SEASON 25/26
Events
4th April 2026, 3pm
Belfast, 2 Royal Avenue
Breaking Barriers
with UYO / UYJO
Combining the forces of Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, jazz drummer Steve Davis and bringing together talented young musicians from Ulster Youth Orchestra and Ulster Youth Jazz Orchestra, this is a genre-defying discovery of new music. This concert will showcase local composers Ed Bennett and Elaine Agnew alongside the prolific experimental composer Anthony Braxton in an exploration of his unique musical language. Free entry - no booking required The workshop prior is designed to encourage all musicians to reach beyond their comfort zone, try new performance techniques and extend their knowledge of current contemporary music, both local and international. Classically trained players will have the opportunity to explore improvisation and experimental music, whilst jazz-trained musicians will develop score-reading and the preparation and performance of defined musical scores.
16th April 2026, 11pm Booking Required
Belfast, Harty Room, Queen's University
Night Spells
Sonorities Festival
This late-night solo piano programme is a reflection on the works and influences of Morton Feldman. Daniel Browell performs works spanning Feldman’s career, including those inspired by visual patterns and artists of the time. During the performance Belfast-based artist Helena Hamilton will create visual reflections on the music, negotiating a relationship between the sonic and visual. “I took a militant attitude towards sounds. I wanted sounds to be a metaphor, that they could be as free as a human being might be free. That was my idea about sound. It still is, that they should breathe ... not to be used for the vested interest of an idea. I feel that music should have no vested interests, that you shouldn't know how it's made, that you shouldn't know if there's a system, that you shouldn't know anything about it ... except that it's some kind of life force that to some degree really changes your life ...if you're into it.” - Morton Feldman
17th April 2026
Dublin, National Concert Hall
Ghost Trance Music
New Music Dublin
New Music Dublin is Ireland’s foremost contemporary music festival. This concert and tribute to Anthony Braxton features graphic scores, also including those by Sarah Watts and Ioana Petcu Colan, based on new artwork to be displayed during the performance. Joining Hard Rain for this performance are Matt Wright (electronics) and Belfast-based drummer Stephen Davis. Primarily an improvisor, Stephen is the drummer in Anthony Braxton group 'The New Standard’. “ There's a lot of creative music happening in the underground, which is a very hopeful kind of sign .... And it's all over the planet; you go and look in the alleys and under the doorways, in the coal mines--they're there, lurking in the shadows; a significant amount of people in different parts of the planet who are genuinely creative. And I associate and attach myself to that. Usually when I go to any new place I try to find out from the musicians--they'll usually say 'this guy can't play,' or 'he's crazy,' 'he's not doing anything,' 'he's a sick, warped, demented fool'--and immediately I try to find him. He's probably one of us.” - Anthony Braxton Multiphonic Miniatures (2023) Sarah Watts (1978) - bass clarinet New Work (2026) Ioana Petcu-Colan (1978) - flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello Ghost Trance Music (1995-2006) Anthony Braxton (1945) - flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, piano, drums, live electronics
18th April 2026, 1pm Booking Required
Belfast, SARC, Queen's University
Ghost Trance Music
Sonorities Festival
This concert and tribute to Anthony Braxton features graphic scores, also including those by Sarah Watts and Ioana Petcu Colan, based on new artwork to be displayed during the performance. Joining Hard Rain for this performance are Matt Wright (electronics) and Belfast-based drummer Stephen Davis. Primarily an improvisor, Stephen is the drummer in Anthony Braxton group 'The New Standard’. “ There's a lot of creative music happening in the underground, which is a very hopeful kind of sign .... And it's all over the planet; you go and look in the alleys and under the doorways, in the coal mines--they're there, lurking in the shadows; a significant amount of people in different parts of the planet who are genuinely creative. And I associate and attach myself to that. Usually when I go to any new place I try to find out from the musicians--they'll usually say 'this guy can't play,' or 'he's crazy,' 'he's not doing anything,' 'he's a sick, warped, demented fool'--and immediately I try to find him. He's probably one of us.” - Anthony Braxton Multiphonic Miniatures (2023) Sarah Watts (1978) - bass clarinet New Work (2026) Ioana Petcu-Colan (1978) - flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello Ghost Trance Music (1995-2006) Anthony Braxton (1945) - flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, piano, drums, live electronics
30th May 2026, 7.30pm
Belfast, Harty Room, Queen's University
Beijing to Belfast
Connections through Culture -British Council
Beijing to Belfast is supported by the British Council's Connections through Culture programme and aims to highlight cross-cultural exchange between Hard Rain and Beijing Modern Music Festival. Following our performance at BMMF, we have furthered our collaboration in 2026, through new works composed for Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble by eminent Chinese composers. These works are presented here in a specially curated concert and we are delighted to host BMMF Artistic Director Xiaogang Ye and Executive Director Guo Haiou.
19th June 2026, 7.30pm
Belfast, Harty Room, Queen's University
Hellawell at Harty
In a long and distinguished career, Piers Hellawell has produced a body of work characterised by boundless invention, genuine discovery and deep integrity. In celebration of his 70th birthday, this portrait concert reflects upon his outstanding solo and chamber music and his enduring creative partnerships. Hard Rain are privileged to have enjoyed a long-standing collaboration with Piers, both through his compositions and as one of the UK’s most distinguished educators: Professor of Composition at Queen’s University of Belfast 1981–2024, and Honorary Professor of Composition at the University of St Andrews. Here we present works spanning the past 40 years in the venue that has been home to so many important moments in Hellawell’s career.
