Groundbreaking Danish composer celebrated

Mike McInerney, of the University of Plymouth, will be giving the piano recital from 7.30pm in the Upper Lecture Theatre, at the University's Sherwell Centre. The performance will also involve some electronic manipulation of the piano sound by Michael Neil. Celebrated for his Japanese flute performances, Mike McInerney is also a skilled concert pianist and composer. His previous performances at the University have been well received, but this performance - titled Insects and the Abyss - is his first for Peninsula Arts as a concert pianist. McInerney will be accompanied in his homage to Langgard, by collaborator and visiting sound manipulation artist Michael Neil. Rued Langgard (1893 - 1952) was the undisputed maverick of 20th century Danish music. His Insektarium (1917) is the first piece known to include the instructions to play inside, and on the body of, the piano - pre-dating Henry Cowell and John Cage, the American experimentalists credited with these ideas, by six and 25 years respectively.