I am a graduate of University College Cork, where I completed a BA in Music and English 2004, and an MPhil on Gerald Barry’s operas in 2006. I have presented on my research at numerous international conferences, and I will be a contributor to the first edition of the Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland. I am currently studying at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queens University Belfast. My composition teachers include John Buckley, John Godfrey (University College Cork), and Ron Kuivila (Wesleyan University). In 2005 I was a resident student at the Ostrava Days Summer School, where I attended lectures and lessons with Alvin Lucier, Christian Wolff, Louis Andriessen, Rebecca Saunders, and Petr Kotik. In 2007 I was a participant in the 13th International Young Composers’ Meeting in The Netherlands. This included composing a piece for orkest de ereprijs, and lessons with Louis Andriessen, Mary Finsterer, Martijn Padding, and Richard Ayres. This summer I will be taking part in the 17th Annual Deep Listening Retreat in New York, with financial help from a PRS Foundation/Bliss Trust Composer Bursary. I will also be attending the 2007 Ostrava Days Summer Institute in the Czech Republic.
My recent composition has focused mainly on interactivity, whether that is interaction between live performer and electronics, performers and ambience (the acoustic properties and spatial characteristics of particular spaces), or other forms of human interaction with sonic environments. Recently I have focused on creating scores that use graphics, prose, and unconventional notation to make improvisational frameworks in which the performer’s interpretation is paramount. At the moment my electronic music focuses on creating an interactive environment in which both the computer and the live instrumental performer improvise to create gradually changing soundscapes.

My music has recently been performed by ensembles including the New York Miniaturist Ensemble, orkest de ereprijs, and the SEM Ensemble. My music has also been played at a number of festivals such as Ostrava Days 2005 (Czech Republic), Women in New Music 2007 (California), and Sonorities 2007 (Northern Ireland). I have created site-specific music for Cork’s Glucksman Gallery, and the Siamsa Tíre Arts Centre in Tralee. Two of my pieces were included on Art Trail’s CD Bend it Like Beckett, a collection of Sonic tributes to Samuel Beckett.

If you're a member of a performing ensemble and you're interested in playing some of my music, commissioning something, or hearing more feel free to contact me.

More info including a selected works list is available on http://www.compositiontoday/sarahohalloran

Visit my website at http://homepage.mac.com/sarahohalloran to hear more music, or to contact me.