Music Network’s artist residency programme will run at six locations across the country from July to December 2023
Music Network and glór have announced Zoé Basha as the new RESONATE artist-in-residence for 2023. Zoé, a musician and composer who draws on her background as a traditional singer, will collaborate with pianist, vocalist and composer Anna Mullarkey and fiddle player and vocalist Erin Hennessy to develop new work which will be performed at glór later this year.
This residency is one of six opportunities as part of RESONATE 2023, Music Network’s artist residency programme in partnership with glór (Ennis), Ionad Cultúrtha (Baile Mhúirne), The National Opera House (Wexford), Triskel Arts Centre (Cork City), The Dock (Carrick-On-Shannon) and Regional Cultural Centre (Letterkenny). This programme brings some of Ireland’s most established professional musicians to work in these cultural spaces across Ireland between July and December.
Now in its 3rd year, RESONATE provides support for professional musicians with a strong track record in music performance to develop new work and/or collaborations. Each residency provides a grant of €6,000 to enable the selected musicians to devote time to the creation of new work, in addition to a range of in-kind supports from both Music Network and each venue partner along with opportunities to showcase the work through live performances and digital updates.
Commenting on the announcement, Music Network’s CEO Sharon Rollston said: “We’re very pleased to be offering RESONATE together with our partner glór for a third consecutive year. It’s the most extensive of our musician residency programmes and offers lots of scope for musicians to develop imaginative new work, including cross-artform ideas where music is central. We’re excited to see what Zoé will develop with Anna and Erin during her residency and look forward to sharing it with audiences at a live performance at glór later in the year.”
Marie O’Byrne, the recently appointed director of glór, commented: “We are so pleased to partner with Music Network on the RESONATE artist residency programme again this year. We very much look forward to welcoming Zoé to Ennis as she makes glór her creative home for this residency alongside her collaborators Anna Mullarkey and Erin Hennessey. We are delighted to be in a position to support these exceptional artists in creating work together over the course of the residency and we look forward to sharing that work with our audiences later this year.”
During the residency Zoé will develop new compositions in collaboration Anna Mullarkey and Erin Hennessy. Alongside polyphonic arrangements of traditional songs, the compositions will blend airs of Irish traditional song, rhythm and harmonies of Occitan polyphonic singing, and the sway of Appalachian ballads with stylistic elements of jazz and blues.
Commenting on the award Zoé said, “I’m incredibly grateful to have been chosen to be artist-in-residence for RESONATE this year at glór, and I look forward with anticipation to developing these works!”
Last year’s RESONATE artists-in-residence at glór was mezzo-soprano Naomi Louisa O’Connell, an artist widely praised for her versatility on operatic, theatrical and recital stages, who developed a song cycle for voice, piano, and live electronics with pianist Gary Beecher and composer Emma O’Halloran.
RESONATE is a Music Network artist residency programme in partnership with glór, Ionad Cultúrtha, The National Opera House, Triskel Arts Centre, The Dock and Regional Cultural Centre. The other five RESONATE artists in residence for 2023 are Ali Comerford at The National Opera House, Niamh O’Brien at Ionad Cultúrtha, Phil Robson at Regional Cultural Centre, Ultan O’Brien at The Dock and Vicky Langan at Triskel Arts Centre.
About Music Network
Music Network is Ireland’s national music touring and development organisation, founded by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon in 1986.
For over 36 years we have been making high quality live music accessible to communities throughout Ireland and helping musicians to develop fulfilling careers. Our vision is that of a culture which increasingly values live music in our everyday lives, embracing it as an essential part of a healthy, vibrant society.
We deliver a broad range of programmes including a National Touring Programme, Musician Residencies both here and abroad, learning and participation projects, The Music Capital Funding Scheme, commissioning, training Programmes and other professional development supports for musicians.
About Zoé Basha
Zoé Basha is a Leitrim-based musician and composer. She draws from her background as a traditional singer influenced and inspired by the multiple places in which she has resided and the multiple cultures embedded in her sound today.
After growing up between the U.S. and France, then studying as a vocalist at Berklee College of Music in Boston where she focused primarily on blues and jazz, Zoé moved to Ireland and fell into traditional singing in Dublin. In a milieu blending political dissent, feminism, queer theory and traditional music, she made her home. Since then, she has been working on both music and carpentry between Ireland and France.
Between 2019 and 2023, Zoé was a member of vocal trio Rufous Nightjar with collaborators Anna Mieke Bishop and Branwen Kavanagh. In May 2023, Zoé was commissioned to arrange and perform a piece in three-part harmony for traditional singing festival Féile Róise Rua on Arranmore. Awarded the Leitrim Individual Artists Bursary in 2022, Zoé began developing a new body of work blending airs and style of Irish traditional song, rhythm and harmonies of Occitan polyphonic singing which she intends to explore further during her RESONATE residency.
