...one of Ireland's best known musicians

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin has over ten CD recordings on release of his own compositions and arrangements performed by the Irish Chamber Orchestra under his direction. As a pianist, he is widely acknowledged as having originated a unique Irish piano style out of an Irish traditional base.
Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin is Professor of Music at the University of Limerick where he founded the Irish World Music Centre in 1994, which has now grown into the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.

... in performance

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin is a pianist with a uniquely Irish piano style which he established with the issue of his first recording in 1975 on the Gael Linn label.
Since then each recording has brought this style further, especially The Dolphin's Way (Virgin Records 1987) which established his sound internationally. At this point his music continued to spill over into orchestral formats, especially for piano and string orchestra with the Oilean/Island recording (Virgin 1989).
His concerts range from solo piano through piano and Irish traditional percussion (most frequently with the bodhrán and bones player Mel Mercier) to piano, string orchestra, and Irish traditional soloists. At times he has extended this ensemble to include jazz soprano saxophone (with Kenneth Edge). He directs the ensemble from the piano keyboard.
His piano repertoire ranges from traditional dance tunes, through Irish slow airs, to Irish 17th and 18th century harp music.
Additional performance formats include the playing live to screen of his music (composed 1994) for the silent movie Irish Destiny (1925). This is scored for piano and chamber orchestra (strings, woodwind, timpani). Extracts from the score may be heard on the recording Becoming. A DVD of the film with the original score is was released in 2006, published by the Irish Film Institute.

Compositions

Irish traditional music/Classical Music:
Along with the development of a uniquely Irish piano style out of a traditional music base, much of his composition to date has explored the the dichotomy of orality and literacy through the opposition of classical music and traditional music. Typical of these are his short piano pieces developing Irish traditional themes.
Piano pieces/string orchestra:
The first piano pieces appeared on the album The Dolphin's Way (Virgin 1987) as expanded 3 to 5 minute pieces, and these manifest themselves in piano and string orchestra versions from the album Oilean/Island (Virgin 1989) onwards. The compilation album Between Worlds (Virgin 1995) collects examples of these piano and string orchestra pieces.
Evolving from his debut album on the Gael Linn label (entitled Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin 1975) which explored Irish traditional music performance on five keyboard instruments (piano, harpsichord, clavichord, harmonium, and mini Moog synthesiser), his piano style also contains classical influences as well as those of Jazz. Free form jazz is his chosen voice whenever that genre reaches into or out of the mix.
As a result his concerts, directed by the composer from the piano keyboard, can bring classical orchestral groups, traditional musicians and dancers, and jazz musicians together in a unique manner.
A seminal work entitled Oilean/Island (1989) - available on the album of the same title - is scored for Irish traditional flute and string orchestra. A rewrite of an earlier work entitled Concerto for Traditional Musician and String Orchestra (1979) it was written with the flute player Matt Molloy (known to many from his role in The Chieftains traditional ensemble) in mind. It is in a three movement fast/slow/fast format. In the first and third movements the strings and soloist avoid any intrusion on the other's tradition, while in the middle movement the two are allowed to overlap.
In HUP! for String Orchestra and optional traditional percussion/solo step dance, commissioned by the Irish Chamber Orchestra in 2000, the traditional soloist figure has been removed. The second movement, entitled Streetwalk, and the third movement, entitled Session, may be heard on the album Templum (Virgin 2001).
Classical composer/Chant:
In Maranatha for SATB choir (commissioned by the Cork International Choral Festival in 2000) an influence of Chant can be heard. A version for choir, strings, and horns performed by the National Chamber Choir of Ireland and the Irish Chamber Orchestra directed by the composer may be heard on the album Templum (Virgin 2001).
He has also written The Sun has Risen, an electronic piece for tape (1991), and Eklego for tape and traditional musicians (1984).
Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin's music is published by Peer Music (www.peermusic.com).

Broadcasts

As a broadcaster, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin’s notable series and media events have included:
A River of Sound, The Changing Course of Irish Traditional Music: A River of Sound was a series of seven 40 mt television programmes produced by Hummingbird Productions in association with RTE and BBC (1995). Devised, scripted and presented by Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. First broadcast in 1995, A River of Sound set off a national debate in Ireland and farther a field on the balance of innovation and tradition within Irish traditional music. The series emphasised younger musicians at times, and also filmed experimental crossover groups, sometimes at the expense of omitting certain received icons of tradition. The final shots of the series end with a young female African Kora player juxtaposed with Irish harp. Within three years of A River of Sound, Ireland unexpectedly was thrown into a rapid process of multiculturalism as the economy took off and asylum seekers and refugees took their place among the native Irish population.
Turning a Tune: Turning a Tune was a two 8-part series of 15mt radio programmes by BBC World Radio. 1996 and 1997. Turning a Tune was scripted and presented by Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin.
Grace Notes: A series of occasional one-hour radio interactions with Irish traditional musicians featuring one musician per programme. Grace Notes was commissioned and broadcast by Lyric FM, Ireland's national classical music station.
Fieldwork: A series of eight 30mt programmes interviewing key ethnomusicologists from around the world, with their selected extract from their own original field tapes. RTE Lyric FM 2006.
He is a frequent interviewee on Irish national radio and television and has appeared on radio and television channels in USA, Canada, China, India, as well as in Europe.

Recordings

1976: MÍCHEÁL Ó SÚILLEABHÁIN (Gael Linn) Solo performances on piano, harpsichord, clavichord, pedal organ/harmonium, and Moog-Synthesiser. (Re-released on CD in 1992).
1977: ÓRÓ DAMHNAIGH (Gael Linn)Traditional ensemble from Co. Waterford
1981: CRY OF THE MOUNTAIN (Gael Linn) Film music and music for radio, performed by various traditional ensembles.
1987: THE DOLPHIN'S WAY (Venture/Virgin) Solo piano with traditional percussion
1989: OILEÁN / ISLAND (Venture/Virgin) With the Irish Chamber Orchestra and traditional musicians.
1990: CASADH / TURNING (Venture/Virgin) Solo piano with traditional percussion; chamber ensemble with traditional flute.
1992: GAISEADH / FLOWING (Venture/Virgin) With the Irish Chamber Orchestra and traditional musicians.
1995: A RIVER OF SOUND (Virgin) With a variety of musicians. LUMEN (Virgin)CD single of the Eurovision piece. BETWEEN WORLDS (Virgin) A compilation album.
1998: BECOMING (Virgin) With the Irish Chamber Orchestra including music for the 1925 silent firm, Irish Destiny.
2001: TEMPLUM (Virgin) Original orchestral compositions and arrangements with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and National Chamber Choir of Ireland directed by the composer.
Forthcoming: IRISH DESTINY (Irish Film Institute, Dublin)
A DVD of the silent movie (1925) with the music synched to film. RTE Concert Orchestra conducted by Proinsias O Duinn with the composer at the piano.
SEE ALSO: Arrangements/compositions/performances/production on recordings by
Nóirín Ní Riain (1978/1980/1982/1989/1990/1993),
Paddy Glackin (1977),
Tommy Hayes (1991),
Liam O'Flynn (1988),
Aíne Uí Cheallaigh (1992).

...in education

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin is widely viewed as the single most important figure in the integration of Irish traditional music and dance into the higher education system in Ireland over the past three decades.
As a result, his work has directly influenced related educational ventures in Wales, England, Scotland and the USA. In 2005, the National University of Ireland at University College Cork awarded him an honorary D.Mus. Also in 2005, Boston College awarded him Honary Alumnus status in recognition of his contribution to Irish Studies programme on that campus.
He has also been to the forefront in European terms in the granting of parity of esteem to indigenous music and dance traditions into mainstream Higher Education systems.
His work from 1975 to 1993 at the Music Department, University College Cork, established it as a trail blazer in the integration of traditional musicians within a shared curriculum with classical musicians.

Biography

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin is one of Ireland's best known musicians. He has over ten CD recordings on release of his own compositions and arrangements performed by Irish Chamber Orchestra under his direction.
As a performer he has given concerts across the world including the National Concert Hall (Dublin), Barbican Centre (London), Chicago Symphony Hall, Skirball Centre (New York), and TATA Theatre (Bombay).
As a pianist he is widely acknowledged as having originated a unique Irish piano style out of an Irish traditional music base.
As an academic he brought Fleischmann's Sources of Irish Music to press as Assistant Editor having worked with him on this - the largest research work on Irish Music ever published - for over twenty five years. His own Ph.D dissertation was on Innovation and Traditional in the Music of Tommie Potts, the Dublin fiddler.
He studied with composers Aloys Fleischmann (1910 - 1992) and Sean O Riada (1930 - 1971) in University College Cork, and with ethnomusicologists John Blacking and John Baily at Queens University Belfast.
As an educator, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin has been the single most important catalyst in the integration of Irish traditional music and Irish traditional dance into the Irish Higher Education system - firstly through his work at the Music Department of University College Cork where he succeeded Sean O Riada - and later in his work at the University of Limerick (UL) where he was appointed to the first Chair of Music in 1993. Most of the Higher Education posts in Irish Music Studies in Ireland are currently held by his graduates or students.
In 1994, Ó Súilleabháin founded the Irish World Music Centre at UL which has rapidly become the most active research centre in Irish traditional music and dance in the world as well as establishing a suite of nine MA taught programmes across a wide range of disciplines (including contemporary dance performance, chant performance and ritual song, music therapy, community music, and classical string performance).
He has most recently (November 2004) announced a new 14 million euro Irish World Performing Arts Village on the banks of the Shannon river on the University of Limerick campus. This will be the new home for the Irish World Music Centre under its new name, the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.
As a public speaker he has, most recently, given keynote addresses to international conferences across the world (including China, Norway, Kenya, Scotland, Boston, and Ireland).
As a broadcaster, he has contributed to many television and radio programmes in Ireland, UK, and North America - especially in his devising, scripting and presenting of A River of Sound: The Changing Course of Irish Traditional Music (BBC, RTE, Hummingbird) in 1995 which sparked off a national debate in Ireland on issues surrounding tradition and innovation.
M Ó Súilleabháin, while rightly perceived as a crossover artist between Irish traditional, classical, jazz, popular, and various world ethnic styles, has also a career of establishing audio-visual archives of Irish traditional music and dance in University College Cork, University of Limerick, and Boston College. He was Chair of the Irish Traditional Music Archive (Dublin) for two successive three-year periods.
Ó Súilleabháin serves on the Board of Directors of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Irish Traditional Music Archive (Dublin), Daghdha Dance Company, and University Concert Hall (Limerick), and is the Founder/Chair (in 1993) of Maoin Cheoil an Chlair in Ennis, Co Clare - the only school of music in Ireland with a constitutional remit towards the teaching of both classical and Irish traditional music.
As a record producer (apart from the production of all of his own albums), he devised and produced a series of six CD recordings (Green Linnet, Nimbus, and Real World labels) on traditional music from Ireland, Irish America, Shetland Islands, England, Canada (including Cape Breton Island) between 1990 and 1995 all of which benefit - through the donation of musician's royalties - a variety of traditional music archives in USA, UK, and Ireland.
He has also produced and musically directed an acclaimed trilogy of recordings of the singer Noirin Ni Riain and the Benedictine Monks of Glenstal Abbey: Caoineadh na Maighdine [The Virgin's Lament] (Dublin: Gael Linn 1980); Good People All (Glenstal Abbey Records 1982); and Vox de Nube [ Voice from the Cloud] (Dublin: Gael Linn 1989).
In 2005 he was appointed first Chair of Culture Ireland, a new body set up by the Irish Government to promote Irish arts internationally. Operating currently on an annual budget of 4,500,000 Euro, Culture has produced its Strategy 2006-2010 document which may be viewed on www.cultureireland.ie