Sound! Soundtrack Film Festival - get hands on or sit back and enjoy the show

Fans of movie scores in Donegal are in for a huge treat with the upcoming Sound! Soundtrack Film Festival.

It will feature concerts, DJ sets, screenings, new music and workshops over four days in Letterkenny.

Music plays an important part in the art of film-making, and a good soundtrack can elevate a movie into an emotional experience that sits with us for a long time.

Small wonder then, that quality score writers are much sought after - and that hearing music from our favourite films instantly transports us to that imagined world that quality cinema conjures up.

Hosted by the Regional Cultural Centre in conjunction with An Grianan Theatre, Sound! runs from Thursday, April 27 to Sunday, April 30.
Highlights include screenings of a series of choice celluloid classics presented with live musical scores, from the silent vampire classic Nosferatu (1923) to the Russian sci-fi masterpiece Solaris (1972). 

Other highlights include Irish National Opera’s ‘virtual reality opera’ Out Of The Ordinary and a special presentation of Ireland’s Oscar contender An Cailín Ciúin, along with talks, workshops and a special family presentation of classic silent film comedy shorts with live musical accompaniment.~
Sound! features Documenta performing a newly commissioned score to Nosferatu, Matthew Nolan and Stephen Shannon’s Irish Premiere of a new score to Solaris, Little John Nee, Sinead Gleeson, Ordnance Survey, DJ Dano, Donegal Chamber Orchestra, Irish National Opera VR experience, and much more!

The full festival programme as booking information can be found at www.regionalculturalcentre.com

Thursday, April 27

Opening Concert: A Night of Music & Movies in An Grianán Theatre with Donegal Chamber Orchestra and special guests.

To open the new Sound! Festival, the Donegal Chamber Orchestra presents a concert of well-known classical music featured on the soundtracks of iconic films, alongside a selection of popular movie music, joined by guests on piano and percussion, with local choirs and even tango dancers! From Hollywood classics such as Titanic, Amadeus and The Mission to Disney favourites both old and new, it will be a night to remember.

Founded in 2006, the Donegal Chamber Orchestra is one of the ensembles of Donegal Music Education Partnership. The Orchestra is led by Hungarian violinist Orsolya Szabó-Yélamo and conducted by Spanish musician Víctor Yélamo.

Tickets cost €15 each or four for €50. There is a booking fee of €1 per ticket. 

Friday, April 28

Commissioned for the 100-year anniversary of the silent film masterpiece, festival organisers present the original vampire classic with a live score performed by Belfast-based musical ensemble Documenta. 

In F.W. Murnau’s classic chiller, the mysterious Count Orlok summons Thomas Hutter to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen. But Orlok is also the vampire Nosferatu, and when Hutter struggles to escape the castle, he knows that Ellen is in grave danger…

Documenta’s lysergic drone-pop fully espouses Sonic Boom’s mantra, “three chords good, two chords better, one chord best.” 

Running with the idea of minimalism equals maximalism, and imbuing it with a beatific four-guitar attack and repetition (repetition, repetition) the Joe Greene-fronted band’s second album, Drone Pop #1, is widescreen, Kosmische-leaning psychedelia at its best.

The showing takes place at 8pm in the Regional Cultural Centre. Tickets cost €10 with a €1 booking fee.

Saturday, April 29 

The first event of the day kicks off at 11am. Irish National Opera present: Out of the Ordinary – A Virtual Reality Opera, composed by Finola Merivale, with libretto by Jody O’Neill,and directed by Jo Mangan.

Festival goers can experience the world’s first virtual reality community opera! Ecology, nature and flight from danger fire up this new work developed with communities from Inis Meáin, Tallaght and rural Ireland. 

Become Nalva as she and her people flee a land that has been ravaged by their short-sighted actions, followed by Daol, the restless, unleashed spirit. Put on your headset and journey through dangerous waters and new frontiers to find sanctuary. In this new radical approach to opera, we strive to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past – the scorch and burn approach to living in this world (Limited to six participants per showing/Running time: 30 minutes)

This is an immersive virtual reality experience and is therefore not suitable if you meet any of the following conditions: are under 14, are pregnant, are prone to seizures, fits, or epilepsy, are fitted with a pacemaker, are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, have a serious medical condition that affects balance or vision.

Tickets cost €5 with a booking fee of €1.

At 1pm, composers Stephen Shannon and Matthew Nolan will lead a workshop exploring their creative process and the challenges faced when creating a new electronic score for the Russian sci-fi classic Solaris. The duo have won acclaim for their imaginative rescoring of screen classics.

This workshop is suitable for participants aged 16 and over, and will last for one hour.

Taking place in the Regional Cultural Centre, tickets cost €10 plus €1 booking fee.

Saturday’s packed programme continues at 3pm with a Kids’ Workshop in Sound Effects and Voice Overs.

Join animator and YouTuber John D Ruddy for an illustrated workshop for children in the art of creating sound effects and voiceovers.

John D Ruddy is a Letterkenny-based writer, actor, illustrator, and YouTuber. John has been creating the Manny Man Does History series on YouTube for years and has gained over 220,000 subscribers and over 30 million views on his videos. 

John trained as a teacher and has combined his educational background with his love of illustration and storytelling to bring History to life online, in books and indeed on the stage!

This workshop is sponsored by Rathmullan Film Festival. It is ideally for 7 to 12 year olds. There are only 10 places available for this very special event in the Regional Cultural Centre. Tickets cost €10 each with a booking fee of €1.

The final event on Sunday kicks off at 8pm in the Regional Cultural Centre. 

It is a screening of the Russian sci-fi classic, presented with a newly composed live electronic score from acclaimed Irish duo Stephen Shannon and Matthew Nolan. 

In Andrei Tarkovsky’s enigmatic and meditative tale, a psychologist travels to the Solaris space station to investigate a strange phenomena that has afflicted its crew. When he begins experiencing the same symptoms, he descends into the dark abyss of his consciousness…

The screening has a running time of 166 minutes. Tickets cost  €10 with a €1 booking fee.

Sunday, April 30

The final day of the festival sees another packed and varied programme of events getting underway in the Regional Cultural Centre at 1pm with Sonic Seasonings: Sinead Gleeson on the genius of Wendy Carlos.

In her recent anthology This Woman’s Work, author Sinead Gleeson paid tribute to trailblazing composer and musician Wendy Carlos, a synth pioneer responsible for the seminal Switched-On Bach album and the soundtracks for screen classics like A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Tron. 

For this special event, Sinead discusses this seminal artist, sharing rare vintage footage of Carlos in conversation and exploring her incredible work via words and music.

Tickets cost €5 plus €1 booking fee.

Next up on Sunday afternoon is LIVE SCORE: Timing by Little John Nee at 2.30pm in the Regional Cultural Centre.

Little John Nee and his able assistant  Mr Fionn Robinson using the very latest in technology including gramophones, electrical musical instruments, modern valve amplification and fashionable synthetic sounds shall voyage over 100 years back in time in a courageous attempt to collaborate with the flickering ghosts of the early silver screen such as Mr Charlie Chaplin and Mr Buster Keaton.

Tickets are €5 with a booking fee of €1.

This is followed at 4pm by a screening of Oscar-nominated film An Cailín Ciúin. 

The film tells the story of nine-year-old Cáit (Catherine Clinch) who is sent by her dysfunctional family to spend the summer with an Aunt and Uncle she has never met before. Through the tender care of her aunt Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley) Cáit finally feels loved and safe. 

Despite himself, her uncle Sean (Andrew Bennett) forges a bond and for the first time, Cáit experiences the warmth of a loving home. The once quiet Cáit blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one.  

Wonderfully recreating the feel of a country home in 1980s Ireland, An Cailín Ciúin, adapted from Claire Keegan’s acclaimed short story, Foster, is a genuine, deeply felt portrait of the bonds that sustain us.

The running time is 94 minutes. Tickets cost €5 each, with €1 booking fee.

Also taking place at 4pm is a Composer Workshop: Synthesizers with Neil O’Connor in the Regional Cultural Centre.

Acclaimed composer and musician Neil O’Connor offers an insight into his creative process, and explores the creation of his new work Nomos, which reworks classic scores by Seán Ó Riada.

The workshop runs for 90 minutes. Tickets cost €5 plus €1 booking fee.

The Regional Cultural Centre is also the venue for the Sound! Film Festival Closing Party with Ordnance Survey & DJ Dano.

A composer that brought the Irish musical tradition into the 20th Century and became a central figure in the country’s cultural landscape, Seán Ó Riada’s compositions form the basis of this extraordinary new piece of work from Dublin composer Neil O’Connor, aka Ordnance Survey. With Nomos, O’Connor presents his live electronic and visual reworking of the classic Mise Eire score, alongside other Sean O’Riada classics.

DJ Dano’s Sound & Vision set starts at 10pm.

Let’s dance! Join local legend Dano for a selection of choice movie-inspired tunes and visuals and we bring the inaugural Sound! Festival to a close.

Closing party tickets cost €5 each plus €1 booking fee.