The 2024 McEwen commision was Aileen Sweeney's Three pieces from the East End which formed one part of Sequioa Duo's ambitious multimedia concert programme To the Vanished Molendinar premiered at the University Memorial Chapel on Thursday 30 May 2024.
Programme note
Aileen Sweeney - Three pieces from the East End
This piece explores a sense of nostalgia that I experienced as I followed the route of the Molendinar, a culverted burn in Glasgow. The path of the burn travels through areas in the East End of Glasgow where I have strong connections to my maternal grandparents. They lived in these parts of town most of their lives and raised my own mum here as well. Since their passing, I haven’t ventured to these parts of town until now. Following the path of the burn has taken my mind back to my childhood and the times I spent in these places or the stories I remember my Grandparents telling me about them.
I. Alexandra Parade
Where my mum lived with my grandparents on Coventry Drive until the age of 7 before moving to Easterhouse, one of the ‘New Towns’.
II. Wishart Street
The street where The Glasgow Royal Infirmary is located and also the site of ‘The Bridge of Sighs,’ which the Molendinar once flowed beneath.
III. Hogganfield Loch
A spot where we often took my Gran on our weekly Saturday visits if the weather was good (and also, where my mum and dad got their wedding photos taken!) Lots of good memories were had here!
Aileen Sweeney 2024
Performer biographies & full details of the 2024 premiere can be found in the McEwen concert programme 2024.
Aileen Sweeney
Aileen is a multi-award winning composer, arranger, accordionist and podcaster from Glasgow, who studied at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Her music is rooted in the traditional folk music she grew up with playing the accordion and is often influenced by her interests in fields in cosmology, nature and folklore alongside an admiration for many different genres of music.
Aileen's music has been performed across the UK from pubs on The Isle of Skye, to primary schools in Glasgow to The Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Composition highlights include commissions from Huddersfield, Cheltenham and Presteigne Festivals, The CBSO, The Colin Currie Quartet, and Red Note Ensemble as well as successfully applying to the The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s, The Royal Philharmonic Society and Britten Sinfonia’s Young Composers Scheme.
As well as composing, Aileen co-founded the folk-fusion band Eriska who have self-released two albums, co-hosts the award-winning podcast Ear to the Ground and teaches at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Junior Academy.