Laura Heneghan announced as WWF & CMC Composition Competition winner for November 2023

“The West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival is thrilled to partner with the CMC in delivering our 2023 Composition Competition for Emerging Composers. The winning work of the November call for Brass Quintet is Chrome, which was composed by Laura Heneghan. This work will receive its world premiere at the festival on Saturday 11th November 1pm at Russborough House, as part of the Rising Star's recital featuring Irish Chamber Brass. A representative from CMC will interview Laura during the performance, giving the audience attending the concert a chance to find out more about the new work before hearing the premiere performance. Both organisations are passionate about the need to support emerging composers at a crucial development stage in their careers and I look forward to continuing this fruitful collaboration with CMC into the future.”

Fiachra Garvey (Founder and Artistic Director WWF)

Laura Heneghan
Laura Heneghan (b.1999) is a Mayo-born composer and pianist, who predominantly composes chamber and vocal works. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree (Music) at the University of Galway in 2022, where she worked on her compositions with Dr Amanda Feery. Soon after, she relocated to Glasgow to pursue master’s studies in composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she has worked with Dr Bekah Simms and Dr David Fennessy.

Laura’s most notable work has been performed by Con Anima, the Gaia Duo, Chamber Choir Ireland, Contempo Quartet, and Dutch-Hungarian Duo Rosanne Phillippens and Zoltán Fejérvari. As a result of winning the Seán Ó Riada Composition Competition 2023, Laura currently holds the Seán Ó Riada trophy and had work premiered by Chamber Choir Ireland at the Cork International Choral Festival 2023. She also recently took part in an emerging composer development scheme with Con Anima, James Weeks, and Sound Scotland, resulting in the creation of a new choral work and a premiere at Sound Festival 2023.

Laura is particularly interested in cross-disciplinary collaboration and composed a piece in collaboration with St. Andrew's researcher, Holly Fleming. The piece was based on Holly’s research topic titled ‘To Know or Not to Know. What are the ethical, legal, and social implications of early cancer diagnoses?’ She has also composed music for students in the film, ballet, and vocal studies departments within the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Laura hopes to continue cross-disciplinary collaboration in her future career, and delve into the world of electronic composition.

About the Work
"Chrome was written for brass quintet in April 2023. This energetic piece is generally centred around one riff which gradually develops over time. Previously, I was under the misconception that brass pieces were only slowpaced. However, when I heard Anders Hillborg’s brass quintet, I was inspired to write something of a similar energetic nature." - Laura Heneghan

For more information and to book tickets for the WWCMF Rising Stars Concert, please visit www.westwicklowfestival.com