Friends of Alec Wilder presents the 2021 Annual Wilder Concert: First International Event

Sunday, November 14, 7pm GMT.

"I go back to songs like I go back to an old friend, a garden, a fireplace, like a cat that comes back after being away..." - Alec Wilder

This is exactly what it felt like for me coming back to Alec's songs for this very special performance, particularly after all the lockdowns. Singing this music with my musicians was a delight and a homecoming.

It's also very important for me to acknowledge that my research of Alec's music and the subsequent album, Dear World, would not exist in the way that it does without Judy Bell, and the heart and the harmony of her encyclopedic knowledge and experience, of which she gave so generously.

I'd also like to thank Allen Smith, of Jazz on the Terrace, here in Ireland, for inspiring me to research Alec's music when he praised my version of I'll Be Around on my debut album, The Secret of a Rose! Subsequently, Jazz on the Terrace won an award from the Arts Council of Ireland to support a nationwide tour for us to perform the fruits of that research with Dear World: Emilie Conway Sings Alec Wilder.