Within a few weeks, we will be circling with ink our preferred concerts in glossy new 2007/08 brochures. To cast a retrospective eye over some recent musical festivals will aid that pen-circling process in the next few weeks for my readers.

First to Bantry, where, over the course of the Easter weekend, West Cork Music hosted the Callino & Friends festival for the second time. The event drew capacity audiences to Bantry House each night and the performances of the Callino string quartet will undoubtedly draw them back again next year. Sarah Sexton proved she is altogether more suited to the role of first violinist than second. Her musical personality, of which her soloistic inclinations are a component, is simply more at home in the position. The new second violinist, Michaela Girardi, matches Sexton's honeyed sound splendidly. Finghin Collins, Carol McGonnell and Catherine Leonard joined Sarah McMahon, cellist from the Callino, for a typically mesmerising performance of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. In this, Leonard entirely redeemed herself after a pedestrian presentation of the Franck violin/piano sonata the previous night, where it seemed she was ever-chasing the possibilities for variation and imagination therein.

But she positively wore her heart on her sleeve in the Messiaen.

Subsequently, the Sligo New Music Festival took place the weekend of 13-15 April at the Model Arts and Niland Gallery.

The commissioned premieres for soprano and accordion by Grainne Mulvey, 'Earthsong' and 'Dialoghi', as performed by Spanish soprano Alda Cailleo and accordionists Dermot Dunne and Krassimir Sterev in the Cattaneo, were both well received. Both compositions impressed in their explorations of the vast technical elements of the accordion and the character of the duo combination, with Cattaneo's other featured works, two trios, similarly illustrating this young composer's ability for ensemblespecific writing. Trio Arbos undertook each of the several works on their daunting workload with aplomb and guitarist Graham Anthony Devine, the most natural soloist showcased by the festival, gave engaging performances of Brouwer, Ohana and Ponce.

Those hungry for contemporary music will no doubt be anticipating the Irish debut of American composer Terry Riley, in Drogheda next weekend, billed as 'Terry Riley: Spirals of Ragtime and Raga'. Two evening performances in St Peter's Church, 4 and 6 May, featuring the composer himself on piano alongside the Arte Saxophone quartet (Switzerland) and the Crash ensemble respectively, will flank a public interview with Riley in the Martello Tower on 5 May (7pm). Audiences will also enjoy the Irish premiere of Riley's 'Chanting the Light of Foresight', and his celebrated minimalist epic 'In C'. Ranking with Reich as the most important protagonist of minimalist composition, Riley's visit is likely to generate a similar frenzy as that of his aforementioned colleague in 2006. Not to be missed.

Another important marker for Ireland's contemporary music scene is the announcement by the Contemporary Music Centre of its major new strategic review, which looks to develop further the important role of this now 20-yearold organisation. To that end, the CMC's Statement of Intent, viewable on its website, will serve as a springboard for a series of public meetings nationwide with which discussions and feedback thereof the CMC hopes to bolster and improve its national plans for 2009-12. These vital meetings take place from tomorrow until Friday (30 April - 4 May) in Galway, Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast.