Putting another string to the Franks’ bow
John O’Brien will meld his orchestra with various bands at Cork Opera House, writes .
For John O’Brien, music is very much a broad church, a term that is fitting given that he started out as a young choral scholar in St Finian’s College, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
The composer and conductor has worked on operas, musicals, dance productions, choral works, plays and film scores. When I ask him does he have a favourite, he struggles to answer.
“I could never pick a favourite anything, I don’t agree with it as a concept. I think you can have it all — whatever is the right thing just for this moment, now.
"When I was a teenager, I was listening to Mozart and Handel and that kind of stuff. I was always listening to things that were different from my peers. I listen to lots of different things by lots of different people. We all have to be open to new experiences.”
O’Brien brings this inclusive approach to his participation in Right Here, Right Now, a three-day music festival celebrating Cork’s music scene, which returns next month after its successful inaugural outing last year.
As part of the festival, O’Brien will lead the Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra as they perform specially-commissioned arrangements in collaboration with the Frank and Walters, Marlene Enright and band, and Ye Vagabonds.
O’Brien is working closely on the project with Cork musicians Cormac McCarthy and Paul Frost, who are arranging and orchestrating the work of the performers involved. He promises the result is going to be “epic”.
Adding an orchestra to all that brilliant live music is huge in terms of feeling and emotion. Seeing a collaboration like this, with 30 musicians on the stage together and the fusion of different backgrounds and genres to make one thing, to communicate the feeling and meaning of that song directly to a live audience, is so exciting. There’s real soul in it.
For O’Brien the technical challenges involved in merging a large orchestra with the tighter formation of a band are something to be embraced.
“It is tight in terms of rehearsal time — there are 25 players in the orchestra so obviously that is quite expensive. The performers need to come really prepared and ready.
"That is a challenge but equally that additional pressure is what makes it feel like a really special gig that people won’t get to hear that often.”
For O’Brien, the collaborative experience is a particularly joyous one.
“I love it. While we might speak slightly different languages in terms of technical details, everyone is on the same page in terms of the colour and feeling of the music.”
While Marlene Enright has been gaining attention for her Choice Prize-nominated debut album, and Ye Vagabonds’ rich folk-inspired harmonies are also winning a loyal following, the elder statesmen role on the night will be filled by the much-loved Cork favourites the Frank and Walters, who are realising a long-held ambition to perform their songs with a full orchestra.
The band recently enjoyed much attention after their song ‘After All’ featured on the hit TV show The Young Offenders in a scene where bad boy Billy Murphy leads a singalong as he is hijacking a double-decker. O’Brien says he thought the rendition was “beautiful”.
“It’s great. Actually, I met Shane Casey, who plays Billy yesterday. I’ve known him for years. We were having a chat on the street and there’s all these people coming up looking for his autograph,” he laughs.
Will Shane AKA Billy be reprising his version of ‘After All’ on the Opera House stage?
“I have no comment. I’m not going to say a word,” he laughs.
There might be a bit of a singalong?
“Every Franks number is a bit of a singalong,” says O’Brien, careful to give nothing away. “It’s going to be a great night.”
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