Premiere of 'Hand Head Heart' On September 25th next, as part of a week of celebrations in Dublin of the great Dave Liebman's 60th Year, Ronan will perform the premiere of 'Hand Head Heart', an extended suite featuring Lieb, John Ruocco (clarinet), Nils Wogram (trombone), Joe O Callaghan (guitar), and Tom Rainey(drums). Debut of 'Métier' - new ensemble in residence Ronan has been appointed Artistic Director of 'Métier', Ireland's first Jazz Ensemble in Residence. Funded by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Métier features Paul Williamson (trumpet), Michael Buckley (saxophones), Justin Carroll (piano), and Sean Carpio (drums). In October (see dates) they will perform a series of concerts featuring both the ensemble alone and with special guests Vincent Courtois (cello), Joe O Callghan (guitar), Mike Nielsen (guitar), and Dave Redmond (bass). The series will include the premiere of Ronan's 'Haikus' - a series of short pieces based on the Japanese poetic form.(See 'Dates" for full details) MSG Tour In November/December Ronan will tour with the MSG trio, featuring features Rudresh Mahanthappa (alto) and Chander Sardjoe (drums). A power saxophone trio that specializes in complex rhythmic music, they will be debut their first CD in the near future. Exact dates will be posted here soon. Commissions and Premieres In November/December the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet will premiere and tour Ronan's 'Music for String Quartet' - a piece commissioned by the Vanbrughs to celebrate their 25th anniversary (see 'dates' for details) On February 8th 2008, at the National Concert Hall, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland will premiere Ronan's "Synapsis" - a concerto for orchestra commissioned by the orchestra for their 2007/2008 season. February 24th, will see the world premiere of Ronan's 'Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2' at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, performed by Michael D'arcy (violin) and Izumi Kimura (piano). The concert will also see the Dublin premiere of Ronan's 'Sonata for Solo Violin' performed by Ioana Petcu-Colan, who commissioned the piece and gave the world premiere in Cork earlier this year. Other news Ronan will be doing some guest teaching at the Luzern Jazz School in December (10/11) and at Skurups Folkhogskola in Sweden in Spring '08………… Ronan is scheduled to travel to Brazil in February 2008 to discuss the latest developments in rhythmic techniques in jazz and to play with like-minded musicians in Sao Paolo…………Ronan will begin work on his latest book 'The Art and Science of Time', a companion volume to the seminal work on extended rhythmic techniques in jazz 'Creative Concepts for Jazz Improvisation'. This new book and DVD will focus on how to develop one's time. ………… Other plans for 2008 include a tour with the Arguelles/Guilfoyle/Black trio, a tour with 'Beginning to End', a project based on the works of Samuel Beckett featuring Christy Doran (guitar) and Isa Wiss (voice), and releases of the MSG and Microclimate CDS…………Finally in 2008 Ronan will complete a Masters Degree in Composition from WIT in Waterford.