To celebrate the recent release of New Irish Music, the first album by the award-winning ensemble Chatham Saxophone Quartet, Music Network is hosting a launch event in The Odessa Club, Dublin on Thursday 4 June 2015. New Irish Music, released on the RTÉ lyric fm label, features music by Irish composers including Brian Byrne, Ian Wilson, Brian Irvine, Jonathan Nangle and Kenneth Edge and is available in selected record shops and on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon. The launch event is free but ticketed. Email publicity@musicnetwork.ie for tickets.

Runaway winners of Music Network’s Young Musicwide Award in 2012, the superlative Chatham Saxophone Quartet has repeatedly won plaudits for its bravura performances and versatility. The quartet’s members – Daniel Dunne (soprano saxophone), Darren Hatch (alto saxophone), Ciaran Sutton (tenor saxophone) and Ian Finlay (baritone saxophone) – have worked closely with the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet and ConTempo String Quartet in transcribing the string quartet repertoire for wind instruments. With an eclectic repertoire spanning contemporary, classical and jazz genres, as well as performing with multimedia works using tapes, tracks and visuals, this unique ensemble pushes the boundaries of what we know the saxophone quartet to be.

Committed to commissioning and performing works by Irish composers, Chatham Saxophone Quartet’s debut album comprises of new works by five Irish composers, including a Music Network commission by Golden Globe nominated composer Brian Byrne, Saxophone Quartet No. 1. The score “fits Chatham’s closely-knit ensemble like the proverbial glove,” according to the Irish Independent. Young bodhrán player Aimee Farrell-Courtney joins the group for a new arrangement of Ian Wilson’s 2009 work, heaven lay close… replacing the original tabla. Another Belfast-born composer, Brian Irvine, contributes a multimedia work to New Irish Music with Just a little lighter cut of the same girls, written for Chatham Saxophone Quartet with tape. Jonathan Nangle’s iridescent cobalt glow, commissioned by the group, is a minimalist work in three short movements. Completing the album is Dublin saxophonist and composer Kenneth Edge’s Three Études – programmatic pieces, each with a very distinct character.