This September, the National Concert Hall will honour the late Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, widely regarded as one of the most talented Irish academics, pianists and composers of his era, with its 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award,
The award posthumously recognises the significant impact and contribution Ó Súilleabháin made on the musical life of Ireland over the course of his celebrated career, following his passing in 2018, aged 67.
Born in Clonmel, Co Tipperary in 1950, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin won acclaim for his fusion of Irish traditional and classical music, in particular for his unique style of piano playing.
Following his first recording on the Gael Linn label in 1975, he later becaome one of the first artists to be signed to Richard Branson’s Virgin Venture label, Ó Súilleabháin's formidable body of work includes a series of pioneering solo albums as well as a number of acclaimed collaborations with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, including Oileán/Island, Casadh/ Turning, and Templum. Other works of note include Lumen, his work for the interval of the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest, and a collaboration with Van Morrison on Enlightenment. He also scored for film, notably for the 1926 silent film Irish Destiny, which he accompanied live.
Watch: Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin performs with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in 2011
In 1994, he was appointed the University of Limerick’s first professor of music and founded the Irish World Music Centre, now known as the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. For RTÉ he presented the River of Sound television series, subtitled The Changing Course of Irish Traditional Music.
The award will be presented to Mícheál’s family at the National Concert Hall on Friday 2nd September at 7.30 pm when the National Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with the University of Limerick, pays tribute with a concert of his music entitled Lumen: A Celebration of the Light. The concert will also be performed in Limerick’s University Concert Hall on the 3rd September.
Lumen will feature some of Ó Súilleabháin's most significant and popular orchestral works conducted by David Brophy and performed by a host of leading names, including sean-nós singers Iarla Ó Lionáird, Lillis Ó Laoire and Síle Denvir; flute player Mike McGoldrick; saxophonist Kenneth Edge; traditional percussionist Mel Mercier; uilleann piper Mark Redmond; fiddlers Liz Doherty, Zoë Conway, Aidan O’Donnell and Katie Boyle and cellist Neil Martin.
Watch: Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin plays Fáinne Geal an Lae in 2014
Previous recipients of the NCH Lifetime Achievement Award include: The Chieftains (2012), flautist Sir James Galway (2013), singer and educator Dr. Veronica Dunne (2014), singer/songwriter Paul Brady (2015), The Vanbrugh Quartet (2016), pianist John O'Conor (2017), singer/songwriter Shane McGowan (2018), and composer John Kinsella (2019).
Audiences will be treated to a performance of some of Mícheál’s most noteworthy and popular orchestral works led by conductor David Brophy. Highlights include: Templum and Bean Dubh an Ghleanna for soprano sax and orchestra, An Buachaill Caol Dubh and Port na bPúcaísung by Iarla Ó Lionáird with orchestra, Termōn, for pipes and orchestra; Oileán/Island featuring flute soloist Mike McGoldrick with orchestra and Fill Arís, Mícheál’s orchestral sean-nós settings of the poetry of Seán Ó Riordáin, for sean-nós singers, pipes and orchestra amongst others. Mícheál’s frequent collaborator and Chair of Performing Arts at the Irish World Academy, Mel Mercier, will direct an ensemble of UL and UCC students, honouring Mícheál’s lasting legacy at both institutions.
Robert Read, CEO and Maura McGrath, Chair of the National Concert Hall commented: "We are delighted to honour the late Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin with the 2022 National Concert Hall Lifetime Achievement Award. This is an opportunity for us all to acknowledge the enormous contribution Mícheál made to the musical landscape in Ireland, particularly in the genres of orchestral and traditional music. His wide-ranging achievements in composition, academia, performance, and recording have had a lasting influence, and will continue to shape, and to impact positively, on the future of music in Ireland, ensuring access and appreciation of Irish music for generations to come".
Lumen - The Music of Mícheál Ó Suilleabháin: A Celebration of the Light, National Concert Hall, Dublin, Friday 2nd September at 7.30 pm - find out more here.
