Niamh Dunne Appointed 2024 UCC Traditional Artist in Residence

15 Dec 2023

The Music Department at UCC, in association with the Arts Council, the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences (CACSSS), and the School of Film, Music and Theatre at UCC, are delighted to announce the appointment of renowned singer and fiddle player, Niamh Dunne as the 2024 Arts Council / UCC Traditional Artist in Residence. As part of the role, Niamh will deliver a series of concerts, workshops, and events throughout the UCC campus community during the course of her one-year residency, beginning in January 2024.

Niamh is an accomplished fiddle player and singer. ‘Tides’, her first album of self-penned songs was released in 2022 to widespread critical acclaim. She is a member of the group, Beoga whose album ‘How to Tune a Fish’ was shortlisted for a Grammy nomination in the ‘Best Contemporary World Music Album’ category. In 2017 Beoga collaborated with Ed Sheeran on his ‘÷’ album and later that year, the band performed with Sheeran during his headline Glastonbury performance. 

Niamh is a long-standing member of The Karan Casey Band and she has accumulated vast experience as a composer, performing her own compositions and songs at The Proms in the Park with The Ulster Orchestra, and with the RTÉ concert Orchestra in the National Concert Hall.  

Niamh will be hosted by the Department of Music at UCC, where the study of Irish traditional music and dance has been pioneered for over a century. Irish traditional music is a key part of the Music Department’s identity, occupying a prominent place in its music curricula, alongside classical music, popular music, jazz, contemporary music, Javanese Gamelan, and various world musics. 

At the Department of Music, Niamh will be warmly welcomed by a team of internationally recognised traditional artists who include Máire Ní Chéileachair, Connie O’Connell, Conal Ó Gráda, Colm Murphy, Niall Vallely, Karan Casey, Diarmuid Ó Meachair, Mary Mitchell-Ingoldsby and Jack Talty.