The Téada Orchestra is a 20-strong Irish string collective who believe that performing music in new and unusual locations knocks classical music from its ivory perch. Co-director Anna Clifford and Matt Rafter talk to Totally Dublin about their eclectic choice of venue, original compositions, and Téada Orchestra’s spring gig in the Laundry Room at South Studios Thursday on 27 February.
You all met playing in the Trinity College Orchestra.
Matt Rafter: Myself, Anna and Timothy Doyle were the three primary founders of Téada. We were in the same year in college, and we were all in the Trinity Orchestra as well. It got a bit bigger than people anticipated with the pop cover concerts, the Daft Punk gig kicking it all off, then Pink Floyd and Stevie Wonder all doing really well.
Anna Clifford: It was great to see the student body, then outside of that, like festivals (Electric Picnic) engaging with orchestral music, whatever form it takes. The classical music scene is very insular, and people think it’s very inaccessible. We both were involved with the Trinity Orchestra at committee level, so we got to see what it means to run an orchestra.
Matt: At the same time, coming out of college and finishing with the Trinity orchestra, we all started to feel that void. It was specifically that we didn’t have an orchestra to play full-time with, or at least one that suited what each of us was actually trying to do. We decided we might as well set up our own, there’re no rules there, so we can do what we like.
Matt, you co-conducted the Trinity Orchestra at a concert at Vicar Street in front of 700 people.
Matt: That was my biggest conducting gig until this. It was basically two or three years in the making, a steady build of pop covers with the orchestra. I had done the Pink Floyd gig – that was the one I was most involved with, conducting the orchestral arrangements of Dark Side of the Moon. I love that music. It was great to have a band, an orchestra and singers.
The Vicar Street gig was the following year. The Michael Jackson set was originally conducted by Peter Joyce. Peter wasn’t available so they asked me would I step in and conduct in Vicar Street. Obviously the answer was “Yes”. Michael Jackson was the second half; the first half was conducted by James O’Leary, who also arranged the music, which was Queen. James is actually in the process of writing a work for our orchestra now as well. We’re pretty excited about that.
The gig was great, but one thing that frustrated me about the Trinity Orchestra set-up was the predominance of the band in the arrangements: bass, drums, guitar, keyboard, even the vocals were all just too high, drowning out the orchestra. I had quite a clear idea by the end of it, that there wasn’t much sense writing orchestral adaptions of this music, unless you’re really going to hear the orchestra. Perhaps with Téada at some point we will get to be in something similar, adapting pop music, but we’ll certainly do them in a different way.
What does “Téada” mean, and what do you hope to achieve?
Anna: “Téada” is the Irish word for string. I play a lot but I’m also a composer; Matt is a conductor, and Tim is mainly a trad player, while I play more improvised and Jazz music. We all wanted to do those types of music, but with lots and lots of string players, because we just love string instruments.
The idea was to create more of a collective than a typical orchestra, with a collective structure that would allow people to have double interests. So we have a lot of players who are also composers that might also want to arrange things, play a solo, or conduct. I think it’s great that we have players from loads of different backgrounds. Everyone can offer something different, and our rehearsals are quite democratic.
Matt: Everyone who’s involved in Téada has an equal stake in what music is played, and how it’s played. In terms of being a collective, take our next concert: two members are playing a solo; Tim, our leader, is playing a fiddle solo; and Elliot Murphy has written a piece for the concert. The idea is that everyone in Téada can get something out of it.
Anna: Classical and orchestral music has always been a very insular scene. It doesn’t have a wider audience and it’s very cut-off from most people in the world. We’re trying to bring these instruments into new places to people who wouldn’t necessarily go to an orchestra because they have a certain image of what that means: either pretentious or intellectual or something. Whereas actually we believe that what we’re playing has a very universal value that we want to share, I guess. We’re really more about creating a gig that’s like an experience. It’s got a theme or an arc. With this gig the theme is the movement from winter to spring; the sun is coming out, so we’re trying to celebrate that with a musical journey. We started off with a couple of works we really wanted to play and then Elliot’s piece fell into this structure really nicely.
You mentioned a more relaxed attitude to classical music. Is this reflected in your venue, the Laundry Room at South Studios?
Anna: It’s an amazing space. It’s usually used for shooting film and photography. They occasionally put events on in there, and it’s perfect for us because they have a huge room with wooden floors, really high ceilings and huge white walls which we can do what we like with. Here we have a lot more time and space to do what we want. People can drink in there, we can set up seats or the stage as we want. We have a lot more freedom there compared to the National Concert Hall, if we were to try to put on something in there. It’s more laid-back for people coming, but also for us.
Matt: Robert Farhat and Rob Kearns helped find the venue. Robert, who initially joined us in a playing capacity, mentioned that himself and Rob Kearns were looking to find a new way of putting on and promoting gigs. So we were one of their first projects. Robert Farhat can get our concerts seen in the right places, and Rob Kearns looks after the general production of the gig.
Anna: They’re like a god-send. They’re not pushing us to change anything musically. They’re just happy to listen to what we want to do, and help us realise any ideas we have. They take care of a lot of the admin stuff, social media and things associated with putting on a gig, which we wouldn’t naturally be so adept at. They’re going to be setting up their own music promotion company, which is going to be big I’m sure. They’re both playing musicians, which gives them a real insight into the business as well.
How integral is the spring theme to Thursday’s gig?
Matt: The first half of the gig is a bit heavier, then the second half is much more joyous. Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony incorporates themes from his youth, so there’s a lot of reflection; it’s very innocent, joyful-sounding music. Then Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture is just this bombastic triumph of spring over winter. We’re happy with how it has come together as a theme.
Anna: I like conceptualising the theme through the colours of the pieces. Basically it’s darkness to light, which is the structure of most music. We sculpted everything around that. It has really come together as a themed night, like the experience of some journey rather than music.
Matt: While we’ve thought into it quite a lot, the whole gig itself is of a more relaxed nature than your standard classical concert. People will be drinking at it, standing up and walking around between pieces. Even the complementary booze on the door will be spring-themed.
Tell me about the original composition by Elliot Murphy, Ar na Coillte san Fhomhair in Éirinn.
Anna: Elliot piped up out of nowhere and said, “Oh you know I wrote a piece for a string orchestra?” and I said “Oh, send it on!” It was really perfect for what we were doing.
Matt: It fitted really well because there’s a solo fiddle part, and Timothy Doyle, the third co-founder, is primarily a trad player, an incredible fiddle player. He plays this tune throughout; while this is going on, the rest of the fiddle players in various groupings are doing different effects with their instruments and making cool sounds. It’s not just your typical melody and accompaniment.
Anna: It’s using the orchestra as well in a way that’s looser and different to what people are used to. There’s also an element of improvisation in terms of the timing. So for the players who’d be more straight-line classical, it’s a different way of playing. Elliot’s is a really great piece, it’s really fun to play.
Words: Eoin Tierney
Téada Orchestra presents Spring Awakenings in The Laundry Room at South Studios Dublin, 27 New Row South, at 7.30pm Thursday 27 February. Online tickets €7 available here and the Facebook event page here. Remaining tickets available at the door €10. This event is BYOB.
Facebook: facebook.com/teada.orchestra
Twitter: @TeadaOrch
