THE LARK IN THE AFTERNOON: MICK O' BRIEN (UILLEANN PIPES) & MARTIN O' LEARY

THE LARK IN THE AFTERNOON: MICK O’ BRIEN (UILLEANN PIPES) & MARTIN O’ LEARY

Mick O’Brien (uileann pipes/whistles) will be joined by Martin O’Leary (piano/guitar) in a programme of music for our next Lark in the Afternoon Show.

Mick O Brien

Mick is a highly regarded performer and teacher of the Uilleann pipes, whistle and flute, bringing his own style and sense of enjoyment to audiences and pupils alike. Though Mick has delved into different music genres, it is as a traditional artist that he is best known. In 2013, with his daughter Aoife Ní Bhriain and Emer Mayock they released two albums from the Goodman Manuscripts, bringing to life the music collected by Canon James Goodman in the Munster region. In 2023 Mick was awarded the coveted TG4 musician of the award, “Gradam Ceoil na Bliana”. Throughout his career, he has conducted masterclasses on the pipes across Ireland, Europe and the US, and performed regularly as a solo artist and with other musicians including the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. He is also a successful recording artist and has featured on recordings with The Dubliners, Altan and Charlie Lennon.

Martin O’ Leary

Born in Dublin, Martin O’Leary began composing at the age of fourteen. He studied music at Trinity College, from where he holds a PhD for an extended study of three orchestral works of the English composer Havergal Brian. Since 1991 he has lectured at NUI Maynooth, where he became a full-time member of staff in the Department of Music in 1993. He has written an extensive series of works covering most genres, and his compositions have been heard throughout Europe, as well as in Israel and the USA. “Glory to His Name”, a CD of arrangements for a capella choir, was released on Ceol Records in 2003. His more recent works include “Bluescape” (2007) for piano trio, written for the Fidelio Trio, two solo guitar works, “6 Preludes” (2005) and “Fantasia Elegiaca” (2007), written for Leslie Cassidy and Christian Fergo, “Blue Toccata” (2011), commissioned for the 2012 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition, “Avanti” (2012), written for the Muzika Piano Trio of Kenosha, Wisconsin, and “Luireach Phadraig” (2015), written for the Maynooth Chamber Choir and director Michael Dawson.