Artist Details![]() Queen Elizabeth 1st with Armada Galleon (from Shipwrecked) eX .Category: EnsemblesHistorically informed, early music performances, juxtaposed with dramatic, contemporary staging and theatrics are the hallmarks of eX. Often controversial and always exciting, eX creates virtuosic, cutting edge performances of music from 11th to 18th century . LAM
General Management
Biography
Founded in 2006, eX is an Irish based Early Music performance ensemble that focuses on innovative and virtuosic performances of music from the 11th -18th century.
Devoted to bringing new dimensions to the presentation and enjoyment of early music, eX works with veteran and up and coming cutting edge directors, choreographers, filmmakers, visual artists and designers to conceive and create performances that move beyond the traditional concert experience. BIOGRAPHY
eX was founded by the BMG, EMI recording artist Caitríona O'Leary. Working with the innovative, exceptionally creative director, Eric Fraad, a number of intellectually stimulating productions have been devised – productions that never compromise the performance of the original music but enhance the overall experience by adding a visual layer.
In 2006 eX presented its first full scale production, Ex Tenebris, an original performance piece Directed by Eric Fraad and Choreographed by Rex Levitates’ Liz Roche. Ex Tenebris juxtaposed contemporary dance with medieval and renaissance music in a mystical ceremony that explored the metaphors and mysteries of light and darkness central to the ancient celebrations of Christmas and the Winter solstice.
In April 2007 eX, performed Christ Lag In Todes Banden, a fully staged production celebrating the 300th anniversary of the premiere of Bach’s first cantata. Presented in two parts, Part One looked back one thousand years to the sources that inspired the creation of the cantata while Part Two featured an hallucinatory staging of the work considered Bach’s first sacred vocal composition. This work was performed at the Regensburg Early Music Festival in Germany in June 2011. The German early music magazine Toccata wrote of this production “… this production was a sensation.”
A baroque spectacle staging of Alexander Pope’s 1714 poem The Rape of the Lock, juxtaposed with some of Handel’s Italian duets was presented by ensemble eX in July 2008. Early music authority Christopher Hogwood was music advisor and the show was conceived and directed by Eric Fraad.
In 2009 eX performed two completely new projects; Shipwrecked, 16 century music from Spain and Ireland based around the time of the Spanish Armada and Motion of the Heart, based on music of the 18 century. In May 2010, eX created Possessed, an exploration of the ancient and universal phenomenon of possession through music and dance – ranging from the music of Hildegard von Bingen to Brazilian music of the 17 century. This project was created for the Galway Early Music Festival.
In October 2011 eX toured Shipwrecked to four venues in Ireland and in June 2012, toured Possessed to four Irish venues both with the financial assistance of the Irish Arts Council. ReviewsPossessed at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, June 2012
Tim Thurston, Presenter of Gloria on RTÉ lyric fm
In Possessed eX combined music, dance and theatre in a hugely inventive and intelligent way - yet never once was entertainment pushed onto a back seat. Congrats again on a great show and do keep me informed on future shows. Sean Rocks, Presenter of Arena on RTÉ Radio 1
Ensemble eX’s Possessed was a tour de force - instrumental and vocal brilliance combined with dance and theatre to extra-ordinary effect. The Works on RTÉ TV
Shipwrecked at the Pavilion, Dun Laoire 2011
It made for excellent entertainment with some very fine musical sequences … It could delight many future audiences… Opera (magazine) Feb 2012
Shipwrecked at Belfast Festival 2011
It (Shipwrecked) effortlessly sweeps you up, but as with any dream, no description can do it full justice. eX have created a unique experience. So much so that we were tempted, like Francisco's chieftain host, to detain them to play for us forever and ever...
Culture Northern Ireland October 2011 REVIEWS
Christ lag in Todesbanden at Regensburg Early Music Festival June 2011
In this context, where even during the performance I was deeply moved and spurred to reflect on my own mortality, this production was a sensation. The fervid discussions were then simply confirmation of this, a brilliant transformation in Sound and Image. Tocatta June 2011
Motion of the Heart
…this project was fashioned after a seventeenth-century masque, which originally glorified a monarch or some other high John White, Irish Theatre Magazine 11.12.2009 They’ve turned this relic of royal image-making into a four-sided study of the human heart that glorifies its romantic, anatomical, sacred and aesthetic aspects. Andrew Johnstone, Irish Times 09.12.2009
Shipwrecked
Jens F. Laurson, Playbill Arts 8 October 2009
Interspersed throughout the engaging story was music from the 16th century, played by a line up of superb musicians from Germany, America, Spain and Italy and Ireland. The costumes, by Italian period designer Alessio Rosati were highly effective in the setting of the Great Hall of Kilmainham, and brought us back four centuries. It was very satisfying to see the enthusiastic audience, who gave a prolonged standing ovation at the end of the spectacle. Michael Collins, Catholic Standard, October 2009
Songs from a Gothic Room I had the privilege of attending the performance of Ars Subtilior music given by eX in the National Gallery, Dublin, on the 23rd of October [2008] last. Having always described this genre of music as 'complex to the point of bristling' I found myself contradicted by a performance that glided over the counterpoint's famous difficulty and revealed a capacity for direct communication that forces me to rewrite my lecture notes. Where I expected pungency I found beauty; out of the strong came forth sweetness. This is a very persuasive ensemble, with a particularly compelling voice in Caitríona O'Leary. ~Andrew Robinson
Discography
Shipwrecked by eX Ensemble Heresy Records 2012 "Shipwrecked is one of those rare albums that boldly defy easy classification. Originally conceived by noted opera and theatre director Eric Fraad as a stage production, Shipwrecked chronicles the 16th century Spanish sea captain Francisco de Cuellar's attempts to return to Spain after being shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland...[featuring] Irish tradition tunes, English and Spanish court dances as well as sacred music by Cristobal de Morales and Tomas Luis de Victoria.
Plucked and bowed instruments dominate many of the instrumental works and the players smoke in these lively Spanish, English and Irish dances. The intersecting worlds of the Spanish, English and irish music is fascinating particularly when tunes like "The Hay" and the spicy "Yo me soy la Morenica" blend. O'Leary has also colourfully arranged music from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and Irish dance collections, The performances all have an improvisatory flavor. The interpolation of sacred works by morales and Victoria are dramatic masterstrokes and the singing of O'Leary, Clara Samabras and Juan Sancho has a spare dreamy quality. Shipwrecked has something to offer fans of many genres, whether it's early or traditional music." Craig Zeichner, April 2012 "Shipwrecked, an album featuring the Irish early music ensemble eX, defies easy definition. on a purely musical level it can be enjoyed as a collection of late Renaissance vocal and instrumental music from a seemingly unrelated assortment of traditions, including Spanish, English, Irish and Gaelic, performed with irresistible exuberance and vibrancy. The album is actually the original cast recording of what director Eric Fraad describes as a 'strange postmodernist event' that 'brings the Renaissance together with a really contemporary sensibility of theatre', first presented at the Dublin Festival in 2011..The musical selections presented here are fabulously satisfying in themselves. The score was put together with scrupulous attention to historical detail by musicologist and singer Caitriona O'Leary, teh founder of eX, and is wonderfully and unpredictably varied. o'Leary, whose soprano is supple and radiant, is the most prominent soloist, but the entire ensemble performs with focussed musicality and can encompass precision and uninhibited earthiness; every track vibrates with energy and life. The sound is clean, intimate and nicely ambient. Highly recommended for any fan of early music." - Steven Eddins, Rovi, April 2012 Upcoming EventsPOSSESSED
On tour June 2012 (see below for dates and venues)
Voodoo, Exorcism, Witchcraft, Satanism, Altered States and Multiple Personalities; possession is one of contemporary culture’s most enduring & compelling themes.
Originally commissioned by and performed at Galway Early Music Festival in 2010, celebrated Dublin-based early music ensemble, eX presents, Possessed, a staged & costumed concert that explores the ancient universal phenomenon of possession through the prism of music and theatre. Featuring an international ensemble of renowned early music specialists, Possessed takes audiences on a journey to a realm where Gods, man and the darker powers interact. From Medieval Europe where the mystics Hildegard von Bingen, Theresa de Avila and Joan of Arc have ecstatic visions of Christ to 17th century Massachusetts and the infamous witch trials, from Bahia and an initiation ceremony into the voodoo-like cult of Candomblé, to ancient Salento where a maiden bitten by the wolf spider is exorcised from her trance with the wild rhythms of the tarantella.
Join eX for an entrancing evening of music, dance and spectacle…
EVENTS
PRODUCTION DETAILS
Stage Director: Eric Fraad Music Director: Caitríona O’Leary Costume Design: Emma Downey Lighting Design: Kevin Smith Associate Costume Design: Grainne Lynch
CAST Caitríona O’Leary – Voice Clara Sanabras – Voice and Guitar Paulina van Laarhoven – Viols and Guitar Stephen Player – Guitars Harvey Brough – Guitar and Arrangements Andrea Piccioni - Percussion
TICKET DETAILS
Thursday 7th June at 8:00pm Riverbank Arts Centre, Main Street, Newbridge, Co. Kildare Tickets € 15.00 Concession € 12.00 Tickets available in advance online At: www.riverbank.ie Booking by phone at 045 448 327 Tickets also available at the door
Friday 8th June at 8:00pm Wexford Arts Centre, Cornmarket, Wexford Tickets € 15.00 Concession € 12.00 Tickets available in advance online At: www.wexfordartscentre.ie Booking by phone at 053 91 23764 Tickets also available at the door
Saturday 9th June at 8:00pm St. Mary’s Cathedral Tuam, in association with Church Classics Tickets € 15.00 Concession € 12.00 Tickets available in advance online At: www.classicallinks.ie Tickets also available from Quinns, Bishop Street Tuam and at the door
Sunday 10th June at Noon Hugh Lane Gallery, Parnell Square, Dublin 1 As part of the Sundays @ Noon Concert Series Admission Free The Sundays @ Noon Concert Series is funded by Dublin City Council and grant aided by The Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
CHRIST LAG IN TODESBANDEN
a Musical and Theatrical Celebration of Bach’s First Cantata In June 2011 eX will bring its production of Christ lag in Todesbanden to the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg, Germany.
eX’s production directed by Eric Fraad is performed in two parts. Part One begins on a stage set with a simple wooden cross and an angel at the back holding a lit candelabra. A singer enters and slowly crosses the stage with a silver bowl of apples which she places at the foot of the cross.
She turns, faces the audience and sings Victimae Paschali Laudes. The journey has begun. As each singer and instrumentalist enter another layer is added. Over the next twenty-five minutes the audience will experience a simple and mysterious ceremony where the chants, chorales and motets that were to influence the creation of Bach’s Christ Lag are expertly and passionately performed. Part One ends with Bach’s organ fantasia (BWV 695) based on Christ Lag in Todesbanden. MOTION OF THE HEART AN OCCULT 17TH CENTURY MASQUE
Motion of the Heart will be performed on Monday 30th November at 8:00 PM at St. Peter’s Church of Ireland in Drogheda and again on Sunday 6th December at 3:00 PM in the Shaw Room at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. eX’s co-artistic director, Eric Fraad and the English novelist and cultural historian Louisa Young are creating the script and dramaturgy for the production. The renowned early music specialist Erin Headley will serve as guest music director and lead an international consort consisting of some of the world’s finest instrumentalists and early music singers. The production will be directed by Eric Fraad with costumes and sets by Alessio Rosati, the Italian period design expert who designed eX’s productions of Shipwrecked (2009) and The Rape of the Lock (2008).
As the world’s leading performer and proponent of the Lirone she has recorded much of its repertoire for Harmonia Mundi France, Erato, Virgin, Hyperion, ECM, CPO, Teldec and other labels; she is the author of the 'Lirone' articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Her new ensemble Atalante recently made its debut performance to rave reviews at London’s Southbank. Louisa Young: Writer Eric Fraad: Writer / Director THE RAPE OF THE LOCK
eX’s production, employs a post-modern formal conceit to explore the musical, literary, dramatic and visual style of 18th century England. Set at Chiswick House in Lord Burlington’s sitting room - amongst whose coterie both Pope and Handel were reigning luminaries – the production takes place at the imaginary occasion of the poem’s first reading starring both its real-life protagonists and members of Burlington’s circle. In between each of the poem’s five cantos singers in baroque dress created by the Italian period costume expert and designer, Alessio Rosati, perform Handel’s Arcadian Duets as a divertissement, acting out the epic’s faux-tragic subtext. The actors are drawn into the unsettling and masochistic romantic machinations of the singers until the boundaries between the performance and the performance within the performance become turned upon themselves.
CHRIST LAG IN TODESBANDEN |
LAM Newsletter |

eX
Possessed was a great pleasure in many ways, The music was of the highest international standard with some beautiful singing and most infectious instrumental playing. The incorporation of drama and dance was most unusual but never too contrived and the overall staging and presentation a delight. This show deserves to be performed widely – it got a standing ovation from a Dublin audience. I greatly look forward to eX’s next imaginative production. Early music of this sort has such a strong immediate appeal and eX is the only Irish based group to present it – and to such a very high standard.

worthy. The director [Eric Fraad] explained that this form of entertainment fell into obscurity after Charles I lost his head, adding: “we’re bringing it back”. Some might argue that the masque is no more because its better known siblings (the opera, oratorio and ballet) have stood the test of time – but it was interesting and exciting nonetheless, to experience such a rarefied entertainment with top-notch singers and actors and production values (including opulent period costumes).


