One of the main events of the Boyle Arts Festival was a concert last night in King House, Boyle. The first half was devoted to the accordionist Dermot Dunne, and the second was dominated by the premiere of Phantom City, a new work by Ronan Guilfoyle, commissioned for the festival. Its mix of styles epitomises this eclectic festival, which is packed with concerts, readings, drama, exhibitions, lectures and workshops. Dermot Dunne is one of those artists for whom technical virtuosity and true musicianship are complementary. On the accordion, Bach's English Suite No. 3 sounded remarkably un-Baroque. But it was superbly shaped.
Phantom City is Guilfoyle's latest work for ensembles of jazz and classical musicians. The composer says it is "in essence a chamber concerto for the accordion in which some of the accompaniment is written and some is improvised". Twenty minutes long, and in four movements played without a break, it is an effective example of stylistic fusion, though jazz idioms are uppermost. Phantom City has ideas, it knows how long to go on, and it has a stylistic homogeneity which is usually lacking in such pieces. Here and in the jazz trios which preceded it, had an invigorating certainty and spontaneity.