FUAIM is very proud to present the winners of the 2020 Dónal 'Doc' Gleeson Awards for outstanding undergraduate performance. They are Ríona Hely (concertina), Maeve O’Driscoll (voice, guitar), Cian O’Leary (voice, guitar) and Ben Hurley Wilkinson (voice, guitar, piano).

In memory of their colleague, Dónal ‘Doc’ Gleeson, the Dublin Postal Clerks Branch of the Communication Workers' Union has established a fund to enable the University College Cork to provide a number of Instrumental Tuition Awards. Up to four awards are made each year to deserving undergraduate Music students and this week's Friday lunchtime concert features short performances by each of this year’s recipients.

RÍONA HELY

Ríona Hely is a concertina player from Ennis in County Clare. She is a second-year Music and Irish student at UCC and is a recipient of the Quercus Creative and Performing Arts Scholarship. Growing up learning her music from renowned concertina player Mary MacNamara in Tulla, Ríona’s playing is heavily influenced by the East Clare style. She now teaches concertina in Ennis and in Douglas Comhaltas in Cork. Ríona has won many accolades in various Fleadhs and competitions over the years, most notably Siansa Gael Linn in 2023 as part of the group “Binneas” and winning the Bonn Óir Seán Ó Riada in January of this year.

For this week’s ‘Doc’ Gleeson Awards concert, Ríona will be joined by fellow music student, Evan Ó Cualáin on bouzouki.

BEN HURLEY WILKINSON

My name is Ben Hurley. I am 21 years old. I am studying Economics and Music in my 3^rd year of the Arts-Music programme. Music has always been a passion of mine since a very young age, so to receive this Dónal ‘Doc’ Gleeson Award for excellence in performance is an honour.

For this concert, I will perform lead vocals, piano and guitar. I will be joined by Mia Nergadze on backing vocals and Eimear Kelleher on violin.

CIAN O’LEARY

From County Kerry, Cian O’Leary is a final-year Music and History student at UCC. Cian is the lead singer of the band The Blow Ins, who have opened for artists such as The Mary Wallopers and James Vincent McMorrow and performed at music festivals to thousands of people. The Blow Ins’ debut EP, titled ‘Meant to Be,’ was awarded EP of the Month by London music magazine, Darkus Magazine, who stated “Irish rising band, The Blow Ins, become poets of music as they release their debut EP.” Cian’s original music with the band has gathered over 50,000 streams on Spotify alone. He plans to write and record his second EP this year with The Blow Ins and hopes to take his original music to the next level. 

Cian is joined by The Blow Ins for this week’s concert.

The Blow Ins

Cian – vocals; acoustic guitar

Oisin – backing vocals; acoustic and electric guitar

Darragh – accordion

MAEVE O’DRISCOLL

I am a 2^nd-year Arts-Music student, studying Music and Geography. I started playing guitar in primary school and singing came along with that. I always loved playing guitar and singing and decided I’d give teaching myself the piano a go and it was one of the best things I ever did. I was always drawn to doing music in UCC as I knew it would be the best decision I could make for my future in music.