Welcome to Music
UCC's Department of Music is committed to the cultivation -- through creativity in teaching, research, composition and performance -- of a dynamic learning community dedicated to an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural understanding of music. The Department has long been known as a centre of excellence for both the study and the practice of music.
News and Events

Happening On
13/02/2025
20 Jan 2025
FUAIM Lecture - John Godfrey and Maximilin Le Cain - 13/02/25, Ó Riada Hall, 11:00am
Title: “Dordán” In 2012, Quiet Music Ensemble commissioned a work from one of Ireland’s most radical contemporary composers, Jennifer Walshe. The resulting piece, Dordán, was premiered at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2013. In 2022, QME recorded the piece and commissioned renowned Irish experimental film maker Maximilian Le Cain to create a film version. This was not to be a documentation of a performance, but an artwork in its own right: the film was released by Diatribe Recordings in November 2024. In this Seminar, John Godfrey, artistic director of QME, and Maximilian Le Cain discuss the ensemble for which the piece was composed, the composition and the film.
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Happening On
20/02/2025
20 Jan 2025
FUAIM Lecture - Dr. Áine Mangaoang - 20/02/25, Ó Riada Hall, 11:00am
“Unheard by Most: Soundscapes of Incarceration in Irish Prisons” This FUAIM lecture provides an overview of PRISONS OF NOTE, a four-year research project that employs mixed-methods to investigate the multifaceted role of music within the penal systems of Norway, Iceland, and Ireland. One of the primary aims of this research is to contribute new, interdisciplinary knowledge on how music is used and is useful in prisons from a peripheral perspective, shifting from isolated, single-nation case studies to interconnected, transcultural experiences. This lecture offers a critical reflection on this research project in progress, underscoring both the unforeseen challenges and the innovative opportunities encountered during the research process.
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Happening On
21/03/2025
17 Jan 2025
FUAIM Concert - Gao Yanming - 21/03/25, 1:10pm, Aula Maxima, UCC
Gao Yanming has received a Master's degree in Pipa Performance from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing where she studied on a full national scholarship under renowned pipa master Prof. Fan Wei. Currently a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology at University College Cork (supervisor, Prof. Jonathan Stock), her research topic is tracing a new history of the Pinghu Pipa School, a traditional pipa lineage originating from Pinghu City, China, in the 19th century. Yanming is a pipa instructor in the Department of Music at Zhejiang International Studies University, executive director of the Pipa Professional Committee of Zhejiang Musicians Association, China, and was designated by the Beijing Arts Foundation a pipa performing talent of the Pinghu Pipa School.
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Happening On
28/03/2025
17 Jan 2025
FUAIM Concert - The Vanbrugh & Friends - 28/03/25, 1:10pm, Devere Hall, UCC
Join us on Friday, 28th March at 1:10 PM at the Devere Hall for a captivating concert of classical masterpieces. The Meliora Quartet will perform the powerful first movement of Beethoven’s Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 Razumovsky. Then, the Vanrugh will bring Mozart’s String Quintet in C Major, K. 515 to life, a work often called the “Champagne Quintet” for its sparkling, effervescent opening. A liquid lunch not to be missed!
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