here. Striking a central chime for `straight` and moving left or right and back to centre, each performance was recorded and later presented as a spatial music installation using 17 individual CD players to create a traveling composition which moved through the corridors and hallways of the school building.

Cathal Roche is a performer-composer who usually performs on saxophone. Cathal has performed as a soloist with groups such as the RTE Vanbrugh String Quartet, RISE Saxophone Quartet, Fuzzy Logic Ensemble, Kai Big Band and others. He specialises in improvisation and composing-performing works for solo saxophone and tape. He is currently working on a new solo project called `Encounters` (Arts Council, Projects New Work Award) which will be premiered at The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon later this year.

Comment this Post

    No comments added

To comment this post you must be logged.

Quick Links
recent projects
recent posts