HearSay19 announces its new International Audio Festival Programme 

HearSay19 International Audio Arts Festival aims to create a home that celebrates and inspires creative audio all around the world.  

HearSay19 announces its new International Audio Festival Programme 

by ilovelimerick correspondent Conor Owens.

HearSay19 are proud to announce the complete programme for their 4th International Audio Arts Festival, running from April 4-7 in Kilfinane, Co. Limerick.  

The HearSay Team have worked hard to prepare a rich and strong programme, which draws on contributions from artists working in creative audio from the disciplines of Sonic Arts, Composition, Documentary, Film, and Drama. 

Over 100 events, talks and performances are waiting for you, organised by 97 contributors from 32 different countries and will include 17 unique venues that are all available to be visited. 

The new programme is divided into seven categories – THINK, CONVERSE, ENCOUNTER, DEEPEN, EXPERIENCE, CELEBRATE and PERFORMANCE. Each category is driven by a different philosophy. 

THINK provides space to think deeply about sound. 

DEEPEN sessions are all about practicality and craft. 

ENCOUNTER is about a village coming together to celebrate creative audio at every turn. 

CONVERSE eavesdrop on live conversations between creators, interspersed with compelling audio extracts as they explore wonderful sounds and their approach to making them. 

EXPERIENCE the things that burn bright in our memories. 

CELEBRATE does what it says on the tin – celebrates wonderful, creative audio from around the world. 

PERFORMANCE joins audio artists from around the world as they adventurously engage with sound in live settings. 

Times and days for the categories will be released during the festival week. 

HearSay became an independent arts organisation in 2017 and was started by the small team of award-winning audio artists from Grey Heron Media. HearSay founder Diarmuid McIntyre said “We felt an inspiring conversation could be had and we wanted to be in the room when it happened – but how? Over many cups of tea like one in East London with the wonderful folks behind ‘In The Dark’, who were just as enthusiastic about the possibilities of telling stories through sound as we were, eventually the penny dropped – we’d have to create that space ourselves: a shared space for audio creators working in different fields to meet and interact with each other and with audiences, in an exciting atmosphere of innovation, inspiration and collaboration. And that was where HearSay began.” 

Since its creation, the mission of HearSay has been to create a home that celebrates and inspires creative audio all around the world.  

In 2019, that home is once again Kilfinane, a mountain village in Ireland which for the four days and nights of the HearSay International Audio Festival will be taken over by the worlds finest audio makers.   

Kilfinane is the highest village in Co. Limerick, in the southwest region of Ireland and is situated high up in the Ballyhoura Mountains. The village is a favourite for nature lovers, adventure sports enthusiasts and history buffs, thanks to its ancient landscape of green pastures, unspoilt woodlands, teeming bogs and breathtaking mountains. 

The Ballyhoura region has become a hugely popular destination for adventure sports enthusiasts who are drawn to the area by some of Europe’s finest hill-walking and biking trails, horse trekking, and kayaking. 

The HearSay International Audio Festival hosts international award-winning contributors from all disciplines of creative audio; radio features, film sound, sound art, theatre sound, music, audio fiction. Hearsay fosters collaboration & imagination, compelling insights, creative challenges, unique experiences with no name badges. HearSay means passion and free-flowing inspiration rooted in a real sense of community. 

Visitors are encouraged to bring along a digital audio recorder and laptop as there will be some playful opportunities to get involved in recording activity. Informal spaces will be created for people invited to HearSay in order to share their work with one another, so if you’re up for sharing, listening, giving and getting feedback, bring along some of your work on a smartphone, tablet, MP3 player or something similar. If you play a musical instrument, bring it too! 

For more information on the HearSay19 International Audio Arts Festival, click here 

For more stories featuring HearSay, click here